§ 10 · Teaching & assessment

Curriculum & academic structure

Everything a student can register for comes from here. Get this module right and registration, timetabling and graduation all follow; get it wrong and every one of them fails in a way that looks like someone else's fault.

What it is for

Defining programmes, courses, curriculum versions and the rules between them.

Who can do it

RegistrarHODDeanDVC-Academic AffairsSenate

Needed first

Faculties, departments, programmes and campuses in Foundation Setup
An academic year and terms

Where it ends

An activated curriculum version that students can register against.

The eight components

Academic Structure and Curriculum Management: a Connected modules strip, a summary band with components, total records and a Live module status, then eight cards — Course Master Records, Course Categories, Programme Specializations, Curriculum Versions, Curriculum Course Links, Course Prerequisites, Course Equivalencies and Student Course Exemptions — each with a count and a Manage link. — **Academic Structure & Curriculum Management** at **Academics**›Academic Structure. Eight components, each with a live count. Start here, not in the sidebar — this page tells you what already exists.

Component	What it holds	Why it matters downstream
Course Master Records	Faculty, department, level, credits — the canonical definition of a course	One course, one definition. Everything else refers to it
Course Categories	Core, Elective, Retake and the rest	Category drives billing rules and graduation requirements
Programme Specializations	Tracks within a programme	Two students on one programme can have different required courses
Curriculum Versions	A dated edition of a programme's curriculum	Locks once students attach. This is the central rule of the module
Curriculum Course Links	Course → version / year / semester	This is what produces a student's course list at registration
Course Prerequisites	Previous course, minimum mark, year, approval	Blocks registration for a course the student is not ready for
Course Equivalencies	Old code → new course	Lets a student who passed the old course be credited under the new curriculum
Student Course Exemptions	Transfer and upgrading exemptions	Individual exceptions, recorded rather than fudged

A curriculum version locks once students attach

The card says so in one line, and it is the most important sentence in this module. Once a single student is registered against a version, that version is the contract for their degree — you cannot quietly change what they signed up to study. Changes after that point mean a new version, with the old one left in place for the students already on it. Plan a curriculum before an intake, not during one.

Building a curriculum

The Curriculum Builder screen for laying out a programme's courses by year and semester. — **Curriculum Builder** at **Academics**›Curriculum Builder — lays courses into a version year by year and semester by semester.

Course master records→ New curriculum version→ Link courses to year & semester→ Prerequisites→ Approval workflow→ Activated

Worked example

Adding a new elective to the BIT curriculum for the 2027 intake

1. Does the course exist?	Course Master Records → Manage. Search the code. If it does not exist, create it: faculty, department, level, credits
2. Which version?	Curriculum Versions. If the current version already has students attached, do not edit it — create `BIT-2027` instead
3. Link it	Curriculum Course Links, or the Curriculum Builder: course → version `BIT-2027`, year `2`, semester `1`, category `Elective`
4. Prerequisites	If it needs a first-year course passed first, add it under Course Prerequisites with the minimum mark
5. Approval	Academics›Approval Workflow — it climbs the academic chain, not yours alone
6. Activate	Only an activated version is offered at registration. A version can be complete and correct and still invisible
7. Check	The Registrar dashboard's Curriculum versions — awaiting activation tile should drop by one

The Curriculum Approval Workflow screen showing versions awaiting approval and their stage in the chain. — **Approval Workflow.** A curriculum change is an academic act, so it is signed rather than saved. The chain is visible on the record.

Grading and award rules

The Grading Scale screen listing grade bands, marks ranges and grade points. — **Grading Scale** at **Academics**›Grading Scale. Mark bands, letter grades and grade points — read by every mark the system computes.

Class of Award Rules sits beside it and decides how a final CGPA becomes a classification. Both are read at the moment a result is computed, so changing them changes future computations, not past ones already published. Neither should be edited mid-semester.

The Foundation Setup screen with reference data for faculties, departments, programmes, campuses, academic years and terms. — **Foundation Setup** holds what curriculum sits on: faculties, departments, programmes, campuses, academic years and terms. See Foundation setup.

If something will not work

Symptom	Cause	Fix
A student sees no courses at registration	No curriculum version for their entry year, or the version is not activated	Curriculum Versions — check the version exists and is active
A course is missing from one year only	No curriculum course link for that year and semester	Curriculum Course Links
You cannot edit a version	Students are attached to it	Create a new version. This is the rule, not a bug
A student is blocked from a course	An unmet prerequisite	Course Prerequisites — or record an exemption if it is genuinely warranted
A transfer student's passes are not recognised	No course equivalency mapping the old code	Course Equivalencies
Your change is saved but nothing happened	It is waiting in the approval workflow	Approval Workflow — find whose signature is outstanding