Student Attendance and Engagement
Procedure 2014/15
This procedure should be used in conjunction with the University of Bradford Student Attendance and
Engagement Policy.
This document provides an overview of the minimum University requirements in relation to student
attendance and engagement. Schools are responsible for the implementation of this procedure.
Where required, Schools may apply additional attendance requirements in accordance with Professional
Regulatory Statutory Bodies’ (PSRB) requirements and / or the requirements of employing organisations
supporting students on work placements.
Prospective students must be made aware of the attendance and engagement requirements in the relevant
prospectus, programme brochure, web-pages, during open days and applicant visit days.
Students will be informed that their School or relevant Department / Division is responsible for ensuring that
they fully engage with their programme of study and meet the attendance requirements.
All academic staff and relevant administrative staff within the University must be made aware of, and
should be familiar with, the attendance and engagement requirements including monitoring procedures.
1.
Attendance and Engagement Requirements
The University Student Charter details what students can expect from the University, and equally what they
are expected to do to ensure they get the most from their time at Bradford, both academically and socially.
In addition the University Regulations state:
"Student attendance is expected at all scheduled learning activities, together with satisfactory completion
and submission by the due dates prescribed by the School of all assessed coursework and such other
practical and written exercises as may be required by the relevant programme regulations." (Regulation
6.2)
a. Information on attendance and engagement requirements must be provided in Programme
Specifications and Programme Handbooks.
b. Students are expected to attend all timetabled teaching sessions (including placements).
c. Students who are unable to attend timetabled sessions must report to their School’s named contact/s
in a timely way (in advance of their absence where possible, or no later than 24 hours after the
absence has occurred).
d. Schools are responsible for recording unavoidable student absences, such as family emergencies or
illness. Students are required to submit appropriate timely and valid documentary evidence in
accordance with the School’s requirements. Schools should provide information via an appropriate
mechanism (e.g. in Programme Handbooks and online) as to their specific requirements.
e. For some programmes students will be required to produce self-certification sick notes and/or “Fit
Notes”. This is usually for programmes that have PRSB accreditation. Schools will advise on the
process for submitting these forms.
f. Attendance will be reviewed by School administrative staff to ensure that non-attendance is
recognised and acted upon at the earliest opportunity.
g. Students undertaking programmes that have non-standard patterns of study (eg. part time and block
delivery) will be required to comply with this procedure. Their Programme Handbook will detail
attendance requirements.
h. Students on placement are expected to record their attendance in accordance with the placement
provider / employing organisation expectations, this will be detailed in the placement hand book /
guidance.
i. Postgraduate taught students – Students only undertaking dissertations are expected to maintain
monthly engagement defined by their dissertation supervisor. A record must be kept of this
engagement that reports on academic progress. This record must be accessible for Home Office or
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other relevant professional or statutory body audits at the request of the Dean of School (or
alternate), Visa Compliance Team or other relevant University Officer.
j. Postgraduate research students – Research students are expected to maintain monthly engagement
meetings with their PhD supervisor(s). A record must be kept that reports on academic progress.
This record must be accessible for Home Office or other relevant professional or statutory body audit
at the request of Dean of School (or alternate), Visa Compliance Team or other relevant University
Officer.
k. International students are also required to attend three checkpoint events in person each year:
enrolment / re-enrolment and checkpoints in February and April.
2.
Operation of the University Attendance Monitoring system (Check-In)
The University uses a dedicated attendance monitoring system, which utilises card readers that have been
installed in teaching rooms with a capacity of 10 or more people across both campuses. The readers
record the identity of a student (from their UoB card), the location, date and time of the check-in.
2.1
Using Check-In
a. On entering a designated teaching room, students should touch the card reader mounted on the
wall with their UB card. The system will show a green tick to confirm the registration.
b. When teaching takes place in a room that does not have a card reader, attendance will be recorded
using either a handheld card reader or on a paper register. The School designated contact (see
“Who to contact” online at www.bradford.ac.uk/check-in) will advise as to the alternative procedure
to be used.
2.2
Registration Definition
a. Registrations between 10 minutes prior to and 10 minutes after the scheduled start times will be
recorded as ‘On Time’.
b. Registrations after 10 minutes after the scheduled start times will be considered to be ‘Late’.
c. The recorded time will be as per the automated card reader system which records the correct time.
There will be no variations based upon other timing devices such as clocks in classrooms.
d. Students unable to register due to faulty or missing cards should request a confirmation of
attendance form (also known as a Check-In form) prior to the class taking place. These forms can
be obtained from the School Office, the Hub or downloaded from www.bradford.ac.uk/check-in.
