A New Programme Proposal (NPP) form must be submitted for approval of all new undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes that lead to a named award at the University. A ‘5 minute guide’ has been developed as an introduction to the process, however it is strongly recommended that you read and understand the full ‘New Programme Proposal Guidance’ Document before starting a proposal.

Links to the form and associated guidance is listed below:

• New Programme Proposal Form
• New Programme Proposal Guidance Document
• Course Unit Specification Form
• Course Unit Specification Guidance

NPP timelines and deadlines

The deadline for NPP submissions in the 2026-27 academic year is Monday 15 March 2027.

* Note that this route is criteria led not self-selected and is not appropriate for programmes beholden to UCAS timelines e.g. undergraduate programmes

All major and significant amendments must be submitted on a Programme Amendment Form.  A '5-minute guide' has been developed as an introduction to the Programme Amendment process, however it is strongly recommended that you read and understand the full Programme Amendment Guidance document before starting the form.

There are 3 categories of Programme Amendment, 'minor', 'major' and 'significant'.  The Programme Amendment Matrix details about the types of amendments, the level of endorsement required, and the implications for Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Please refer to the matrix prior to completing the form.

When completing the form, please refer to the Programme Amendment Matrix for information about the types of changes, level of endorsement required, and the implications for Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Please note that some amendments may need to be communicated to prospective (applicants) and current students. Templates for communications can be found here.

Links to the form and associated guidance is listed below:

• Programme Amendment Form
• Programme Amendment Guidance
• Programme Amendment Matrix

Programme Amendment Deadlines

The 2026/27 deadline for submitting all major and significant programme amendments (for implementation in 2027/28 at the earliest) to Teaching and Learning Delivery (via email to quality@manchester.ac.uk) is provisionally Monday 15^th March 2027. 

Minor programme amendments can be submitted through the School Programme and Curriculum Team via the Minor Programme Amendment School Spreadsheet rather than on individual forms for each amendment. The deadline for minor amendments will be set by the School, with approval from the Faculty Vice-Dean TLS, and must be before 31 August.

School and Faculty deadlines may be considerably earlier than the above dates, and you should ensure that you are aware of those deadlines.

Programme Withdrawals and Suspensions must be submitted using the correct form (linked below). A ‘5 minute guide’ has been developed as an introduction to these processes, but it is strongly recommended that you read and understand the full process guide before completing the form.

Links to the forms and associated guidance is listed below:

• Programme Withdrawal Form
• Programme Suspension Form
• Programme Withdrawal and Suspension Guidance

The deadline for submitting programme withdrawals or suspensions to Teaching and Learning Delivery (via email to quality@manchester.ac.uk) for withdrawals or suspensions within the next academic year (2027/28) are:

• Friday 30^th April 2027

Schools and Faculties will have their own earlier internal deadlines to meet the final approval deadlines above. Please consult your Curriculum and Programme Teams for details (see contact details in the guidance document above).

Please note that a notification of a programme suspension/withdrawal may need to be sent to prospective students (applicants) and/or current students.  Templates for communications can be found here.

The current Degree Regulations (see http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/policy-guidance/degree-regulations/) contain a number of decisions that Schools must make and inform their Faculties about.

Additionally, Schools may request to deviate from the standard Degree Regulations in relation to specific degree programmes, if they have a strong rationale. 

If a variation to the standard University Degree Regulations is required, please complete one of the following forms:

Faculty Approval for choices available to Schools under the Degree Regulations - Undergraduate Programmes

Faculty Approval for choices available to Schools under the Degree Regulations - Postgraduate Taught Programmes

Completed forms should be submitted to the relevant Faculty Education Development, Policy, Procedure and Practice team for consideration.  If the request is approved by the Faculty, a copy of the form will then be sent to the Teaching and Learning Delivery team (quality@manchester.ac.uk).  A copy of the form will be saved and details of the variation(s) will be added to a central record.   

Micro-credentials are developed in collaboration with the Education Development Team and Manchester Online. Each micro-credential is equivalent to 50 notional hours. Further details are available in the Micro-credentials Guidance. The following forms must be completed as part of the approval process:

• Micro-credentials Expression of Interest Form
• Micro-credentials Approval Form

To support programme development, the Teaching and Learning Delivery (TLD) Team produce a template programme handbook to ensure all relevant and appropriate content is included in handbooks. All content has been agreed with the Programme and Curriculum subgroup of the TLD Operational Management Group. Content includes items that must be included to comply with our teaching and learning policies (coloured grey on the template). Other items are generic content provided by TLD that can be copied and pasted (coloured green on the template) and the remaining content is School specific that should be tailored by each School.