monitoring attendance

19 January 2010
MONITORING STUDENT ATTENDANCE
IMPLEMENTATION PROPOSALS: GUIDANCE PAPER FOR SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS, COURSE AND PROGRAMME DIRECTORS AND
POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISORS
Updated 19 Janua! "#1#
This paper outlines plans for monitoring student attendance in the University of
Edinburgh.
1$ %&at '( Attendan)e Mana*e+ent,
College and School staff will be aware that the UK Border Agency UKBA! has
introduced new regulations governing the immigration of staff and students to the UK"
an initiative instigated by the previous #rime $inister in %&&'" which are closely
modelled on those devised by Australia some years ago.
Under the new regulations" students will have to submit certain material when they
apply for a course. The University will have to (eep records on all overseas students. )t
will have to verify students* identity when they arrive" and will have to (eep trac( of the
students as they progress through the degree programme and report them to the
relevant authorities if they fail to attend or engage actively with the academic courses.
This paper focuses purely on this latter re+uirement, how we propose to manage the
wor( associated with monitoring the attendance of U- and #- students.
The principle behind the proposals below is that we will change our current business
processes as little as possible in order to comply with the re+uirements of the UKBA.
Although these re+uirements only come into force on %% .ebruary %&/&" C0SS
introduced them at the start of the new session from %%nd September %&&1 in a pilot" in
order to save upheaval and potential confusion mid2session.
)t has now become clear that a light touch approach is acceptable, it is for each 0igher
Education )nstitute 0E)! to decide how to monitor non2attendance" in the light of its
structure" type of courses" etc. )n particular UKBA do not re+uire a minimum percentage
attendance3 nor do they re+uire 0E)s to put in place new attendance recording
mechanisms such as registers" swipe cards" etc.
)t has been agreed at Edinburgh that the attendance of all students should be
monitored" and not only of those who are international 4 that" it was felt" would not only
have been seen as discriminatory by all students and staff" but it would not have
allowed us to use this new monitoring as an opportunity to improve the support offered
to all students by identifying early those in need of assistance and advice.
Staff have therefore been as(ed to (eep trac( of all students regardless of their
immigration status as they progress through the University" and report them to the
School for investigation if they fail to register and confirm attendance" submit essays" sit
e5ams" turn up for lab sessions or attend #h6 for which read throughout also $#hil"
$Sc by 7esearch etc! supervisory sessions. 8nly if they are international students and
cannot be traced by the School" would they be reported further to the appropriate 6ean
in the College 8ffice 4 so that the University meets its legal duties to monitor the
students it sponsors to study here to use the language of UKBA!. This is e5plained in
more detail below.
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19 January 2010
The UKBA are very clear that a report to them of non2attendance by an international
student will trigger the removal of the student from the UK. The 9udgement on non2
attendance is for us as the sponsor" and not for UKBA. Staff should note" however" that
not all international students fall to be reported" e.g. one2semester :isiting students can
enter either under a student visitor visa which does not re+uire the same level of
monitoring and has to be for ; months or less" or under a general student visa" which
does carry these statutory duties. )nterruptions of study" placements etc are not counted
as non2attendance. 0owever" interruptions of study should not be approved
retrospectively.
The UKBA has suggested ten contact points should be monitored for a degree
programme 4 note that ten is for the total for the length of the visa which might be four
years plus e5tensions!" and not the total re+uirement per annum. .or shorter courses
which have fewer than ten contact points" a pro rata number is acceptable. <e are
assuming that contact points mean physical rather than virtual contacts" since emails
and phone calls can be made from any location.
Standard contact points will be registration including the confirmation of attendance!"
assignments" e5ams" lab wor( records and supervisor meetings. There may be other
contact points that apply to certain Schools only" which relate to the discipline 4 Schools
therefore have the discretion to define their own contact points. F- UG.PGT (tudent("
Schools will identify U-=#-T students failing to engage with academic activities" but in
a way appropriate for the individual sub9ect. This will involve 9udgement rather than
automatic classification as non2attendance in every case of failure to engage.! F-
PGR (tudent(" non2attendance will be a 9udgement call for the principal supervisor" in
the light of (nowledge of the student>s pro9ect=research" patterns of wor(ing" and stage
of progression.