This form should be completed by the student, signed by the teaching academic during the teaching
activity and submitted in person to the named School contact at the earliest convenience so that
attendance may be recorded.
e. Students who are unavoidably absent (due to family crisis, illness etc) should contact their School
as soon as possible, preferably before the absence takes place. The School will advise on the
process for reporting absence.
f. Students must not Check-In on behalf of another student. Such behaviour will be dealt with via the
University Disciplinary Procedure.
3.
Managing poor patterns of attendance and engagement
a. The University’s Check-In system will record each time a student checks into a timetabled teaching
event.
b. Personal Academic Tutors may request attendance reports for their tutees, via School
administrative staff. A formal review of attendance may be included in personal tutoring
sessions. 1
1
Personal Academic Tutor’s role
The Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) is asked to review the attendance records of students who have been recorded as repeatedly
absent and to investigate any unexplained absences that occur across modules. The PAT should also be aware of the Student
Fitness to Study policy and procedures and should implement these as appropriate when considering unexplained absences.
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c. Schools will receive student counts of attendance weekly. If a student has not Checked-In to any
sessions by week two, consideration will need to be made with regard to their funding and fees
requirements. New full-time undergraduate students are not required to pay any fees should they
withdraw in the first two weeks of term. However, it is important to note that should a student
withdraw, or be deemed withdrawn after the first two weeks, they will be liable for payment of a
percentage of their fees and Schools should therefore ensure that students are made aware of this
and that students needing to be withdrawn are reported to Student Registry Services (SRS) as soon
as possible.
d. After the week two attendance non-attendance check, Schools will review student attendance on a
regular basis (at least monthly). Students whose Check-In counts are less than 50% (or higher
where PSRB or other requirements demand this) will be contacted by School administrative staff by
email, reminding them of the requirement to attend teaching and the various pastoral support
available to students, and to warn that further action may be taken if attendance does not improve.
e. If the student does not respond to the email within seven days, the School will contact the
student by letter (see Appendix 1: Attendance Letter). The School will arrange a formal meeting
to undertake a review of the student’s circumstances and take appropriate action. Action may
include general advice and support, referral for support from other University Services or to the
student’s General Practitioner/medical team. Other points of engagement such as submission
of assessments, placement attendance and performative tasks will also be taken into account
when assessing overall attendance and engagement. The student will be required to seek
guidance on making good lost contact time from module leaders.
f. If there is no response to the letter within seven days, of the request to meet, the student will
receive a reminder from the School.
g. If the student does not respond to this reminder within seven days, then the School should contact
SRS for further action to be taken. This can either be done through completion of the nonattendance form or by email to the SRS contact. At this point, SRS will send a letter to the student
advising them that if they do not make contact within a further seven days then they are deemed to
be withdrawn from their programme.
h. It is recognised that Schools may have more stringent procedures to meet PSRB or other formal
requirements, and that complete non-attendance may require more urgent action than poor
attendance, to prevent students from unnecessary liability for fees.
4.
Further Actions and Additional Information
If further action needs to be taken to address non-attendance issues then the procedures outlined in the Fit
to Study Policy and Student Disciplinary Procedures may be appropriate.
Further details on the use of the Check-In system are to be found on the Check-In website:
www.bradford/ac/uk/check-in.
5.
Definitions:
Check-In
The automated attendance monitoring system that is in operation at the
University
Home Office
In this context has previously been referred to as UKBA (UK Borders
Agency)
PAT
Personal Academic Tutor
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SRS
Student Registry Services
PBS team
Points Based System team – ensures compliance with requirements for
reporting on holders of Tier 4 visas
Appendix 1: Attendance Letter
[Date]
Dear [student name]
It has come to our attention that, according to our records, you have not been attending all of your teaching
sessions.
The University wants to help all of its students get the most out of their time at Bradford. Therefore, we
would like to invite you to a meeting with [name and job title] to discuss the reasons why you have not been
able to attend and ways in which we might be able to support you, perhaps by providing advice and
guidance, or referral for assistance from other University services. We offer various kinds of support that
might be appropriate, including a counselling service, support for students with disabilities, financial and
visa advice.
The University is required to make regular reports about its activities to the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE), The Home Office, professional bodies that accredit our programmes and
graduates, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Student Loans Company. It is therefore
important that you respond to this letter as soon as possible either by telephoning [name and number] or by
email to [email address]. Alternatively, you can come to the School office [room number and building name]
and bring this letter with you.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Procedure created: August 2013. This version: May 2014.
Date to be reviewed: Annually
To be reviewed by: Learning and Teaching Committee
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