At Kent, we’re committed to ensuring you have the best possible experience while you study with us. Universities across the UK are facing significant financial challenges, and we’re taking steps to address these at Kent in a way that prioritises your education and wellbeing. 

This year we’ve introduced a Voluntary Severance Scheme. This scheme helps us to make significant savings through supporting staff who are looking to leave the University, and we carefully consider every application to ensure minimal impact on your experience. While it is never easy for staff when we have to make savings, these steps help us to manage our resources responsibly while continuing to provide the high-quality support and services you expect from Kent. 

Your Support at Kent 

We understand how important it is to have consistent and reliable support throughout your time here. Our teams remain focused on ensuring continuity of support in all areas of university life, from your academic studies to wellbeing, accommodation, and campus services. No matter what changes happen behind the scenes, you can rely on dedicated teams to provide a consistent experience through the changes. This includes: 

• Student support services for wellbeing, accessibility, and guidance. 
• Academic advisors and programme teams to help with your studies. 
• Careers and employability teams to prepare you for life beyond university.
• Ongoing supervision for your research if you are a postgraduate student.

From September 2025 we are also making broader changes to support your studies, following the changes to our course portfolio last year. This includes new modules with more industry and employability links, along with a revised academic year structure which means your assessments will happen much closer to when you study your course content. Keep an eye out for further updates on this throughout the term. 

We’re excited to announce the launch of www.pcit.org.uk, our new website and membership programme!

At the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT), we provide assessments, therapies, classes, and expert advice to support those affected by Parkinson’s. Our new membership offers even more opportunities to connect with our services and resources.

If you, a friend, or a loved one might benefit from what we offer—or if you’d simply like to learn more about what we do—feel free to:

📞 Call us: 01227 824775
📧 Email us: parkinsons@kent.ac.uk
🏡 Visit us: Stop by Tanglewood for a look around or to ask any questions—we’d be delighted to chat with you!

Let’s work together to help those living with Parkinson’s and their companions and carers access the support and community they deserve.

If you have strolled down the Parkwood path recently you may have noticed the Landscape and Grounds Team (L&G) busy in the woods.

In winter there are number of habitat management jobs the L&G team undertake to support wildlife on campus; increase the biodiversity of plant life in our woodlands; and keep the campus looking great.

During each winter season, the team carry out coppicing on the Canterbury campus as part of our woodland management plan.

The practice of coppicing can be dated back to the Stone Age and is the traditional woodland management technique of repeatedly felling trees at the base and allowing them to regrow. On campus we usually wait around 15 years for a tree to regrow before we fell it again.

We work on defined areas within our woodlands, coppicing one section each winter, then moving onto the next section a year later. This means we end up with a very diverse range of ages in our trees across our three areas of woodland – Parkwood, Brotherhood wood and Bluebell wood. This winter we are coppicing in a section of Parkwood.

Coppicing was traditionally done in order to provide a sustainable supply of timber, however this is not why we coppice at Kent. Our primary goal for coppicing is to improve the health of our trees and create additional benefits for other wildlife. Coppicing is a human intervention that somewhat simulates the act of retrenching (when trees naturally drop their branches to extend their life) which helps our trees live longer within our woodlands.

By removing sections of canopy we are also increasing the amount of light that can reach the woodland floor. This allows other species of vegetation that are dormant in the soil seed bank the chance to grow and increase the diversity of that area. This increase in vegetation increases the amount of habitat and forage opportunities for insects, birds and mammals.

When we coppice, we do not clear fell the sections, instead we ensure that very mature trees are left in place, species such as oak and ash are left, and we leave a proportion of ivy, holly and bramble to ensure there is cover and forage for other species. We also leave any newly emerging vegetation and any deadwood we find which is useful for insects.

Whilst coppicing we also take the opportunity to remove any invasive vegetation from the area and collect any litter we uncover.

This year the L&G team are also creating some dead hedges around the site. A dead hedge is a barrier made from woody cuttings, that is woven between vertical stakes. They are utilising some of the coppiced material for this.

Dead hedges are great habitat features support foraging, nesting and providing small mammals and birds somewhere to hide from predators. They are also a useful alternative to traditional fencing.

Dead hedging.

For more information on what is happening for wildlife on campus please visit our website. You can also follow along with the Landscape and Grounds Team’s work on their Instagram.

The Medway Engagement Support team would like to remind you that we are here to provide you with support and guidance if you need any assistance during your studies. Please do get in touch with us or book a support meeting (online or in-person) if you require any support.

If you are experiencing any extenuating circumstances that are preventing you from fully engaging with your studies, please do get in touch. Our team will be able to offer you information, guidance, and support. For your reference,  see helpful information and guidance about the University’s extenuating circumstances procedures.  You can also contact your Academic Advisor and the Skills for Academic Success Team (SAS) if you require any additional support during your studies.

