Notices by the General Board

Fitness to Practise Procedure

With effect from 1 October 2025

The General Board, on the recommendation of its Education Committee, has agreed to make changes to the Fitness to Practise Procedure. The key changes are to add the Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Adolescent Counselling (P.D.C.A.C.), accredited by the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association, to the list of relevant courses and professional bodies in the procedure.

The Council is submitting a Grace (Grace 3, p. 583) to seek approval for the following changes to the Fitness to Practise Procedure (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 225):

(a)  in Regulation 1.1 by amending the definition of the Student Progress Panel to read as follows:

A group of staff who monitor and, where needed, provide additional support to students who are pursuing professional courses of study; the Student Progress Panel for preclinical and clinical medical and veterinary students is the Medical and Veterinary Student Progress Panel (MVSPP), and for P.G.C.E. and P.D.C.A.C it is the relevant examination board

(b)  in Regulation 2.1 by inserting the following new final bullet:

•Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Adolescent Counselling (P.D.C.A.C.) students. The Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association has a duty to ensure that P.D.C.A.C. students are fit to practise.

(c)  In Regulation 2.3 by inserting the following new final sub-paragraph:

(d)for P.D.C.A.C. students, the P.D.C.A.C course manager.

(d)  In Regulation 4.1 by amending sub-paragraph (c) to read as follows:

(c)a member of the Regent House who shall not be registered with the professional body, appointed by the Faculty Board of Biology for medical and veterinary students, and by the Faculty Board of Education for P.G.C.E. and P.D.C.A.C. students.

(e)  In Regulation 4.2 by amending sub-paragraph (c) to read as follows:

(c)be prohibited from entering specified preclinical and/or clinical facilities as a medical student, or veterinary facilities as a veterinary student, or specified educational facilities as a P.G.C.E. student, or other specified facilities as a P.D.C.A.C. student;

Academic Career Pathways (Research) scheme implementation plan

The General Board has agreed an implementation plan for the new Academic Career Pathways (Research) scheme, approved following a ballot in May 2025.1

The new titles for researchers introduced under the pathway will take effect from 1 October 2025.

A new Contribution Reward Scheme, bringing together the existing schemes for academic staff and the new scheme for research staff,2 will launch in February 2026, with awards under that scheme being effective from 1 August 2026.

The Academic Career Pathways (Research) promotion scheme will launch in the 2026–27 academic year. As part of this launch, new researcher roles at Grades 6, 8 and 10 will be introduced, in addition to the existing Grades 5, 7, 9, 11 and 12.3 Further information and guidance on the new arrangements will be provided ahead of the launch.