PGR LearnUpon: Frequently Asked Questions

PGR Mandatory Training FAQ

Please see the sections below for answer to common queries regarding Postgraduate Research Student (PGR) mandatory training and the PGR LearnUpon system.

Login and IT issues

From the PGR LearnUpon login page, log in using your PGR student username and password.

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.6
128MB free RAM; 100MB free hard disk space; 32-bit colour graphics card; 1024 x 768 screen resolution
Sound card and speakers or headphones (for courses with audio only); Keyboard and mouse

The PGR LearnUpon mandatory training course are published in HTML5 and are compatible with all modern browsers, including Edge, Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

In rare cases, the running of HTML5 may be blocked within Edge, and in such cases we recommend using an alternative browser.

The mandatory training courses will all work on any Apple device, although they do not perform so well on iPads.

Most of our mandatory training is completed online and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The mandatory courses are automatically loaded onto your LearnUpon dashboard. Visit the LearnUpon login page to access your account using your PGR Username and Password (your single sign on, or SSO, login).

If your mandatory training course does not load, firstly try opening the course using a different browser. If that doesn’t work, please email us at researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

PGR LearnUpon is the learning management system that hosts the University’s PGR Mandatory Training eLearning modules.

If you have already undertaken the training on the staff LearnUpon system, you do not need to retake the training unless it is due for renewal.  Please email us (researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk) copies of your staff LearnUpon certificates so we can update your student record. 

Enrolment reminders and policy

You will be automatically enrolled onto the four mandatory training courses:

  • Introduction to Health & Safety
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Information Governance
  • Research Integrity

If you also work as a Postgraduate Teaching Associate, you will need to self-enrol in the following course:

  • Prevent

To access the catalogue of courses and self-enrol, click on the ‘Dashboard’ tab in the top left corner of your LearnUpon homepage. Scroll through the courses until you find the course you want, click on the green ‘enrol’ button on the right hand side. The course will now appear on your dashboard.

If your mandatory training course are not showing on your homepage, please email us at researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk so we can help you.

All Postgraduate Researchers (as well as staff) at the University are required to undertake mandatory training to ensure that the University not only complies with regulations and the law but also to ensure that your knowledge, skills and understanding of these important areas are kept up to date, enabling you to work and study safely, effectively and confidently.

All Postgraduate Research Students must complete the four PGR mandatory training courses. You may be required to take additional mandatory training, depending on your research area.

The courses identified as mandatory are a requirement for postgraduate research students at the University of Exeter. Completing the training is a requirement for receiving a University of Exeter IT account.

Failure to comply without good reason is considered to be a breach of your learning contract and may be subject to disciplinary action, through the Teaching Quality Assurance process.

The PGR mandatory training needs to be completed within your first 30 days of joining the University of Exeter and to be renewed in line with the refresh periods for each course.

A reminder email is sent out for each course each week for four weeks (days 1, 7, 14 and 21) unless the course is completed within that time. You have therefore received a reminder email because either:

  • You have yet to complete that particular mandatory training course; or
  • You are now due to renew this mandatory training course in line with the refresh periods

Please follow the instructions in the reminder email.

If you have undertaken this training via ELE in the last 2 years, please send email us with screenshots of your completion pages and we will update your record on LearnUpon. Please note it may take a little while for us to update your record, so please disregard any reminders you receive after sending in your screenshots.

If it is longer than 2 years since you undertook the training (or 1 year for the Information Governance course), please refresh your training by completing the LearnUpon course.

If you do not have screenshots of your completed training on ELE, please refresh your training by completing the LearnUpon course.

You are not able to re-enrol on the mandatory training courses, you will be automatically re-enrolled at your renewal date. Should you need to complete the training earlier, for any reason, please email us at researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk. You can still re-launch the courses to look back at the training – this will not overwrite your original test score or compliance date.

Responsibilities are set out in the Mandatory Training Policy

  • Postgraduate Research Students – undertake the required mandatory training for your studies and your research and renew your training within the compliance timelines.
  • Supervisors – check in with Postgraduate Research Students to ensure that they have completed the required mandatory training for their research.
  • Doctoral College – to monitor completion of mandatory training within the given timeframes and to follow up and report on non-compliance to Faculties and course sponsors.

Your primary Supervisor and the Doctoral College are responsible for ensuring that you complete your mandatory training. If you also work as a Postgraduate Teaching Associate (PTA), your line manager within the Faculty will be responsible for ensuring that you complete your mandatory training on day one of your PTA appointment.

If you have completed the training on ELE and have a screenshot of your completion result, we can update your LearnUpon record. If you do not have a screenshot of your result or have undertaken similar training at another University or organisation, you will need to complete the training on LearnUpon, which has been set up by the individual course sponsors.

If you have taken the same courses on the staff version of LearnUpon, please send us a copy of your certificate/result and we will be able to update your PGR LearnUpon record.

Your record will show as ‘In Progress’ if you have not completed the training in full or have not passed a test as part of the training.

If you are sure that you have completed the training in full and have passed any tests successfully (there are minimum scores required to pass all tests) and you believe that your record is incorrect, please contact us by email (researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk). We will investigate the issue and will update your record accordingly if required.

Your mandatory training record is held within LearnUpon. This record is kept separately from training booked and recorded through PGR iTrent. If you would like to include additional training completed on PGR iTrent, you can add this training as a Personal Learning Event.