Regular attendance and participation play a key role in your wellbeing and academic success. To help you stay on track, the University monitors attendance and engagement so we can offer any support that you may need.
The University expects you to attend and engage fully with your studies. If your attendance becomes a concern, then your Course Team will want to contact you, to support you to get back on track. Students who regularly miss classes will be at risk of being withdrawn from the University. Please note that students who continue to miss teaching may be at risk of withdrawal
For international students on a Student Route Visa, it's important to remember that your visa status depends on your continued engagement with your studies.
We understand that occasionally there may be a good reason why you can’t make it to a class. If that’s the case, please always inform your Course Team in advance so the lecturer knows not to expect you.
If a student is absent from their studies for 60 days or more, they may be referred for withdrawal, and visa sponsorship will be withdrawn where applicable.
By actively participating in your classes and completing assessments you enhance your chances of success.
Registering your attendance electronically
You need to register your own attendance at your taught classes by ‘tapping in’ with your Student ID card (the same way you might use your debit card to make a contactless payment). This applies to lectures, seminars and other in-person teaching activities that you attend.
We will expect you to 'tap in' to all the taught activities as shown in your MyTimetable once:
- You’ve registered as a student
- You’ve created your computing account and set up your University username and password
- Your Course Team have assigned you to all the teaching activities you need to attend
This means that, for new students (particularly international students), it may be a couple of weeks into your first term before your MyTimetable is complete and ready for you to use. Until then, you should 'tap in' to the activities that you are expected to attend according to your course timetable on UniTimetables and any additional information provided by your Course Team.
Please note that individual student timetables are not available for short courses and some courses with external professional requirements, but instead your Course team will supply you with all necessary timetabling information to enable you to 'tap in' successfully.
Registering your attendance electronically means teaching staff can focus more time on the things that matter to you, like planning and delivering great classes. Similarly, your online attendance at digital learning and teaching activities will be registered within platforms such as Blackboard.
How to 'tap in' using your Student ID card
Look out for the black card readers at the entrance of lecture theatres and teaching rooms. Each time you tap in, there will be a ‘bleep’. The LED on the reader will flash blue briefly indicating that your attendance has been successfully recorded.
Please remember:
- To tap in for each separate timetabled session. So, if you were to have a seminar in RWg15 9-10am followed by another seminar in RWg15 10-11am, you’d need to tap in at both 9am and 10am
- You can tap into a class up to 15 minutes before it’s timetabled to begin, and any time thereafter until it’s due to end
- You don’t need to tap out when the class finishes. If you do, the system will record that you did so, but it won’t affect your attendance record either way
- If you don’t tap in, your attendance at that class won’t be recorded. So, if you’ve forgotten your card, please still attend but remember to bring it next time
- When tapping in, keep your Student ID card separate from any credit cards/Oyster cards etc, to make sure only the correct one is scanned.
- If you have, or have ever had, more than one Student ID card, only the most recent one will be recognised by the attendance system. If in doubt, take your card(s) to the i-zone to check that you’re using the correct one
- If you lose your Student ID card, visit the i-zone for a replacement (costing £10). If you’re issued with a new Student ID card, your old one will be de-activated so check that you’re tapping in with the correct card
Important information for International Students on a Student Route Visa
If you are an international student who is here on a Student Route Visa then your leave to remain is dependent on your continued engagement with your studies.
One of the ways in which we monitor your engagement will be through your attendance at lectures, seminars and other learning activities. If you miss any of these without prior agreement from the University then we may withdraw our sponsorship of your visa. If this happens, then you would no longer be able to continue with your course and would need to return home.
The Student Engagement Dashboard
The Student Engagement Dashboard will be used by your personal academic tutor or course support team in conversation with you, to give an indication of how your learning is progressing and where you may need further support.
In preparation for these conversations, you should consider and reflect on your own engagement and identify your strengths and any support you may require to succeed.
The dashboard pulls together a range of existing data about your engagement in your studies, as well as how this compares to average engagement. Pulling together this information in this way will help us to understand how we can best support you to develop and reach your goals.
For further information on the dashboard and how your data is being used we have developed this student guide. The dashboard is not part of any formal assessment. If any of the personal data used in the dashboard is inaccurate, you will be given the chance to correct these inaccuracies.