Student( -n /-'nt un'0e('t! p-*a++e( are the responsibility of the lead University
or the University that admitted them. <here the student belongs to the University of
Edinburgh" this University*s relevant School will be responsible for leading the
investigation into a missing student. .or teaching=other academic activity delivered by
the partner institution we would e5pect the partner to monitor attendance as they would
for their own students! and report any problems to us. )t is important therefore that
partner institutions understand our re+uirements" and similarly that we understand other
0E)s> re+uirements in cases where they sponsor or ?own@! students for 9oint degrees
involving Edinburgh. )n general" it would be safe to assume that our partner 0E)s
applying their attendance monitoring arrangements designed to meet the UKBA*s
re+uirements and reporting any problems to us for our own sponsored students would
be satisfactory 2 but it would be wise for these e5pectations to be written into
memoranda of understanding.
Another factor that will trigger investigation and which can lead to a student*s removal"
is non2payment of fees" so .inance and Accommodation Services will be introducing
measures to monitor this which reflect the e5isting student debt policies!.
The University only has a short fi5ed amount of time from when it confirms that a
student is not in attendance before it must legally report the student to UKBA" at which
point the student*s Confirmation of Acceptance of Study certificate used to gain an
entry visa to the UK! and the visa are both withdrawn. )n the event of non2attendance"
the sponsor guidance states that non2attendance crystallises ten wor(ing days after the
tenth contact point is missed. See the flow chart below for guidance on this!.
Essentially" therefore" we have 9ust two wor(ing wee(s to establish non2attendance
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19 January 2010
without good reason and to report this to UKBA. #ublic holidays are not included in
this period of ten days" but other University holidays are!.
"$ Su++a! -1 n-n2attendan)e ep-t'n* p-)edue(
/. At e5am=assignment time" course secretaries" teaching organisations or graduate
school offices or e+uivalents will summarise any cases where mar(s are unavailable
and no special circumstances case has been lodged. Aon2attendance at an e5am
crystallises at the point that the mar(ing has been done and it is noted that no paper
was available and that no special circumstances case has been lodged3 i.e. as soon
as the E5am Board has reached and publishes a decision on outcomes. Schools
will have to follow up any absences as soon as the mar(s list is available after the
E5am Board meeting 4 that is ?day /@ for these purposes. .or the $ay e5ams" when
results are posted in Bune" we cannot pursue and chase these students over the
summer vacation and so would have to wait to see if they return in September!. .or
an assignment" the tutor and=or course secretary responsible must advise as soon
as s=he=they (now for certain that the piece of wor( is unavailable" and the School*s
designated staff will then attempt to contact the student within the /& day period. )n
this case" C6ay /* is the published hand2in deadline. 0owever if a student is ill and
has been given an e5tension by the tutor of a few days or a wee(" then the later
agreed deadline is ?day /@. Electronic submission of coursewor( by the due date is
accepted as if the student had posted an essay in a bo5 in the department.!
%. Dab attendance reports will be reviewed by tutors once a wee( and any absences
notified to the school office for follow2up with the student. $issing lab assignments
will be reported as soon as they are noticed" and followed up li(e any other missing
wor(.
E. .or #ostgraduate 7esearch students" the contact point is the regular research
supervisor meetings. #- supervisors will record that a meeting has ta(en place"
and at the meeting will agree the date of the ne5t. The fre+uency will vary
significantly according to the stage of the research reached by the student. 8nly if a
planned meeting is missed with no good reason will the supervisor report it to the
-raduate School 8ffice for further investigation.
'. E5ception reports and University2level reports, 7egistry will need to be able to run
single reports to collate results on different issues for the whole University" to allow it
to analyse trends and issues arising and to provide any feedbac( and data
re+uested by UKBA.
F. Schools will be closely involved in this wor(" and the School Administrators will either
be responsible for compliance in their School or for appointing someone in the
School to be responsible. )f any staff or students have any +ueries about the
legislation or procedures" this person would be their first port of call.
