Student Voice
At Central Film School (CFS), we don’t just train the next generation of filmmakers, screenwriters, and screen professionals—we champion independent voices. And the most important voice on our campus is yours.
The Student Voice is our collaborative partnership between the student body and the School. It is the mechanism that ensures your ideas, feedback, and perspectives directly influence how CFS is run, how your courses are delivered, and how our community grows.
Whether you want to praise a brilliant module, suggest an upgrade to our kit, or challenge the status quo, we provide the platforms to make sure your voice isn't just heard—it drives real change.
How it Works: From the Classroom to the Boardroom
We embed the Student Voice across every level of our management, academic quality, and institutional governance. This happens primarily through a tiered system of representation:
Student Representatives
Every single cohort selects at least one peer to serve as their Student Representative. As a rep, you become the vital link between your classmates and the school management, gathering feedback and advocating for your cohort’s academic and student experience.
The Student Council
The Student Council is the collective hub for student leadership at CFS. Composed of representatives from across different courses and cohorts, the Council meets regularly to discuss wider campus life, student welfare, facilities, and school-wide initiatives. It serves as a democratic space where student reps collaborate, debate, and unify the student voice on major issues before escalating them to senior management boards.
The Courses Board
Your feedback directly impacts the day-to-day delivery of your education through the Courses Board. Instituted by the Academic Board, this forum is designed to enhance academic quality, review strategies for teaching and learning, and build a collaborative partnership between staff and students.
- Who is there? Chaired by the Director of Courses & Curriculum, the board includes Course Leaders, Registry & Quality managers, and crucially, Student Representatives. In fact, the board cannot officially meet without student representation present to form a quorum.
- What do they do? The Courses Board meets termly to review module feedback, National Student Survey (NSS) results, and External Examiner reports. It acts as your direct forum to voice opinions on the management, content, assessment, and delivery of your courses. If changes or modifications are proposed for a module or course, student input here helps shape and sign off on those updates.
The Academic Board
For higher-level academic governance, the Student Voice steps into the ultimate academic decision-making body of the School: the Academic Board. Instituted by the Board of Directors, the Academic Board provides the overarching leadership for the day-to-day running of CFS.
- Who is there? Chaired by the CEO, it consists of Heads of Departments, Course Leaders, Senior Registry staff, and Student Representatives. Just like the Courses Board, a meeting cannot proceed without at least one representative from the Student Council present.
- What do they do? The Academic Board meets three times a year to debate and make definitive choices on the school's curriculum, policy changes, academic standards, validation of new courses, and student assessment procedures. By having seats at this table, students actively participate in voting on policies that materially affect the entire student body.
Why Your Feedback Matters
When you fill out module feedback mechanisms, speak to your reps, or participate in surveys, you trigger a chain reaction:
- You speak: Your thoughts are gathered by Student Reps or feedback forms.
- We evaluate: The Courses Board tracks these issues, identifies solutions, and ensures actions are implemented or escalated.
- We govern: The Academic Board reviews reports from management committees, evaluating risk, equality, and diversity to finalise policy updates.
Through this structure, your feedback has previously resulted in curriculum updates, policy improvements, better scheduling, and structural enhancements to student support services.
Get Involved
Central Film School is everyone in our academic community. Don’t sit on the sidelines—help us direct the script.
- Become a Student Rep: Step up during cohort elections to represent your peers on the Courses Board and Academic Board.
- Talk to Your Reps: Keep your representatives informed about what is working well and what needs attention.
- Fill Out Surveys: Your module feedback and survey responses provide the hard data needed to push through meaningful institutional improvements.
Have an immediate question or want to know more about student governance? Reach out to the Quality & Registry Team at qar@centralfilmschool.com or stop by Student Services.
