Retention Schedule for academic departments, schools and centres
The retention schedule
Items you need to keep in your department
- Student administration
- Staff administration
- Departmental administration
- Teaching
- Student Assessment
- Quality Assurance
- Research
Things you need that are kept elsewhere
Whether they are paper or electronic these are the thing you should be
keeping. Normally you will only need to keep one copy of any item.
Items you need to keep in your department
Student Administration
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Visit day applicants |
CAY+1 |
|
| Undergraduate and
Graduate enquiries |
CAY+1 |
|
| Rejected or
withdrawn applications |
CAY+1 |
|
| Individual student
files |
TofR +3 |
Not all departments
keep files on individual
students. Registry keeps
full records for TofR+6.
Information on MIS is
kept permanently. |
| Progress/attendance
records |
TofR+3
OR CAY+6 |
Use
whichever is easiest
depending on your filing
system: TofR+3 if this
information is in files
on individuals, CAY+6 if
all information of this
type is filed together
by year |
| UG extenuating
performance forms |
| PG extenuating
performance forms |
| Late submission
forms and accompanying
paperwork |
| Academic offences |
| Student references
(taught students) |
CAY+3 |
References should be
filed separately from
the student file. See
the
Guidelines and
Procedures on the
Provision of Student
References |
| Student references
(research students) |
CAY+10 |
| Basic record of
study (name, period of
study, results including
marks) for students
registered BEFORE 2000 |
Permanent |
Students registered
after 2000 will be on
SRDB. |
Staff administration
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Academic staff files |
Permanent |
|
| Support staff files |
TofR+6 |
|
| Research staff files |
TofR+6 |
|
| Graduate Teaching
Assistants/part-time
teachers |
TofR+1 |
|
| Temporary staff |
TofR+1 |
|
| Annual review |
Kept on the relevant
staff file |
If filed separately
from staff files then
CAY+6 |
| Staff contact
details |
TofR |
If a member of staff
leaves and wants to keep
in touch with the
department and be kept
up to date with news etc
then their details may
be retained |
| Notification of
sickness absence reports
to Payroll and HR |
CAY+2 |
Held in the
department to help you
see trends and identify
issues |
Departmental Administration
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Departmental meeting
papers |
Permanent |
|
| Senior Departmental
Committee Meeting Papers |
Permanent |
|
| Departmental
Committee Meeting Papers |
CAY+6 |
e.g. Teaching and
Learning Quality
Assurance Committee,
Staff Student Liaison
Committee |
| Purchase orders
raised electronically
through Agresso |
Not kept |
Held on Agresso |
| Purchase orders
raised on paper |
CFY+6 |
Finance prefer that
orders are not raised on
paper |
| Departmental budget
information not held on
Agresso or by Payments |
CFY+6 |
Invoices and expense
claims should be sent to
Payments where they are
held for CFY+6 |
| Departmental
Handbook |
Permanent |
This is the
suggested maximum.
Paperwork can be
destroyed sooner |
| Paperwork relating
to production of
departmental handbooks |
CAY+3 |
|
| General departmental
files |
Prune every three
years |
|
Teaching
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Class attendance
lists |
CAY |
|
| Class lists |
CAY |
|
| Course catalogue,
syllabus information,
coursework titles and
reading lists |
Permanent |
From 2004 onwards
this is on SRDB |
| Observation of
teaching reports/peer
review |
CAY+6 |
|
Student assessment
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Paperwork for
pre-boards (UG) |
CAY+6 |
Papers for the main
Exam Boards are kept
permanently in Registry |
| Postgraduate Board
of Examiner Papers |
Permanent |
This should include
board members, rules of
assessment, grids,
minutes, extenuating
circumstances, pass
lists, record of changes
to marks, minutes of
pre-board meetings |
| Examination grids |
CAY+1 |
|
| Postgraduate pass
lists |
Permanent |
|
| Examination scripts
(first year UG) |
CAY+1 |
|
| Examination scripts
(other than first year
UG) |
TofR+1 or CAY+4 |
Use whichever is
easiest depending on
your filing system:
TofR+1 if this
information is in
individual student
files, CAY+4 if all
exams scripts are filed
together by year |
| Coursework
submission records and
correspondence relating
to non-submission of
coursework |
CAY+1 |
Or file with student
file, if there is one,
and use the student file
retention period |
| Coursework (first
year UG, uncollected) |
6 months |
|
| Coursework (other
than first year UG,
uncollected) |
1 year |
|
| UG dissertations and
projects |
|
| PG dissertations and
projects |
|
Quality Assurance
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Periodic review of
degree schemes |
CAY+6 |
Copy of final report
held permanently in Quality and
Academic Development |
| Annual monitoring of
degree schemes |
CAY+6 |
|
| Student assessment
of courses – summary
reports |
CAY+6 |
|
| Student assessment
of courses – individual
student responses |
CAY+1 |
|
| Student Satisfaction
Survey – reports of
analysis, evaluation and
subsequent action |
CAY+6 |
Survey
data and final reports
are kept in Systems
Administration Office in
the Academic Section |
| Student Satisfaction
Survey – individual
student responses |
CAY+1 |
| External examiner’s
reports |
CAY+6 |
Copy of final report
held permanently in Quality
and Academic Development |
| External Examiner
files |
TofR+3 |
|
Research
| Item |
How long to keep it
for |
Notes |
| Research subject
payments and receipts |
CFY+6 |
Items that have been
handled through Agresso
or sent to Payments will
not need to be kept in
the department |
| Research grant
applications |
CFY+6 |
REO keeps copies of
all successful grant
applications which have
been properly
authorised; unsuccessful
applications do not need
to be kept |
| Research plans |
Duration of
employment - updated
annually |
Outdated versions
should be destroyed |
Things you need that are kept elsewhere
This is a list of records that you probably do need, but don’t need to keep
yourself as you have access to them elsewhere. It isn’t an exhaustive list.
Check the retention
schedule for other areas for more information.
For items held on SRDB and relating to any year before 2000
the items should be kept in the department. For course information this date is
2004.
Things you need that are kept elsewhere
| Item |
Where held |
For how long |
Notes |
| Degree scheme
structures and rules of
assessment (part of
programme
specifications) |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| Past examination
papers |
Moodle |
Permanent |
Some held in the
Albert Sloman Library |
| Examination grids |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| UG pass lists |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
If you want to hold
your own copies for
reference you MUST
ensure they accurately
match what is on SRDB |
| Examination marks |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| Coursework marks |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| Course information |
SRDB (ESIS) |
|
|
| PhD theses |
Albert Sloman
Library |
Permanent |
|
| Student prizes |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| Programme
specifications |
SRDB (ESIS) |
Permanent |
|
| RAE/REF submissions |
REO |
Permanent |
|
| Committee papers |
Online and also held
by the Committee
Secretary |
Various – many
permanent |
See the
Committee Papers
Publication Schedule
for Secretaries and
availability of papers |
| Accidents and incidents |
HSAS |
CAY + 5 years
Paper 3 years,
electronic 5 years |
|
| Moodle |
Moodle |
CAY+4 |
Teaching materials are copied to Moodle archive in July of each year.
|
| Listen Again |
Listen Again |
CAY+1 |
Teaching event recordings held for CAY+1; other recordings held between CAY+1 and CAY+4. |
Created Spring/Summer 2006.
Last updated February 2018.