Recruitment and Admissions Committee: Terms of Reference

Information regarding the UCL Recruitment and Admissions Committee's formal powers and responsibilities.

Subject to direction that may from time to time be given by the University Management Committee (UMC), the Recruitment and Admissions Committee (RAC) is charged by the UMC:

1. To approve, monitor and review UCL strategy, policy and procedure in respect of all aspects of the marketing, recruitment, and admission of undergraduate and postgraduate-taught students and UCL’s outreach activities.
2. To ensure that approved intake, returners and tuition fee income targets are met and that recruitment risks are managed effectively.
3. To monitor the recruitment position through Key Performance Indicators in the recruitment cycle and alert UMC if the risk of under and/or over recruitment is identified. RAC provides recommendations of mitigations in these circumstances locally at the faculty RAG or for significant institutional risk to UMC.
4. To advise on institutional risk management strategies relating to student recruitment, outreach, admissions, tuition fee income and other relevant funding.
5. To provide a regular update to UMC on the in-year recruitment position, including applications received, offers made and any changes to activity that may positively or negatively impact recruitment, and the associated risks.
6. To oversee the deployment and use of data that is available to manage and understand the recruitment position, aid recruitment activities and shape planning.
7. To convene an annual review from the most recent admissions exercise completed by faculty RAGs and make recommendations to UMC. This will allow consideration of issues including target setting; modelling and modelling assumptions; timing of offers; the approach taken by Faculties to institutional guidance. This will include a review of the recruitment cycle and lessons learned.
8. To review the benchmarking UCL’s performance and review horizon scanning across student marketing, recruitment, admissions and funding, comparing to key competitors and best-in-sector practice.
9. To ensure that relevant UCL policies, structures and processes are student-centred and coordinated to ensure that a seamless service is provided at the institutional, faculty and departmental level.
10. To maintain a continuous overview of the communication in relation to UCL’s student marketing, outreach, recruitment, admissions and funding strategies, policy and operations at: (i) institutional, faculty and departmental levels, (ii) across the wider UCL community and (iii) with key stakeholders within UCL professional services.
11. To consider the implications of institutional/faculty student number planning processes and projections for UCL’s outreach, marketing, recruitment, admissions, funding activities and onwards operational use.
12. To monitor reportable OfS events relating to student recruitment and admissions.
13. Establish, and maintain a continuous overview of the work of, sub-committees that oversee all activities relating to recruitment and admissions.
    a. Outreach
    b. Systems
    c. Faculty
    d. Scholarships (competitive)
    e. Tuition fees
14. To inform Operations Committee, Education Committee, Academic Committee and Academic Board on ongoing recruitment and admissions activities and risks.
15. To oversee and set direction for institutional admissions entry requirements and approve any divergence from institutional direction.
16. To oversee the market analysis of new programme proposals, through the programme approval process so they are advertised effectively in the prospectus.
17. To define and review the portfolio review process, identifying programmes that are not meeting expected performance from a recruitment perspective, including monitoring new programmes, and overseeing the actions put in place, including programme closure.
18. To oversee the deployment of undergraduate and postgraduate taught scholarships.