Change 'Freeze' Timetable
The table below outlines the various event driven IT change freeze periods throughout the year. A freeze on changes to the IT environment is imposed during critical events to minimise the risk of system failures and downtime impacting critical and high profile events.
| Period of Year | Freeze Period Name | Freeze Type | Services Frozen |
| January 6th - 21st 2025 |
Examination Period | Targeted Freeze | QMPlus, Authentication services (IDCheck, Shibboleth), Managed Student Desktop Service. |
| January 10th - 17th 2025 |
Winter Enrolment | Targeted Freeze | SITS, MySIS, Agresso, ID Card Systems, Kinetics, Web delivery systems, underlying infrastructure. |
| May 8th - 6th June 2025 |
Examination Period | Targeted Freeze | QMPlus, Authentication services, Managed Student Desktop Service. |
| August 4th - 15th 2025 |
Late Summer Resit (LSR) exams | Targeted Freeze | QMPlus, Authentication services (IDCheck, Shibboleth), Managed Student Desktop Service. |
| August 4th - 22nd 2025 |
Clearing | Soft (Targeted) Freeze: 4th - 7th August Hard Freeze: Soft Freeze: |
Targeted Freeze: Systems critical to the clearing process i.e SITS, MySIS, telephony, network shares, underlying infrastructure. Hard Freeze: All IT Systems |
| September (Provisional): 8th - 26th 2025 |
Main Enrolment | Targeted Freeze | SITS, MySIS, Agresso, ID Card Systems, Kinetics, Web delivery systems, underlying infrastructure. |
Note: The timetable will be aligned to the calendar published on the ARCS website regarding QMUL specific annual events and periods.
Exclusions: Pre-approved, standard, low risk changes are excluded from change freezes.
Glossary
Targeted or Soft freeze: Some services are more critical during certain periods such as clearing or enrolment, where the impact of a service interruption due to a change would be greater. A targeted freeze period will apply to such critical services.
Hard freeze: During a Hard freeze, no non-standard changes will be implemented to ANY IT service.
Change Freeze Exception Process: If it is essential for a change to be made during a freeze, it will need to follow the Change Freeze Exception Process which requires assessment of the risk of delaying the implementation and Assistant Director approval.
Change Schedule: To check dates specific to a particular year please refer to the shared calendar in MS Outlook/Office 365 (from your Outlook calendar > click on Open Calendar (under the Home tab) > click on From Address Book... > search for ‘[Shared] ITS Change Schedule’).