Policy development and review

A policy provides a set of rules, standards, or principles to control different aspects of how the University operates and makes decisions. 

View our existing policies in operation.

Some policies at Queen Mary are known as ‘Codes’ (for example, the Code of Practice on Free Speech) and others referred to as ‘Regulations (for example, Academic Regulations). 

Policies are distinct from procedures, which set out how policies should be operated or how specific tasks should be carried out.

The Governance and Legal Services Directorate maintains a register of all policies at the University.  If you are responsible for a policy, you should ensure details are included in the register.  

Different bodies or groups at the University are responsible for approving policies.  Some policies require approval by Council (the Governing Body of the University), but most policies are approved by the Senior Executive Team (SET), Senate or another decision-making group. 

The policy register has list of all policies at Queen Mary, this includes the approval body for each policy.  If you are unsure which group or individual would be responsible for approving your policy, please contact the Policy and Governance Lead, Danny Hassell. 

If you wish to develop a new policy, you need to establish why a new policy is required before it can be developed.  Proposals for a new policy should be discussed with Policy and Governance Lead, Danny Hassell.

Proposed policies require consideration by the Policy Scrutiny Group (PSG) before they can be developed.  This is known as Gateway 0.  The PSG will consider the proposal and if it is approved, will offer suggestions on how it should be aligned to other policies, or which stakeholders should be involved in the design and development of the new policy. 

Further information about The Policy Gateways, please contact Danny Hassell. A draft policy guide is available upon request and a final version will be published in Spring 2025.

The Policy Scrutiny Group includes senior staff from across the University’s professional services departments.  The group is chaired by the Chief Governance Officer and includes representatives from Finance, Governance and Legal Services, HR, Communications and the Principal’s Office.  The group meets monthly.  The work of the Policy Scrutiny Group is co-ordinated by the Policy and Governance Lead, Danny Hassell and Yasmin Smits, Executive Governance Officer.

The group offers scrutiny of policies at the different gateways; before they are developed, before they are reviewed and before they are finally approved after development or review. (See above for more detail on these gateways).

The scrutiny and the process are designed to be supportive and help guide policy authors in their work and ensure good quality policies for the University.

The Policy Scrutiny Group meets monthly.  If you would like to get an item on the agenda for a meeting, we would ask you to make contact at least two weeks before the date of the meeting. Papers must be provided at least a week before the meeting so that they can be circulated to members. Any request to add an item should be made at least 2 weeks in advance. 

For further information about sending a policy to the Policy Scrutiny Group, please contact Yasmin Smits.

As new policies are being developed or existing policies reviewed, they should use the latest Policy Template [DOC 55KB] where possible. Any depature from this must be considered with the Directorate of Governance and Legal Services (DGLS). 

When drafting your policies, you should also refer to the Policy writing guidance [PDF 135KB]. This will help ensure that all our policies have a consistent look and feel and meet standards for accessibility and brand design. 

A draft policy guide is available upon request and a final version will be published in Spring 2025. The Policy Guide includes information on the suggested content and structure of a policy, based on the policy template. 

The Policy Scrutiny Group suggests that policies are reviewed every three years.  We want to ensure policies are relevant and up to date but we also want to prevent policies being reviewed too frequently so that when they are reviewed and updated this can be done more thoroughly. 

There may be circumstances where there is a particular requirement for policies to be reviewed annually, for example.  However, we are aiming to move away from annual reviews for most policies. 

Policies may need to be reviewed before their three-yearly review.  An example of when this would apply would be if there has been a change in the law that requires our policy to change to reflect this.

If you have a specific question about a policy, you should contact the person or department responsible for the policy.  As new policies are developed on the latest Policy Template [DOC 55KB] they should include details of the policy author or owner who should be able to advise.