At the heart of this work has been listening to your feedback and taking it directly to the right people, from departmental teams through to senior staff, so that issues don’t just get acknowledged, but solved.
An Update from Josh!
From Josh Walker, Your School Rep!
Over the past year, my focus has been on three key priorities:
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Making sure the school gets the basics right.
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Fairer assessments.
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Boosting your employability.
At the heart of this work has been listening to your feedback and taking it directly to the right people, from departmental teams through to senior staff, so that issues don’t just get acknowledged, but solved.
Back to basics!
A significant part of my work has involved improving communication and getting school side issues resolved ASAP and working with the admin teams to ensure they don’t reoccur.
I’ve worked closely with the LSS admin team to better understand how systems such as timetabling and module allocation operate, and was pleased to see their stronger culture of preventing repeat errors. Where problems have occurred, I’ve raised them quickly to ensure you were supported and solutions put in place.
This has included solving major timetable clashes, resolving errors in module allocations that risked impacting degree classification, and even getting deadlines extended where support was inadequate.
Fairer assessments!
Rightfully so, you raised concerns around exam weightings, deadline stacking, and the late release of assessment information.
In response, I’ve worked with senior academic staff, Heads of Department, and the Vice Dean for Education:
• Reducing final exam weightings towards 50%, which most departments are now meeting!
• Action to reduce deadline stacking!
• Earlier release of assessment briefings to support planning and reduce stress.
• Ongoing discussions to improve the quality and clarity of feedback.
These conversations are ongoing yes, but your feedback has played a massive role in shaping them.
Boosting employability!
I believe the prep for the next steps after Uni are SO important, and don’t want you to miss out on anything!
Therefore, Employability has been a core priority throughout my role!
I’ve worked closely with the Careers team and LSS societies to help protect careers provision despite wider budget pressures, ensuring you continue to have access to high-quality support.
I've made sure your feedback has also directly influenced careers events. I’ve also supported the promotion of careers and society-led opportunities, even creating a downloadable events calendar, again to make sure you don’t miss out!
Strengthening student voice
A major part of my role has been improving how student feedback is collected and acted on.
I’ve worked closely with course reps across departments, setting up clearer communication channels using WhatsApp to allow issues to be raised and resolved more quickly. I regularly take concerns directly to senior staff when outcomes are not in students’ best interests and work to explore alternative solutions.
The goal throughout has been simple: If something isn't in your interest and it can be changed I'll always push until it does.
I've also used the LSS school rep Instagram to celebrate the work of your course reps and societies!
How you can get involved
There are many ways to get involved within LSS, but one of the most impactful is becoming a Course Rep.
Being a rep allows you to directly shape everyone's academic experience, develop transferable skills such as communication and leadership, and make a real difference. Societies also play a vital role in building community, employability skills, and belonging within the school, so if you haven't already try signing up to one!
How to contact me
Students can contact me via:
• Email: lss.schoolrep@royalholloway.su
• Instagram: @lssschool.rhsu
I know there's more to do so any issue you've got, I'll always try my best to get it sorted.
If you see me on campus, or in the SU you’re always welcome to come and say hi!
What’s Happening Across the LSS School?
PIRP have been hosting a range of events to support students in the department. This includes:
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Alumni event: An inspiring group of PIRP alumni from a wide range of sectors — finance, energy, consultancy, academia, NGOs, and government — were invited to speak to third year students about their career paths and to offer advice and guidance over lunch. After the talk, our third year students were given the opportunity to chat with our guests in an informal setting. I can dig up some photos of this event if you need them.
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Conversations Over Coffee: the department has organised a series of informal conversations between students and staff over pressing topics that affect their academic and professional paths. Students were invited to talk about AI with some staff members, its risks and opportunities for academics and society more broadly. In other sessions, staff and students discussed careers, plagiarism, and CV writing.
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Dissertation spotlight day- we set aside a day for our colleagues to meet with their dissertation students after the winter break to catch up on their progress. We served a pizza lunch offering our finalists a chance to socialise as well.