Change Log

In section …	We (removed / changed / added / …)	The statement:
Overview & Primary Use of Moodle	Clarified	Permitted and supported use cases of Moodle directly support active students in their studies.
Other uses of Moodle	Outlined	Non-educational use cases are currently permitted, though support and improvements will not normally be provided.
Devolved responsibility of Moodle	Clarified Clarified	Course owners are responsible for privacy policy and data retention at course level. For non-educational uses of Moodle, course owners may be at greater risk of non-compliance with university regulation, best-practice and cyber-security
Review	Updated	The purpose and aims of Moodle and the policies governing its use are under constant review to ensure the system meets, and continues to meet, the University’s requirements for teaching and learning, as outlined by the Blended Learning Service in the Guiding Principles & Priorities (link opens in new tab).

Overview

Moodle is an online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that offers file sharing, communication tools and other pedagogical resources to users, primarily for the purposes of supporting Education. Cambridge University provides these services subject to the University Terms and Conditions statement. Moodle is governed by the Education Portfolio, Educational Services and related University Educational Committees such as GBEC. Moodle is administered & supported by the Teaching, Learning & Assessment Systems & Services Team in UIS, in conjunction with the Blended Learning Services team in Educational Services. Further information and guidance for use can be found below.

These Terms and Conditions state the permitted and supported uses of Moodle, which includes those use cases that directly support active University of Cambridge students in their studies.

Primary Use of Moodle

Moodle is the main VLE of the University of Cambridge. It is provided by University Information Services (UIS) and endorsed by the Education Portfolio to support teaching and learning across the Collegiate University. Specifically, Moodle is designed, configured and supported to aid active students in their studies towards a qualification or certificate awarded by the University in line with the University’s Statutes and Ordinances.

Other Uses of Moodle

Currently, the system’s online tools and facilities are often used to support other activities, such as -but not limited to- Training & Compliance, Recruitment, Widening Participation, Committee support, Education Administration, appointment booking, project collaboration, and general secure file-sharing and storage.

However, these are very much secondary uses of Moodle, not endorsed by the Education Portfolio or UIS, and other more suitable systems may be available. Please consult UIS guidance to facilitate these decisions: Browse help by service category  (link opens in new tab) & Guidelines on University data security classifications (link opens in new tab).

Requests for improvements to Moodle to aid in these secondary uses will not be accepted. Due to changes to improve Educational uses of Moodle, aspects of Moodle critical to these secondary uses may be altered, or withdrawn, with very little notice.

The teams who administer Moodle will not normally:

• Provide improvements to Moodle to facilitate only non-educational use.
• Answer support and service requests related to non-educational use.
• Take non-educational use case into consideration when evaluating, and planning change, including changes to existing, or new, policies and procedures.

Devolved Responsibility for Moodle

Although hosted and maintained centrally, Cambridge Moodle uses a devolved ownership model: Departments, Colleges, Non-School Institutions and other offices are responsible for managing and administrating their own areas in Moodle and how those areas are used. It is the responsibility of local managers to ensure that Moodle is appropriate and suitable for the purpose for which it is being used, and that its use complies with the University’s policies and guidelines. These policies include, but are not limited to, data protection, data retention, GDPR compliance, copyright, security, personal data considerations, access restrictions, and intellectual property rights. To help with this, UIS have put together guidance which can be found under the 'About Moodle' navigation heading in Moodle (Raven/Moodle access required).

Course owners are responsible for setting up:

• A privacy notice if the course is used in such a way that personal (GDPR) data is uploaded to it.
• A data retention policy if they download backups of the course and store them offline, especially if these contain personal data added for the purpose of the course.

Users and course owners are responsible for backing up any data they uploaded or need to retain for periods exceeding the Moodle data retention period (e.g. course / activity completion reports; student papers; etc.).

Please note that, for non-educational uses of Moodle, course owners may be at greater risk of non-compliance with university regulation, best-practice and cyber-security.

Support for Moodle Users

Support for Moodle users is provided by local managers and centrally by the UIS Teaching, Learning & Assessment Systems Team (TLAS team). The TLAS team supports all Moodle users through classroom training, online guides, and the Moodle Helpdesk, for the delivery of teaching, learning and assessment.

Changes to Moodle

The TLAS team regularly changes Moodle to improve its security, stability, and usability. Requests for changes and improvements are accepted from across the Collegiate University, and priority is given to those that improve its effectiveness as a tool to support the delivery of teaching and learning.  In addition, necessary changes may (rarely) be made that negatively impact one or more secondary uses.

Review

The purpose and aims of Moodle and the policies governing its use are under constant review to ensure the system meets, and continues to meet, the University’s requirements for teaching and learning, as outlined by the Blended Learning Service in the Guiding Principles & Priorities (link opens in new tab).

Last review: 30^th September 2025.

If you have any comments or concerns, or need any help or support, please contact the Moodle Helpdesk on moodlehelp@uis.cam.ac.uk.