As part of our role, we monitor your attendance in accordance with the University’s Student Attendance and Engagement Policy.  If you are unable to attend a timetabled teaching event, please ensure that you report your absence via Presto.  You should also contact your teaching staff directly regarding your missed lectures/seminars to catch-up on any work missed.

We would also like to highlight the University’s Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) service that you may wish to access for additional support. The Medway SSW team are located on the First Floor of the Medway Building and are available Monday to Friday 9:00 – 17:00. You can contact the service via email or via telephone on 01634 888474.

We hope the above information is helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

From 1 January 2025, the Medway Building opening times will be 08:00 to 18:00 hours, Monday to Sunday.  

Outside of these times, the Medway Building will be card access only from 18:00 to 22:00 hours. After 22:00 until 08:00 is out of hours, and the Medway Building should be empty. 

The Medway Campus, shared with Greenwich and Christ Church, will still have 24/7 security patrols and CCTV on site. However, the Walking Taxi Service will not be available at Medway during out of hours times. 

You can still contact security on the same number but out of hours you will need to go to the Gate House on the Medway campus (on Central Avenue).  

If students, including KMTV students, need access to the Medway Building out of hours, this should be directly associated with your studies and agreed with your academic supervisor. Once you have staff approval, you will need to email security@kent.ac.uk in advance and activate the SafeZone app when in the Medway Building.

Over the summer we let you know that we were making some changes to our Academic Management Structure and we can now confirm what the 10 academic Schools at Kent will be called from January 2025: 

What does this mean for me? 

Most of the changes will be behind the scenes so you may not see anything obvious as staff work hard to minimise disruption to your studies.  

You may start to hear staff using these new school names however Divisional email addresses will still work until the end of this academic year. If you’re unsure who to contact, ask Nexus to be linked up with the right service or team. 

I am on a course being phased out. Where do I go for support? 

If you are on a course being phased out, please be reassured that we will continue to support you while you’re at Kent. Heads of School and support staff from your assigned school, as well as central teams, are on hand to support you.

If you’re unsure who to contact, ask Nexus to be linked up with the right service or team.

Courses being phased out will be aligned to one of the new schools (see table below).  

If you have any questions or feedback in the meantime about the new Academic Management Structure, please email kent2030student@kent.ac.uk

In November 2024 the Government announced that for the academic year 2025/26 tuition fees for home students are set to increase by 3.1% to £9,535 for undergraduate degrees in England. We’ve put together a short summary of what this will mean for Kent students.  

Subject to final ratification in parliament, this tuition fee rise will apply for all undergraduate home students studying at the University of Kent for the 2025-26 academic year – both new and returning students. 

If you have a student loan, the fee rise will not result in any new upfront cost for students, and how you repay your student loan remains the same. The loan repayments you make each month when you have a job in the future are based on how much you earn rather than how much you have to repay. 

The Government also announced an increase in maintenance loan support to help students manage the cost of going to university. We have several cost-of-living measures at Kent alongside this to help you make the most of your time with us. 

FAQs 

What does this mean for international and postgraduate students? 

Tuition fees for international and taught postgraduate students are decided through a different process and are unaffected by this Government announcement. You can view the 2025-26 tuition fees for international and postgraduate students on the Kent website.  

When will fees rise and does it impact current students? 

Tuition fees may rise annually, but for UK undergraduates are capped by the Government. See Kent’s Tuition Fee Increase Policy for more information. Both the tuition fee and maintenance loans for UK undergraduate students will rise in the 2025-26 academic year.   

What will the 2025-26 tuition fees be? 

Tuition fees will rise in line with inflation for the first time since 2017, this means current fees will increase from £9,250 a year to £9,535 (full-time). 

How much is the maintenance support increasing by? 

Maintenance loans have increased each year however the increases haven’t kept up with inflation. The Government announced that maintenance loans will also increase in line with inflation from September 2025. This means the students who rely on maintenance loans will have more money in their pockets from the next academic year. If you are currently facing financial hardship, please see cost of living support at Kent. 

Does this change my student loan repayments? 

If you apply for a tuition fee loan, this money is paid directly to the university to cover the cost of your course. If you apply for a maintenance loan, it is paid directly to your bank account to help with the costs of going to university. 

You will not need to repay tuition fee or maintenance loans until you have completed your degree or have left the university. Even though the amount you borrow will be different, the student loan repayment process remains the same.  

Cost of Living Support at Kent 

If you are struggling with the rising cost of living, here’s some of the support available at Kent: 

• Emergency funding – we have funds and emergency short term loans for students facing financial hardship. 

• Finance support contacts – here are some useful contacts to help you with your finance questions and offer advice. 