3$ In0e(t'*at'n* and ep-t'n* n-n2attendan)e
School administrative and support officers will be (ey to successful attendance
management. <hen they identify" or have reported by academic colleagues to them"
that a student is absent through non2attendance or non2submission of re+uired
assessments etc" they will have to ensure they are ready to ta(e these necessary
follow2up actions in a timely manner,

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19 January 2010
/. Chasing non2attenders, All registrations and confirmation of attendance have to be
completed by E/ 8ctober. )t is at this point that 7egistry will report all Gno showsG to the
UKBA. This fits in with the normal timeline for chasing those not matriculated either
because they haven>t registered" or not had attendance confirmed" or both. As part of
this 7egistry normally sends out lists to Schools to chec(. The will bring this slightly
forward to ensure we>re in a position to meet the E/ 8ctober deadline. So" the Schools
probably need to start chasing those without attendance confirmed as soon as is
practical probably after the end of wee( /! and 7egistry can provide lists whenever a
School would li(e them.
%. Attempting to contact the student including" potentially" via their classmates and" if
necessary" their emergency contact numbers. 6ata #rotection advice has been ta(en
on this point and confirms that this is an appropriate use of emergency information.
Students are pre2notified through registration and other information that their emergency
contacts may be used in this way!.
E. )f applicable" chec(ing with the 6irector of Studies=Course 8rganiser=Tutor=#-
supervisor if they have (nowledge about why the trigger event has been missed, e.g.
why an essay has not been handed in or a meeting was missed.
'. Chec(ing no special circumstances case has been lodged for an E5am Board.
F. )f the School finds" after it has investigated any non2trivial non2e5plained absences
that the outcome is not a satisfactory e5planation or that the academic colleagues! are
not satisfied that the student will re2engage with the academic activity" then a further
report is re+uired. )f the School that has found the non2attendance does not ?own@ the
student" then they should simply report their findings to the School or institution that
does ?own@ the student" who will be responsible for investigating further. )f" however"
they ?own@ the student" then they should ta(e the lead in contacting any other School or
College or institution! being attended by the student to establish if the student is
missing from there too.
)n order to ma(e it +uic( to find out if a student has missed trigger points in other
schools" investigations are ta(ing place to set up a spreadsheet or Access database to
record the information simply" so that any School can interrogate it.
)n addition" a web page is to be created listing the staff in each School who will be
responsible for this wor(" so that any other School (nows who to contact.
;.Chec(ing that the student*s fees are up2to2date and if appropriate that his=her
Accommodation Services rent is up to date. Contact will be 0elen Adam in .inance
8ffice!.
H.Ultimately" submitting a recommendation to the 0ead of College or his=her nominee 4
i.e. the 6ean of Undergraduate or #ostgraduate Studies! to suggest that the student
should be reported to 7egistry. )f this is supported" the College will report this to
7egistry" who will report onwards to the UKBA. 7egistry will also withdraw the CAS"
which will lead to the withdrawal of the visa.
This process is summarised in the diagram below,
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19 January 2010
N-n2attendan)e p-)e((
5
7egistry updates
Sponsor $anagement
System and student
record
Trigger non2attendance event occurs and
is reported to School Administrator by an
academic or support colleague
registration" essay" e5am" lab"
supervisory session!
U-= #-T #-7
6ept 8ffice=Teaching
8ffice or 6oS reports to
School 8ffice or School*s
Teaching 8rganisation
Supervisor reports to
-raduate School 8ffice
or to School 8ffice
School*s administrator
for UKBA wor( does all
the necessary chec(s
)s it an )nternational StudentI
4e(
UG.PGT.PGR
N-
UG.PGT.PGR
)f there is no trace of the student within J
days of the trigger point" School reports
to 6ean. 8n behalf of 0ead of College"
6ean has % days to consider and if
appropriate reports to UKBA via 7egistry
)f there is no trace of the student"
School has longer than J days to
search=send emails trying to find
him=her and to warn of the
conse+uences of non attendance and
non2compliance with assessment
regulations etc
The College can invo(e the #rocedure for withdrawal and
E5clusion or 6iscontinuation! from studies.
www.acaffairs.ed.ac.u(=7egulations=-uidance=<ithdrawalE5clusionU-.htm
http,==www.acaffairs.ed.ac.u(=7egulations=Co#=#-7=Co#7%&&J&1.htmKSec;'
Trigger non2payment=non2completion of registration
event occurs and is reported to School Administrator
by 7egistry" .inance or Accommodation Services
19 January 2010
This pro forma is for documenting the decision and reporting to the College.
