Attendance monitoring – important information for schools
The University takes its responsibilities towards monitoring students’ attendance very seriously.
Many schools already have processes in place to record and follow up
persistent absence as an integral part of their duty of care.
However, practice is variable and the additional legal requirement from the UK Border Authority (UKBA) on all Higher Education Institutions in respect of international students, has prompted the University to ensure a more robust attendance monitoring system for implementation in September.
In response to school feedback, the project team has produced guidance on attendance monitoring and is developing a University-wide system to support the process. There are still a number of outstanding issues in relation to UKBA's sponsor management system, to which the University will be expected to report, so the first phase of development has taken longer than anticipated.
This has resulted in a challenging timescale to trial the central system, but demonstrations are underway with schools for the taught student system. Further information about the research student system will be shared with schools later in July. User acceptance testing is planned for week commencing August 10, with road shows on how to use the system provided during late August and early September. Help and support will be provided to schools on an ongoing basis as the system and approach is refined.
Schools should have received an email from Professors Vivien Jones and Margaret Atack in June, providing information on the University's policy in relation to attendance monitoring, along with guidance, case studies and examples of good practice. A copy of this guidance document is available for staff responsible for taught students. A copy of this guidance is available for those responsible for research students. Please take the time to read this document, as it will give you important information to help you prepare for the new academic year.
Any questions about this guidance or requests for further information about attendance monitoring please contact us.
Posted in: Student education