• Supplemental food support – KSU’s Campus Pantry at Canterbury is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 12:00-16:00. There are no questions asked the first time you use the service. 

• Rutherford Meal Deal – head over to Rutherford (Canterbury) for the £3.50 Meal Deal. Open for lunch and dinner, you can choose between 2 hot meals (one plant-based) with 2 sides. 

• £3 sub and drink meal deal and other offers at The Deep End (Medway). 

• Pick up free sanitary products from KSU’s Mandela Student Centre and the laundry facilities on the Canterbury campus, and from the Deep End at Medway. 

• Campus lounges have microwaves and hot taps so you can reheat leftovers or make yourself a hot drink. See warm spaces map. 

• Borrow a laptop for up to 12 hours for use in the Templeman Library and across our Canterbury campus. In Medway you can use LapSafe in Drill Hall Library (same day or 7-day loans available). 

See all the above support and more on our cost-of-living webpages.  

It’s the last week of the Autumn term! Find out what’s on this week including lots of events to get you in the festive mood.

Need some extra study support? The Skills for Academic Success team are running 15 minute drop-in appointments all week at Canterbury campus and on Tuesday and Wednesday at Medway campus.   

Monday 9 December: Carols at the Cathedral and festive karaoke 

Did you manage to get a ticket for the sold-out Carols at the Cathedral service? If you were lucky enough to get one, go along for traditional carols and performances from University’s Minerva Voices and the award-winning Kent Gospel Choir! 

Or for a different festive vibe, sing your heart out to Christmas tunes at K Bar’s Christmas karaoke night! 

Tuesday 10 December: Mindfulness colouring with counselling team and create your own foraged wreath 

On Tuesday afternoon, members of the counselling team will be available to answer any queries you may have about therapy and mindfulness in Nexus. There will also be mindful colouring to help you to de-stress and unwind.  

Create your own festive foraged wreath using greenery collected from campus. Enjoy the experience of foraging and crafting your own wreath, along with festive food and drink.  

Wednesday 11 December: Covid and Flu Vaccine Clinic, Coco the therapy dog, cookie decorating (Medway) and GRC Winter Showcase 

Get your covid and flu vaccines from our Covid and Flu Vaccine Clinic at Senate, Canterbury campus, on Wednesday (10:00-15:00).  

Take a break from the holiday rush and spend some quality time with Coco the therapy dog at this special Christmas-themed event in Nexus.  

At The Hub in Medway, you can enjoy some festive cookie decorating. Get creative and decorate your cookie with icing and sprinkles.  

On Wednesday afternoon it’s the Graduate and Researcher College’s Winter Showcase 2024. Open to all postgrads, you can attend research talks, explore research posters and present your own work. It’s the perfect platform to connect, learn, and share your research with peers. 

Thursday 12 December: Christmas paper crafts (Medway) and Carols around the Tree 

Enjoy some Christmas paper crafts at The Hub on Thursday afternoon. Create festive decorations, ornaments and Christmas cards. 

Students, staff, alumni and members of the local community are warmly invited to join us on the Registry Lawn for Carols Around the Tree on Thursday at 16:30. This much-loved annual event offers an opportunity for us to come together to celebrate the season.  

Friday 13 December: End of Autumn term and gardening 

Friday marks the end of the undergraduate Autumn term!  

You can volunteer at the Kent Community Oasis Garden, our students, staff and community members are working to create a sustainability hub centred around growing food.  

See all student events.  

Opportunities  

• Will you be returning from overseas after the winter break? You can use our airport transfer service for your return to campus on 9 January 2025. 

• Staying on campus over the winter break? Let us know by Wednesday 11 December! 

• Students staying on campus can also pick up a free craft kit from Mandela Student Centre until Wednesday 18 December.   

See all student opportunities. 

There’s not long left to be in with the chance of winning one of 10 £1,000 grants for Kent students.

All students can enter, including undergraduates, postgraduates, part-time and full-time students.

The grant, with its no-strings-attached approach, aims to provide financial freedom and gives you the flexibility to use the funds where they’re needed most. Whether it’s investing in textbooks, upgrading your study space, or covering living expenses, the choice is yours.

Santander’s Brighter Futures Grants programme is not just a grant, it’s an investment in your academic journey, providing you with the tools you need to do well.

Entering is quick and easy:

1. If you haven’t already, register for Santander Open Academy – a free online
   learning platform
2. Follow the verification link in your confirmation email
3. Log in and choose ‘Get Started’ to complete your entry into the Brighter Futures Grants programme. From the menu you need to select ‘University of Kent’.
4. Get your entries submitted by 23:00 on 5 December 2024.

Whether you win or not, you’ll still have access to browse the Santander Open Academy website for free, on-demand learning content that can help support you in your studies.

Apply today before 5 December 2024