Unit & Programme Management System FAQs

When you are editing a programme structure you need to make sure you are editing the structure that will be running in the year the change is due to take place, normally the next academic year. 

Programme structures are displayed by entry cohort. If the latest version of the programme is entry cohort 14/15, this will display what’s running for year 1 students from 14/15 onwards; year 2 students for 15/16 onwards; year 3 students for 16/17 onwards and so on. 

Sometimes you may need to update more than one version of a programme, for example if you are changing the 4th year running in 15/16, you would need to make sure you update any versions from 12/13  onwards plus any future versions. Always check in ‘all versions’ on the programme structure of the UPMS screen.

E.g. Changes you apply to the 12/13 version ( Yr4 in 15/16) will not automatically appear in the existing 13/14 version (Yr 4 in 16/17) – you need to open each version that’s been created and apply the change until you update the version that says  ‘onwards’ e.g. ‘17/18 onwards’.

1. Mandatory units should always show as aligned to the left below the blue title bar.
2. When you add a unit to a programme structure it is automatically listed as mandatory and you need to move it to the relevant place.
3. To create a list of optional units you must first ‘add list’ to the programme structure. The list has a thin yellow dotted line beneath the title bar. You drag and drop the units you want to go into the optional list by picking up the unit with your mouse, dragging it slightly to the right of the screen, and inserting it between the blue title and the yellow dotted line of the list.
4. The credit point total of all lists plus mandatory units should add up to the number of credit points required for that year of study (found under ‘Edit this year’). In some cases you might need to drop the credit points of the optional list down to zero, to enable the mandatory units to be picked up as such.

You should limit the size of the proposals you put together because proposals that contain a very large number of units and or programmes will slow the system down and can cause errors when you try to submit them.

Ideally, you should break your proposal down into smaller packages of associated or similar changes. Not only will this prevent system problems when you try to submit, but it will also make the proposal more manageable for the committee members to scrutinise.

Please remember that you must only edit a programme or unit in one proposal at a time.

No. The new academic year starts on the 1st August each year, from this date when you try to edit ‘next academic year’ on units in the UPMS you will be editing the following year.  For programme data, you will also find that you are unable to edit the current academic year.

You will also notice that from the 1st August the default year view in the catalogue moves onto the new academic year.

For urgent last minute or in year changes, you should contact the AQPO at approval-help@bristol.ac.uk.

A unit title change is always considered a new unit, unless it is a correction to a typo.

There is a very easy way to do this in the UPMS, where the system automatically replaces the unit you are changing with the new unit in all the programmes that it’s currently taught on;

1. Open the unit that is changing and click onto ‘replace unit’;
2. Change the title as required (note that you can also change a unit’s credit point value this way);
3. Click save and then complete the approval information.

You will see that the relevant programmes and shared programme structures have been pulled into the proposal and the unit has been replaced in the relevant places.

The UPMS Programme Editor is the designated administrator in your school  with responsibility for managing unit changes at programme level and ensuring the accuracy of programme and unit data. Please see this link for the list of ‌UPMS Programme Editors