1. A register of attendance is taken during every class.  

2. Unauthorised and unexplained absence for a maximum of two (2) consecutive days will be brought to the attention of the IEC Administrative Manager by the programme leader and arrangements will be made to contact the student.      

3. If the student does not respond and subsequently is absent for a further three (3) consecutive days, the absence will be reported to the UKVI Compliance Office.  

4. The UKVI Compliance Office will contact the student at 5 missed contact points and issue a formal warning that failure to re-engage may result in the withdrawal of their visa. 

5. If the student does not re-engage and misses a further 5 missed contacts (a total of 10 consecutive contact points), their case will be escalated to the University’s Executive Lead for UKVI Compliance (UKVI Sponsor Authorising Officer) with a case for withdrawal of Student Visa sponsorship. The case will outline how the student has breached the University’s Student Visa Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Policy and has failed to adhere to their Student Visa responsibilities as outlined in the University’s Student Visa Responsibilities Handbook. These policies are underpinned by UKVI stipulations.  

6. The Executive Lead for Compliance will review the case in consultation with the UKVI Compliance Office. Where there is no evidence that the student has engaged with their studies for 60 days, and they have failed to provide a satisfactory reason for the absence, the Executive Lead for Compliance will formally approve the withdrawal of Student Visa sponsorship 

7. This action will result in the student being permanently excluded from their course. The exclusion will be confirmed by the University’s Academic Registrar. 

A formal exclusion letter will be issued to the student. Sponsorship of their Student Visa will be withdrawn, and they will be required to leave the UK. 

The university is not required to monitor your attendance during recognised vacation periods, Christmas Vacation, Easter Vacation and Summer Vacation. It is your responsibility to be aware of the dates of term.

The University will monitor each student's engagement with compulsory teaching activities. For example, but not limited to, lectures, seminars and practicals.

Trigger point	Action taken	Student’s responsibility
2 contact points (1 week of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	Your Department will contact you to account for your non-attendance	At all stages students must respond to any email that is sent to them from their Department or the UKVI Compliance Office. Non-responses to attendance emails may result in visa withdrawal and will be viewed as further evidence of non-engagement with the policy.
4 contact points (2 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	Your Department will contact you to account for your non-attendance
6 contact points (3 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will contact you by email.
8 contact points (4 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will contact you and issue you with an official warning letter that your visa is at risk unless you begin attending classes immediately.
10 contact points (5 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will escalate your case to the Pro-Vice Chancellor and recommend that you be excluded for non-attendance. Your visa will be withdrawn and you will be required to leave the UK.

The minimum engagement requirement is two instances of attendance/engagement in person each week. This is evidenced by your card swipes. Each instance of engagement will count as a contact point up to a maximum of two contact points each week. The two instances of engagement must be on separate days to register as contact points.

If a student misses (does not register) two (2) consecutive contact points (i.e., has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities for one week) the Academic Department will contact the student to account for their absence, encourage them to re-engage with their course and to determine whether the University can offer any additional support to the student to ensure that their attendance improves.

If a student misses (does not register) four (4) consecutive contact points (i.e., has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities for two weeks) the Academic Department will contact the student to account for their absence, encourage them to re-engage with their course and to determine whether the University can offer any additional support to the student to ensure that their attendance improves.

If a student misses (does not register) six (6) consecutive contact points (i.e. has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities or online resources for three weeks) the case will be escalated to the UKVI Compliance Office who will take action as laid out in point 6.4.4 of the Student Visa Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Policy.

If the student does not respond to initial queries from the Academic Department and subsequently misses (does not register) a further two (2) consecutive contact points (i.e. has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities or online resources for four weeks) taking the total number of contact points missed to eight (8), the UKVI Compliance Office will contact the student via email and letter with the following information: 11 a) encourage the student to attend or engage, b) encourage the student to contact their Academic Department to let them know of any circumstances which may be preventing their attendance or engagement. In doing so the Academic Department would then be able to consider authorising the non-attendance/ engagement or supporting a leave of absence request, c) warn them that their unauthorised on-going absence jeopardises their academic progress; d) warn them that their continued failure to respond to correspondence on this issue could result in their sponsorship, and visa, being withdrawn.

If a student misses 10 consecutive contact points the University will withdraw sponsorship of the student’s visa and they will be excluded from their studies.

It is therefore essential that students respond to all communication from your Dept or the Compliance Office to account for your absence.

During teaching periods Nursing students will be monitored in the same way as UG students.  (See section above)

Whilst students are on placements, the UKVI Compliance Office will request monthly assurance reports from the student’s department confirming that they have been engaging with / attending the placement. 

Where it is evidenced that a nursing student has not engaged with their studies during class based teaching for 5 weeks the policy above for UG students will apply. If a student has reached 60 days non engagement (class based learning and absence from placement) the case will be escalated as per week 5 of the UG escalation table above'.

The university is not required to monitor your attendance during recognised vacation periods, Christmas Vacation, Easter Vacation and Summer Vacation. It is your responsibility to be aware of the dates of term.

The University will monitor each student's engagement with compulsory teaching activities. For example, but not limited to, lectures, seminars and practicals.

Trigger point	Action taken	Student’s responsibility
2 contact points (1 week of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	Your Department will contact you to account for your non-attendance	At all stages students must respond to any email that is sent to them from their Department or the UKVI Compliance Office. Non-responses to attendance emails may result in visa withdrawal and will be viewed as further evidence of non-engagement with the policy.
4 contact points (2 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	Your Department will contact you to account for your non-attendance
6 contact points (3 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will contact you by email.
8 contact points (4 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will contact you and issue you with an official warning letter that your visa is at risk unless you begin attending classes immediately.
10 contact points (5 weeks of non-attendance evidenced by card swipes at teaching activities)	The UKVI Compliance team will escalate your case to the Pro-Vice Chancellor and recommend that you be excluded for non-attendance. Your visa will be withdrawn and you will be required to leave the UK.

