Attendance and Engagement

Why have I been asked to attend a meeting with the Student Visa Compliance team?

As a Student visa holder, the University is required to maintain certain records and ensure your engagement on your course. You may be asked to attend a Document Review with the team which acts as an engagement point with the University and allows us to check that our records are accurate.

This is also an opportunity for us to review your attendance and for you to ask any questions about your visa. You may also be asked to attend a meeting for other reasons, such as if there are concerns about your attendance, to discuss a more complex visa situation, or if we need to see your original documents.

Do I have to attend my timetabled events?

Yes. All students, regardless of visa status, are required to attend all timetabled events as explained in Section C of the Student Regulations and Procedures:

 

The University is required to report to the Home Office any Student visa holder who misses 10 points of contact or stops academically engaging. We may withdraw you from your course if your attendance and engagement does not comply with the requirements of either the University or your responsibilities as a Student visa holder.

How is my attendance monitored?

Registers will be taken at timetabled events.  Please ensure that where a paper register exists that you have signed the register.  Staff will also use electronic registers to register your attendance.  We may also ask you to attend a Visa review or reply to a visa review email at regular points during your studies.  We will use this review to check that your attendance meets the UKVI requirements and that we have the required records relating to your permission to remain in the UK.

What do I do if I am too ill to attend the course?

You should notify your Course Administrator as soon as possible to confirm the reason for absence and when you expect to return to studies. For absences of five or more days, we will require a medical certificate or other appropriate evidence to tell us why. It is your responsibility to organise and provide this to us. If you are off for more than 10 working days, we may ask you to intermit from your course for the rest of the academic year.

See Section C of the Student Regulations and Procedures:

 

I urgently need to leave the country e.g. for a funeral or more serious medical reasons.  What do I need to do?

All absence must be approved by your Course Leader and the Academic Registry.  You should notify your Course Administrator as soon as possible to confirm the reason for absence and when you expect to return to studies.  The University will then inform you if your absence has been authorised.

If you think that the absence will impact on your studies you should also complete the Extenuating Circumstances form.  More information on applying for Extenuating Circumstances is available from the following link:

 

Can I leave the UK before the end of term if I do not have any teaching?

We advise students to remain in the UK until the official end of term to ensure that they can participate in any academic opportunities, benefit from any support regarding assessment and in case any assessors or external examiners need to talk to you over the assessment period.

This is explained in C1.3 in the Student Regulations.

If you do need to leave the UK prior to the end of term, you should make your course administrator aware of your travel plans. It is important that you are available to contact during this time, including regularly checking your University email address. This absence request may be denied if you will miss points of contact with the University, such as teaching or assessment.

Can I take a  holiday during term time or leave the UK before the end of term?

You should not plan to take holidays during periods where you have teaching. All absence from teaching must be approved by your Course Leader and the Academic Registry. You should notify your Course Administrator as soon as possible if you would like to request time away during term time and will need to confirm the reason for absence and when you expect to return to studies. You should request your absence before booking any travel.

The University will then inform you if your absence has been authorised. If your absence is not approved and you do not attend teaching, this will be recorded as unauthorised absence, which will be reflected in your attendance monitoring by the Student Visa Compliance team. Significant or repeated unauthorised absence may result in withdrawal from your course.

Typically holidays and leaving early for the end of term are not valid reasons for missing teaching, however, we will assess each request and may approve short absences, for example for significant personal events such as a family wedding.

Will I be withdrawn from my course if I miss a teaching session?

The University is required to report to the Home Office any Student visa holder who misses 10 points of contact without sufficient explanation or who stops academically engaging. We may withdraw you from your course if your attendance and engagement does not comply with the requirements of the University or your responsibilities as a Student visa holder.

Missing one teaching session will not result in withdrawal from the University. If you follow the correct absence procedure, missing the occasional teaching session for valid reasons such as illness, will likely not have any impact on your attendance record.

If your attendance is below the University’s requirements, we will discuss this with you via email and may require you to attend a meeting with the Student Visa Compliance team. You will usually have the opportunity to improve your attendance prior to withdrawal, providing that you engage with the University.