Pillars, Blocks and Slots
The Joint Honours pillars (approved by Council in March 2018) form the basis of the rotational timetable block structure of the fixed timetable. Subjects in the Joint Honours structure are grouped into four pillars. Business, Computer Science, Law, Political Science, and Linguistics were successfully fitted into the pillars (approved by Council on 3 June 2020). Subjects in any pillar can, in principle, be combined with a subject in any other pillar. In practice, only a subset of these combinations will be offered.
In summary, the pillar and block structure of the fixed timetable facilitates:
- a timetable that accommodates core contact hours for all shared modules for the Joint Honours offerings.
- rotating time slots for each pillar and year (to prevent modules from all years of any given subject having to be taught in the same block).
- a range of possible Open Modules and New Minor Subjects for any given student.
- dedicated timetable slots for the Trinity Electives which makes student choice possible.
The fixed timetable brings many benefits. It accommodates all of the requirements of the Common Architecture and features under a single general structure. New combinations of subjects across pillars require no additional timetabling – they are already enabled. New degree subjects can readily be accommodated without affecting any other subjects, by slotting new subjects into a pillar. It also greatly enhances compatibility of modules for visiting students.