A few changes to our academic structures coming this year
You might notice some differences to how we talk about our academic departments this year, so here’s a quick explainer to keep you in the loop.
Previously, our 25 academic departments were grouped into six Schools. This year, we’re starting to move to a new structure with three Faculties instead.
Faculties bring together similar subjects to help teams work more closely and support each other. It’s part of a bigger plan to make things simpler, which we hope will improve your experience.
We’re working on finalising the names and details, but the three proposed Faculties are:
As a student, you shouldn’t notice much difference at all this year. Your course, your lecturers, and your department all continue as usual. The changes will help us work better behind the scenes to support you. You might hear us referring to the new Faculties over the coming year.
Further improvements coming next academic year (2026/27)
Now we’ve created our three Faculties, our next step is to bring some smaller departments together to combine resources. That means some subjects might be organised a little differently in the future. This shouldn’t affect who you’re taught by or how you’re taught.
We know how important it is that smaller subject areas keep their identity and voice - and that’s something we’re committed to protecting. We’re taking time to discuss possible changes with colleagues in our academic departments.
So, while the structure behind the scenes might be shifting, your day-to-day experience should feel just as familiar and supportive as ever.
Got a question? Hopefully we’ve answered it below but if there’s something missing, please contact us at intranet@rhul.ac.uk.
Frequently asked questions
It's true that from 2026/27 we will no longer have six Schools, but this is just about changing our structures and what we call different areas.
This year, we’re in a transition phase. To help the change go smoothly, we’re operating “shadow Schools” this year while we get our three new Faculties set up and ready for September 2026.
For the moment, no, but it’s possible that you’ll see some changes from September 2026. Our next step is to bring some smaller departments together to combine resources. That means some subjects might be organised a little differently in the future.
Our Royal Holloway Business School is part of the Faculty of Business and Law. Following a review earlier this year, we decided to keep the Business School name as it’s widely recognisable externally.
Academic representation is really important to make sure all students have a voice, and this will continue in our new Faculty structure. Our Students’ Union is working on a full democracy review right now, which means there will be some changes to our rep system from September 2026. But the fundamentals – making sure you can have your say about your modules and course – will remain.