This Attendance and Engagement monitoring policy has been developed as part of The Courtauld’s commitment to providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment that enables all students to pursue and complete their programmes of study successfully.
The policy also outlines the procedure for monitoring the attendance of students who have been given permission to study in the UK on a Tier 4 visa.
This policy also aims to assist in the identification of students who may be at risk of academic failure or interruption and withdrawing from their programme of study because of poor attendance and/or lack of engagement with their course.
The attendance and engagement policy applies to all students irrespective of whether they are Home/EU or Overseas.
The attendance and engagement policy applies to undergraduate, taught postgraduate and research students.
Types of Absence
For the purposes of this policy there are two types of absence:
- Authorised Absence or Excused
The student has sought and been given authorisation from their personal tutor/MA Programme Director/ Supervisor for a period of absence. It is expected that this would normally be in advance of any learning activity. The types of authorised absence can include: pre-booked medical appointments, religious holidays, short term illness etc
Authorised absences will not trigger an absence warning. Authorised absences will be recorded as “excused” on the system.
- Unauthorised Absence
The student is not present at the required learning activity and has not given prior notification. The student will be recorded as absent on the system.
Attendance Monitoring
Attendance at discussion classes and seminars will be recorded.
Attendance will be monitored at the following learning activities:
- discussion classes and seminars
- personal tutor meetings
- supervisory meetings and supervisor records
The attendance of students on placements will be monitored by the placement provider and any issues will be reported to Student and Academic Services.
The number and frequency of attendance monitoring will be based on the frequency of the activity being monitored. The lecturer taking the learning activity will be responsible for completing the online register. The trigger point for absence is when a student falls below 80% attendance at learning activities.
Students who are identified as having dropped below 80% attendance will be contacted by Student and Academic Services by e-mail asking the student to meet with his/her Personal Tutor to discuss the reasons for the absence.
Personal Tutors should ensure that a record of this meeting is kept and should also ensure that Student and Academic Services are aware that a meeting has taken place.
A student who does not respond to the initial e-mail and continues to miss learning activities will be sent a second warning e-mail asking them to attend a meeting with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
If a student fails to respond to the second warning e-mail and continues to fail to attend core learning activities, they will be sent a third and final warning, and one of the following sanctions may be applied depending on whether this is a repeated occurrence of non- attendance and the impact of non-attendance on academic progress :
- A withdrawal of services (e.g. access to the VLE, IT accounts and the Library)
- The student is suspended or excluded.
Tier 4 Students
All Universities are required by UKVI to establish ten contact points to ensure that students who have been admitted on a Tier 4 visa are both attending and engaged with their programme of study. The ten contact points are a mixture of face to face and remote contact points, and these are monitored via E-Vision. Appendices B and C sets out the current contact points for Undergraduate and Postgraduate taught students.
At The Courtauld the ten contact points are monitored for all students regardless of whether they are on a Tier visa or not.
- The monitoring and inputting of data for the ten contact points should be undertaken by the following staff:
- Personal tutors for Undergraduates
- MA tutors for Postgraduates
- Supervisors for Research students
The data on E-Vision will be monitored by the Tier 4 Compliance Officer.
The Tier 4 Compliance Officer will contact the Personal Tutor if a student misses two contact points. The Personal Tutor/MA Tutor/Supervisor should then contact the student to invite them to a meeting to discuss the missed contact points.
If the student does not respond to the Personal Tutor’s request, they will be reported to the Head of Taught Programmes or the Head of Research Degrees for Research students.
If a student fails to respond to the second warning e-mail and continues to fail to meet the contact points, they will be sent a third and final warning, and may be reported to the UKVI depending on the severity of the situation.
Responsibilities of Tier 4 Students
As a Highly Trusted Sponsor, The Courtauld Institute is responsible for making sure that all Tier 4 students are engaging with their course.
In order to maintain your Tier 4 visa you must satisfactorily engagement with your course. The Courtauld Institute will ensure that ‘engagement’ with your course takes place by monitoring:
- submission of coursework;
- attendance at exams;
- attendance at meetings with your personal tutor;
- attendance at lectures.
It is very important that Tier 4 students fully understand the importance of their ‘engagement’ obligations under the Points-Based Immigration System. Therefore, it is important to ensure these key steps are followed:
- Find out the location of the Student and Academic Services;
- Note the email address and telephone number of the Student and Academic Services;
- Check your Courtauld Institute and personal email accounts regularly;
- Keep contact details up to date, by contacting Student and Academic Services;
- Request an ‘authorised absence’ letter from the Student and Academic Services office if absence is required from the Institute during term-time.
If you are unable to attend Institute for any reason during term time you must contact Student and Academic Services and request an authorised absence letter. Student and Academic Services will either grant or reject the request depending on the circumstances, please do not just leave the country without seeking permission. The Home Office records the movements of students entering and leaving the UK and can detain students who are traveling during term time without permission.
Tier 4 students are not required to attend the Institute outside of term-time or when it is closed, e.g. Christmas, Easter and summer vacation. However, if a Tier 4 student undertakes any academic work during these periods, e.g. preparing/writing up your dissertation/final project/thesis, they must request written permission from the Student and Academic Services office to take time away from the Institute.
The Student Services office is always happy to help you with advice relating to your visa status
The UKVI has information relating to the UK immigration system and Tier 4 students: UKVI website.
If you would like further information about the requirements for Tier 4 students, please ask a member of Student and Academic Services staff, or email ugadmissions@courtauld.ac.uk for undergraduate inquiries or pgadmissions@courtauld.ac.uk for postgraduate inquiries.