P-1-+a: De)'('-n 5! S)&--6 t- ep-t n-n2attendan)e
1 Date -1 ep-t
" Na+e -1 pe(-n
)-+p6et'n* ep-t
3 R-6e
7 N-n2attendan)e
t'**e e0ent(
8de6ete a( ne)e((a!9
Essay= 6issertation= Thesis
E5am
Dab
#h6 supervisory session
: Date -1 (e'e( -1
e0ent(
e.g.
Essay = 6issertation= Thesis 4 date the results are posted and
no Special Circumstances case lodged!
E5am 4 date results are posted and no Special Circs case
lodged!
Dab 4 date of lab!
#h6 supervisory session 4 date session due!
; I1 t&e (tudent attend(
)-u(e( e6(e<&ee 'n
t&e Un'0e('t! - 'n a
patne HEI, date
)-n1'+at'-n e)e'0ed
t&at (tudent '( 'n n-n2
attendan)e t&ee a6(-
name and position of person reporting.
= E+e*en)! )-nta)t(
)-nta)ted,
> F'nan)e )&e)? @ ae
1ee( up2t-2 date,
9 A))-++-dat'-n
Se0')e(, '1 app6')a56e
@ '( ent up t- date,
1# Na+e and p-('t'-n -1
pe(-n app-0'n*
ep-t t- Re*'(t!, t-
5e )-n0e!ed t- UABA
11 Date -1 app-0a6 5!
C-66e*e
1" Na+e -1 pe(-n
'nputt'n* de)'('-n t-
UABA (p-n(-
+ana*e+ent (!(te+
7egistry. Devel / user.
13 Date -1 'nput
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19 January 2010
APPENDIX
Attendance management scenarios
a! A student fails to hand in an essay" but comes in person to his=her 6irector of
Studies to re+uest an e5tension within two wee(s of the deadline for the essay.
We would not count this as non-attendance.
b! A student fails to hand in an essay and telephones or emails his=her 6irector of
Studies to re+uest an e5tension.
This might count as non-attendance. The student should ideally be physically
seen (by DoS/ by administrative staff/ a Level user/ any member of academic or
administrative staff!. That means either we re"uire students to re"uest
e#tensions in person (which may or may not be the case already!$ or we ma%e the
e#tension conditional on their physically presenting themselves at the School
office. This latter approach would re"uire superior communications and record-
%eeping between the School office and the academics and would not be possible if
the student were not present for legitimate reasons of significant illness. This
therefore has to be a case where Schools e#ercise their &udgment.
c! A student fails to hand in an essay or is reported by the E5am Board as absent"
and is not heard from within a fortnight.
We would count this as non-attendance.
d! A member of staff does not advise the School or College that the student has failed
to hand in an essay until well over two wee(s have passed.
This would count as non-attendance from the date the essay was due. School
'ffices and (egistry are re"uired to report this as non-attendance as soon as they
become aware of it.
e! A supervisor cancels or postpones a session with a student.
We would not count this as non-attendance by the student.
f! A student re+uests a postponement of a supervisory session in person.
We would not count this as non-attendance by the student
g! A student re+uests a postponement of a supervisory session by telephone or email
to a date which is within two wee(s after the original one was due to ta(e place.
We would not count this as non-attendance by the student$ but if it happens twice$
we would count it as non-attendance from the date the original session was due to
ta%e place.
h! A student re+uests a postponement of a supervisory session by telephone or email
to a date which is more than two wee(s after the original one was due to ta(e
place.
(This$ and the item above$ will re"uire all academic staff to be made aware of the
implications of accepting a re"uest to postpone a session. )n addition$ *+
research students will need to be advised by their +raduate School and
supervisors and in student handboo%s that this applies$ or they might innocently be
caught out.!
We would count this as non-attendance and the student would have to either ma%e
the re"uest in person or be seen by someone as in scenario b!.
i! #-7 students want to renew a :isa" who are not resident in Edinburgh.
