Research Approval
Before undertaking primary research, you must obtain research ethics approval by submitting a proposal for your research project.
Research Projects Guidance
Leeds Conservatoire is committed to maintaining the quality and ethical standards in our programmes, and when members of our academic community undertake primary research projects.
Following the conservatoire’s research approvals process ensures information is gathered via ethical and respectful interactions with participants, following best research practices.
Our Research Ethics Policy ensures adherence to ethical principles in research activities, aligning with the University of Hull’s guidelines as our validating body, and underpins this process.
Research Proposal & Ethics Approval Process
The aim of this process is to ensure researchers at the conservatoire interact with people and groups in a way that is ethical and respectful, and that they follow best practices for conducting and sharing research.
Process Overview
Researchers must submit a research ethics application before undertaking any research.
Do this via the online form, determining the risk level and providing an outline of your methodology.
- You submit your research proposal
- An ethics review is conducted, as per the level of risk.
- The proposal is reviewed and a decision is made
- You are emailed the outcome of the review.
Low risk proposals
A single ethics panel member, usually your module coordinator or tutor, reviews your proposal and either: approves it, rejects it with clear rationale, or requests you make a minor amendment.
If your proposal is as a whole sound, but your supervisor determines it to be moderate risk, they can escalate it to the ethics panel.
Moderate risk proposals
The ethics panel meets to discuss your proposal and make a joint decision to either: approve it, reject it with clear rationale, or request you make a minor amendment to it.
Process Diagram
Research Ethics Panel Dates
You must submit your research ethics proposal the week prior to the research ethics panel.
- Monday 10th November 2025
- Monday 24th November 2025
- Monday 2nd February 2026
- Monday 16th February 2026
- Monday 2nd March 2026
- Monday 23rd March 2026
- Monday 13th April 2026 – postgraduates only
- Monday 27th April 2026 – postgraduates only
These are the dates for the 2025-26 academic year.
Review Outcomes
If your proposal is approved, you will be sent a generated receipt of approval to your student email. At the bottom of the message under the “attachments added” heading you can download your receipt, the download link expires after 30 days.
You should include your receipt of approval as an appendix accompanying your assignment submission. Contact the TEL team if your download link has expired.
If your proposal is rejected, you should examine your proposal and consider the feedback and comments from the review. You can then submit a new proposal with changes based on your feedback.
If a proposal is determined to be high risk in the ethics review, it will be rejected. High risk research is not permitted for undergraduate or taught postgraduate researchers.
Failure to Obtain Research Ethics Approval
Failure to obtain research ethics approval for primary research at Level 6 and above, includes:
- Not submitting a research ethics application for primary research
- Failure to amend research plans as dictated by the panel following review
- Undertaking research that differs from that approved via the research ethics process
If research is undertaken that is any of the following, this could result in an academic misconduct case being raised against the researcher:
- Unethical
- Causes physical or mental harm to individuals
- Fails to evidence voluntary participation and a right to withdraw for participants
- Results in improper storage of participant data
Guidance for Researchers
Practical advice for meeting your ethical obligations as a researcher.
Informed Consent
Before research starts, you must get informed consent from participants. Informed consent means:
- Making sure participants have had the right information about your research
- Participants can understand the information you have communicated to them
- Participants are able to make an informed decision about their involvement with the research
Informed consent is important for complying with data protection, and you can learn about getting informed consent under UK GDPR in our guidance. However, getting informed consent also plays a huge role in making sure our research is ethical. If participants do not understand what they’re signing up to, their consent is meaningless.
Department for Education (2023) Gaining informed consent – version 2. Available online: https://user-research.education.gov.uk/guidance/ethics-and-safeguarding/gaining-informed-consent [accessed 14/10/24].
Consent Form Templates
Surveys and Data Collection
You must always manage the participant data you generate during your participant research under UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
The UK GDPR guidance on these pages is specific for participant researchers and explains how you can apply it to your research projects. The guidance is not intended to make your work harder, but to protect participants, yourself and the conservatoire.
Data protection principles:
- Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Data must be processed legally and transparently
- Purpose limitation: Data should only be collected for specific, legitimate purposes
- Data minimization: Only the necessary amount of data should be collected
- Accuracy: Data must be kept accurate and up to date
- Storage limitation: Data should not be kept longer than necessary
- Integrity and confidentiality: Data must be processed securely to prevent unauthorized access
Approved Survey Tools
If you are collecting responses using a digital survey, you must use one of the survey tools approved by the conservatoire. These tools are compliant with UK GDPR.
Online Surveys
A purpose-built for education and research practices.
Leeds Conservatoire has an institutional licence for Online Surveys, a survey platform created by Jisc.
Researchers can use the Online Surveys to build, disseminate and analyse surveys within their educational and research work. Licences are granted upon request.
Online Surveys has extended functionality in comparison to tools like Microsoft Forms:
- Wider variety of question types
- Greater options for branching and sub-questions
- Extended analysis tools
- Exclusion of individual survey responses
Microsoft Forms
Easy to use online survey builder.
Microsoft Forms can be used for online questionnaires and quizzes. You can access forms at office.com and viewing “all apps”. Log in using your conservatoire Microsoft account.
A good choice for basic surveys, and integrates well with the rest of the Microsoft 365 environment. Depending on your needs, you can very quickly put together simple forms and quizzes.
Research Mini Course
This self-paced online mini course covers the foundational knowledge of the role of research in higher education, and strategies for conducting effective research projects.
With a section dedicated to primary research, this is a good place to start if you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed.