A few prompts and reminders which might be helpful to students' associations and institutions around this time of year, some of which we’ve already flagged in recent articles….
Course Rep Training planning
Following on from the reminder in our early April news article about CRT planning, please see a further CRT reminder in our separate news article today! In recent weeks we have been contacting Course Rep Training (CRT) organisers within Scottish institutions/SAs to ask about their plans for CRT delivery in 2026-27. Early planning can help you decide what model will work best for your students, your staff capacity and your wider approach to student representation. The process also helps sparqs in determining what support institutions may need during the coming academic year. See our article for details of the various options available to you. CRT planning is a key action suggested in the timeline of our Induction resource for Academic Representation Co-ordinators. The timeline presents a mock outline of a year and may be helpful in terms of other tasks which may be within your remit if you're an Academic Rep Co-ordinator or in a similar role.
IAT recruitment
Continuing with the CRT theme.... if you are part of our IAT (Institutional Associate Trainer) scheme, or are considering joining it, you'll need to get your IAT recruitment underway soon, if not already in process. As noted in the April CRT planning article, your in-house trainers need to be recruited in plenty time, in order that they can be included in the sparqs’ residential training in late August. Our training will equip them with the skills to deliver your CRT across the coming year. This year’s sparqs' training is taking place from Monday 24th to Thursday 27th August 2026 at Queen Margaret University.
Induction and outduction of your education officers
As the turn of the academic year approaches, it’s a good time of year for students' associations to start thinking about plans for inducting their 2026-27 education officer(s), as well as the ‘outduction’ of those 2025-26 officer(s) about to finish their term. As noted in our April news article on induction/outduction we have updated our guidance documents to help with both of those processes. As you consider officer handover, please keep in mind the importance of capturing the perspectives of outgoing officers in relation to the work they have been involved in during the year. Their feedback should inform the Self-Evaluation and Action Plan (SEAP) process.... see the next reminder below.....
Collect SEAP evidence from your outgoing officers
As highlighted in our April SEAP reminder article, please be sure to capture perspectives and feedback from outgoing officers which will inform your Self-Evaluation and Action Plan (SEAP) process and your submission due on 30th November 2026. The elected student officer at the time of the SEAP submission in November may not have been in post during the discussions and activities of the previous academic year, on which the SEAP is based. Therefore, some activity may need to happen now, before any outgoing officers leave around May/June/July. This will ensure that what they have been working on with the institution throughout the year is captured, so that the rationale and evidence for content of the SEAP can be shared with the incoming officer.
That’s Quality! 2026 – save the dates and register your officers and SA staff
A reminder that registration is open for our 2026 That’s Quality! programme, our annual induction event for student officers and students’ association staff. Following feedback from delegates at last year’s event, we have reviewed the course content and logistics. The full programme now comprises a self-study module and an extended residential event across Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th August 2026. An additional half-day at the beginning now replaces the previous half-day online sessions. Please think about which of your officers and staff need to attend and get them registered to attend and save the dates!
We know it’s a busy time of year for everyone, so we just wanted to pull together a few key reminders in one place, so that they’re not missed in amongst elections and awards season and all the other competing priorities around this time of year.