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19 January 2010
i - a! )f the students wished to apply through the ,niversity-s visa application
service run by the )nternational office or by .,S/$ then they would need to be
physically present in .dinburgh. This is for a variety of reasons$ but the main one
which prevents these offices from handling the application remotely is that their
')S0 e#emption re"uires them to be satisfied that they (as immigration advisers!
are applying for who they say they are applying for. 1ence$ they do not have a
drop-bo# system and insist on seeing students to sign some forms if they wish
,o. representation to apply for them by post.
i- b! There is nothing to prevent students who are elsewhere in ,2 from ma%ing
their own application either by post or in person if they are away from the
,niversity. The visa e#tension letter as issued essentially approves the student to
&oin our licence. *rovided they had the correct documents and ma%e a good
application which fell within the rules$ they should be able to e#tend their own
visas without our assistance. The down side of this is that it ta%es significantly
longer to apply by post in these circumstances and if it went wrong$ there would be
nothing we could do as we were not the student-s representatives at the time of
application. Students off-campus can obtain suitable advice before ma%ing the
application through the immigration3ed.ac.u% email address and detailed online
web information. There is also a networ% called the )mmigration /dvisory Service
,2 which can be found in most ma&or towns and cities across the country where
students and others can obtain free immigration advice.
i- c! 4or out of country e#tenders$ this would be something that they could handle
on their own in that country$ in the same way that new entrants arrange their visa
before they arrive. Such students can contact the )nternational office for advice$
and they (.uan 4ergusson$ /nn 5ac%ay and colleagues! would ensure that they
do as much as they can to give the student information sufficient for them to ma%e
a reasonable go of an application.
9! A student fails to attend a placement.
We would count this as non-attendance under the same sorts of rules as above.
(! A student is discovered to have used fraudulent evidence of +ualifications" whether
or not they appear to be coping with the course re+uirements.
We would withdraw our certificate of sponsorship and report the student as no
longer a student from the date we became aware of the fraud.
l! A student registers for a resit but fails to turn up.
We would count this as non-attendance from the date of the resit result being
posted$ not the date of the registration.
)n the e5amples below" where appropriate" the numbers in the paragraph headers relate
to the associated paragraphs in the UKBA -uidance issued F 8ctober %&&1 on
Tier ' Entry.
m! Study abroad %&E L %&'!
4or visa students going overseas as part of their programme of study$ the
,niversity6s 5anaged 5igration Wor%ing +roup has agreed that the ,niversity
should comply with ,27/-s re"uest on monitoring attendance by as%ing the
)nternational 'ffice to write to institutions receiving students from .dinburgh on
any e#change$ stressing the importance of them telling us where students are not
complying with academic/attendance re"uirements. Two reports are to be
re"uested from each partner$ with replies going direct to the )nternational 'ffice
and then being forwarded to the 8owning9 School for action. Where students go on
a 8departmental e#change9 the same template letter will have to be sent by the
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19 January 2010
School to the partner(s!$ with the two reports from partners being sent direct to that
School for action.
This arrangement will have to start in September :;:. Students will have to be
alerted by their Schools to this new arrangement for monitoring$ which will apply to
all students.
n! E5ternal funding %E%!
Where a funder puts a limit on the time a student can spend in the ,2$ e.g. there
is a re"uirement to go bac% to the home country$ the length of leave in the ,2 will
be limited to the funding period. This may impact on research students and will
need to be ta%en into consideration when planning and monitoring progress on
pro&ects.
o! Change of sponsor %'/ 2 %''!
)f a student has a visa based on an application made on or after < 'ctober ::=$
then if the student wants to transfer sponsors (i.e. to another university!$ s/he must
apply for a new visa and cannot start the programme until s/he has the new visa.
