The latest updates on developments across digital education systems are detailed below along with service information on our dedicated Downtime and Maintenance page.
You can also get these updates directly to your inbox by subscribing to the mailing list. Monthly summaries which provide an overview of the new features, bug-fixes, and improvements made to Digital Education Systems can also be found on the Monthly Digital Education Systems Updates page.
Clicking on a category (shown to the right of the post date) allows you to filter this list to a specific category to help you find related articles easily.
An essential 30-minute maintenance window is taking place on Thursday 17th September between 09:30 and 10:00 am (BST). During this time, staff and students may experience a short interruption of up to 5 minutes when they are unable to log in.
Staff and students may notice some notifications for old modules appearing in the Activity Stream (for 3, 4 and 8 September). Links to Panopto lecture capture recordings (migrated from our old lecture capture system) were added to historic modules which unfortunately exposed a bug with the Activity Stream, causing various notifications to be re-issued.
The August update introduces navigation and Gradebook updates, a new content editor option for Minerva Documents, content duplication capabilities, and improvements to Blackboard Tests.
We are aware of intermittent issues affecting some Minerva data feeds. Sometimes, updates to staff and student enrolments may not be processed as expected. Minerva account creation is unaffected.
After essential overnight maintenance, users may have experienced temporary issues accessing files and images in Minerva between 05:00am and 09:30am (BST) on Monday 20 July.
The July update brings updates to the module switcher and the Minerva recording tool in feedback/announcements. There is also a new description field for Discussions and Journal, timer option for AI Conversation and rubric evaluation report for Blackboard assessments.
Vevox has updated its user interface within the the set up dashboard. You will notice a different look and layout when you log in to create or share a session.
Our supplier reported that Turnitin was affected by a service issue which may have affected users accessing Turnitin between 01:00 and 02:38 BST on 4th June 2026.
The May Minerva update introduces changes to the module switcher, updates to Gradebook discussion due dates and group filters, and improved handling of group filters when grading. It also highlights inherited release conditions and removes hidden discussions from the Discussions tab.
Our supplier reported that Gradescope was affected by a service issue which may have affected some users accessing Gradescope between 17:20 and 18:05 BST on 29th April 2026.
Join us on Thursday 18 June 2026, 10.00am-1.00pm (arrival from 9.30am) to be part of PebbleShare 2026 – a collaborative event for staff who want to unlock PebblePad’s potential for teaching, assessment, reflective practice and skills development. Whether you’re just getting started or already using PebblePad, this session will inspire new ideas and practical approaches...
The March update includes an option to specify the assignment type for Blackboard Assignment, some changes to how multiple choice/answer questions work in Blackboard Test and improvements to the flexible grading interface used for most Blackboard assessments. There is also the addition of 'substantive' and 'non- substantive' labels to posts when staff mark Discussions and an option to limit the number of messages a student can create when interacting with an AI Conversation. The Minerva recording tool also has an option to change playback speed and how images are handled in emailed Announcements is also improved.
Our supplier reported that Turnitin was affected by a service issue which may have affected some users accessing Turnitin between 04:00 and 06:11 BST on 1st April 2026.
The University is closed from 2 April to 7 April 2025 inclusive for the April Bank Holiday. Find out more about what support is available during this time.
Our supplier reported that Turnitin was affected by a service issue which may have affected some users accessing Turnitin between 11:50 and 13:07 GMT on 24th March 2026.
The March update includes the introduction of AI‑generated Knowledge Checks, updated participation requirements for discussions, improvements to Blackboard Test and the Recording tool.
We recently experienced intermittent issues affecting Minerva data feeds, where on certain days, updates to staff and student accounts or enrolments may not be processed as expected. This issue has been resolved.
When writing a Minerva Message, the options to 'Send' and 'Send an mail copy to recipients' are pushed down the screen and cannot be selected as scrolling does not work.