This may have particular implications for research students wishing to transfer
universities.
p! E5amination resit and repeat year of study %FJ 2 %;&!
p 4 a!The guidance is that a visa student can have a ma#imum of resits. This
conflicted with our previous 0ollege guidance of > resits$ and so we have altered
our 0ollege guidance to a ma#imum of resits for all students. This will apply to
courses being ta%en by first year students in ::=/;:$ and for all second and
subse"uent year students from :;:/;;. ,nauthorised absence from an e#am /
assessment still counts as a sit.
p 4 b!There is still a potential issue of a visa student who may have failed resits
but is (in terms of our regulations! still in good academic standing and e#pected to
complete a degree. )t would be hard to withdraw a student in such circumstances$
but we would need a robust mechanism for deciding to continue to sponsor.
p ? c! )f a student6s leave e#pires before s/he is due to resit$ we would have to
assess$ based on the academic record$ whether we wish to provide a 0/S for an
e#tension or cease to sponsor the student until the student has successfully
demonstrated that s/he is bac% in @good academic standing6 ? having perhaps
ta%en an e#am-only resit$ even on a part-time basis. Students are able to apply for
a @Aisiting student6 visa to temporarily return to the ,2 to sit e#aminations.
p 4 d! / student may repeat some courses ? up to B: credits ? on a part-time
basis$ even if s/he is on an international visa. The student is still deemed to be on
the full-time programme of study and so a temporary part-time year to retrieve
academic failure is permitted$ but most li%ely will be allowed by ,27/ only once
per student. Subse+uently" such a student may re+uire a visa e5tension in order
to complete the degree" and if the student is by then bac( in ?good academic
standing@ then the University will be able to support such a re+uest. !
p 4 e! )f a visa student is registered as 8e#am only9 and is not re"uired to be in full
time attendance$ then the ,niversity must withdraw sponsorship of the student$ as
for an interruption of studies. )t will be the student6s responsibility to apply for a
@Student Aisiting6 visa to cover his/her return to the ,2 to ta%e the resit e#ams.
Sponsorship should only resume when the student has successfully demonstrated
satisfactory academic progress. (CoteD ,niversity regulations clearly state that /LL
students will be re"uired to sit the e#aminations as per the published timetable for
each semester and in .dinburgh.!
9
19 January 2010
+! 7epeat years and visa e5tensions %FF!
)f an e#tra year of study is not re"uired to change a programme$ i.e. transferring
from year in one programme direct to year in a different programme$ then there
is no 8repeat year9 and there are no implications for ,27/. 1owever$ visa
students changing programmes which do re"uire a year to be repeated will find
themselves re"uiring a visa e#tension at the end of the programme in order to ta%e
the final year of 1onours. 0hanging a degree programme at the same university
does not re"uire a new visa.
r! 6eferrals and interruptions
Where visa students have interruptions of greater than E: days the 0/S will have
to be withdrawn$ and the student will be e#pected to return home to recover and
then must apply for a fresh visa for their return. There is a &udgment re"uired by
Schools here$ who can allow the student to stay in the ,2 with the same visa if the
School can underta%e the sponsor duties ? this would be appropriate if the student
was li%ely to recover from the illness or problem soon.
s! 7etrospective withdrawals
The retrospective issuing of approval is no longer acceptable because of ,27/-s
re"uirements for reports on non-attendance within ;: wor%ing days. 0olleges are
in the process of promulgating this new policy to Schools. 0olleges will apply the
same policy to 1/., and visa students. When recording decisions$
Schools/0olleges will need to ensure a match in the date when the interruption is
approved and when it is reported to the ,27/.
This could have financial implications for *+( students. /n )nterruption currently
stops the cloc% and saves a student fees$ charged on a monthly basis. )f the
)nterruption cannot be bac%dated to when the problem arose but has to start when
the approval has wor%ed its way through the system and been conferred$ ; or
months could have passed. .#tending the research period subse"uently for the
period of illness plus the 8admin9 time could re"uire a student to pay more months
of fees as well perhaps as purchase a visa e#tension. This wor% will therefore
have to be handled with urgency.
t! Continued sponsorship of a postgraduate for the purposes of writing up %;/!
Where a School can continue to underta%e the sponsor duties during a student6s
absence for the purposes of writing up$ the visa may remain in place. Where the
School cannot do this$ after E: days the School must warn the student that the
visa will be curtailed and the s/he should leave the country (by the School
contacting the 0ollege 'ffice$ who reports this to (egistry!. The student will then
have to reapply for a visa in order to return.
Aicola 7an(in = Banet 7ennie.
edited Buly %&&1" /H August %&&1" 1 6ecember %&&1 and /1 Banuary %&/&.!
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