The minimum engagement requirement is two instances of attendance/engagement in person each week. This is evidenced by your card swipes. Each instance of engagement will count as a contact point up to a maximum of two contact points each week. The two instances of engagement must be on separate days to register as contact points.

If a student misses (does not register) two (2) consecutive contact points (i.e., has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities for one week) the Academic Department will contact the student to account for their absence, encourage them to re-engage with their course and to determine whether the University can offer any additional support to the student to ensure that their attendance improves.

If a student misses (does not register) four (4) consecutive contact points (i.e., has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities for two weeks) the Academic Department will contact the student to account for their absence, encourage them to re-engage with their course and to determine whether the University can offer any additional support to the student to ensure that their attendance improves.

If a student misses (does not register) six (6) consecutive contact points (i.e. has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities or online resources for three weeks) the case will be escalated to the UKVI Compliance Office who will take action as laid out in point 6.4.4 of the Student Visa Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Policy.

If the student does not respond to initial queries from the Academic Department and subsequently misses (does not register) a further two (2) consecutive contact points (i.e. has not registered any contact points / evidence of engagement with face-to face teaching activities or online resources for four weeks) taking the total number of contact points missed to eight (8), the UKVI Compliance Office will contact the student via email and letter with the following information: 11 a) encourage the student to attend or engage, b) encourage the student to contact their Academic Department to let them know of any circumstances which may be preventing their attendance or engagement. In doing so the Academic Department would then be able to consider authorising the non-attendance/ engagement or supporting a leave of absence request, c) warn them that their unauthorised on-going absence jeopardises their academic progress; d) warn them that their continued failure to respond to correspondence on this issue could result in their sponsorship, and visa, being withdrawn.

If a student misses 10 consecutive contact points the University will withdraw sponsorship of the Student’s visa and they will be excluded from their studies.

It is therefore essential that students respond to all communication from your Dept or the  Compliance Office to account for your absence.

Note: During the non-teaching period, (Dissertation write-up period), you are required to meet with your supervisor / tutor in person at least once a month to discuss your progress.

If you wish to complete your dissertation in your home country, you must request this formally from your department who will need to approve this.

Your visa will be curtailed but you will remain an Aberystwyth University student until the end of your registration. In surrendering your visa you will not be eligible for the Graduate Visa.

What to do if you are unwell:

If you are unwell and this means that you are not able to meet the minimum requirement of 3 2 contact points in a week, please notify your Department and also the Compliance Office so that this can be taken into consideration.

If you are a PGR student, you may rearrange your monthly contact meeting with your supervisor's agreement, so long as you meet with your supervisor within the given month.

If you expect your absence will be prolonged, you may wish to consider a Temporary Withdrawal. This would mean the Home Office would be informed, you must return to your home country, your visa will be curtailed, and you may reapply when you are well. If you wish to discuss this option, please do not hesitate to contact your International Student Advisor (immigrationadvice@aber.ac.uk).

PGR students must meet with their supervisors at least once a month to discuss their progress. This meeting should take place in person within the first 3 weeks of the month.

Please note that UKVI rules mean that only evidence of a face-to-face meeting is acceptable. 

The student must record a meeting report via the task in ‘My Tasks’ on their student record by the 23rd of each month. (Email links to complete the task will be sent at the start of the month and reminders will be sent until the task is complete). Where a supervisor is on leave or not available to conduct a meeting in person, students should meet with their second supervisor or other nominated academic member of staff.

Once a meeting has been recorded on the system, the supervisor will automatically be contacted to review and confirm that the details of the report are an accurate and true record of the meeting. If no meeting is recorded on the system by the end of the current month, a written warning will be issued to the student. If no record is received for 2 consecutive months, the student case will be referred to the UKVI Compliance Manager who will review engagement and may recommended that student visa sponsorship is withdrawn.

If a student or supervisor does not provide proof of engagement by the end of the month the escalation policy as laid out in the Student Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Policy will be followed and the students visa may become at risk.

Postgraduate Research students must be in Aberystwyth for 44 weeks per academic year. Your vacation must be taken when appropriate in line with your research and any teaching events. This must be recorded as an authorised absence.

The Compliance Office must inform the Home Office within ten (10) working days if you leave the university to undertake fieldwork. This does not have any impact on your student visa. It will be reported as a ‘change in study location’ to the home office for information purposes only. You must notify the Compliance Office as soon as soon as your request to conduct Fieldwork has been approved by your supervisor.

You are expected to continue to be in contact with your supervisor, updating them on progress with your work. Proof of continued engagement with your studies is required to protect your student visa as we need to evidence that we are monitoring you even when away from Aberystwyth on fieldwork.

Evidence of engagement can be:

• Email from the student (cc’ing Supervisor) confirming a Teams meeting or virtual update has been conducted
• Email trail from the student to the supervisor evidencing ongoing updates and contact.

You will need to obtain a signature every month from your contact at the partner institution on the Exchange/Study Abroad Attendance Monitoring Form. This can be obtained from the Compliance Office.

You will be responsible for forwarding this form to your home department and the Compliance Office at Aberystwyth University every month.

You must send the form before the end of each month.

Failure to do so will result in an unauthorised absence and may put your Student Visa at risk.

Note: You must speak to the Compliance Office (compliance@aber.ac.uk) before you begin your programme.

Before you leave for your external organisation, you must provide your department and the Compliance Office (compliance@aber.ac.uk) with the following:

• Departure Date (provide flight booking confirmation)
• Name of Organisation (where you are undertaking your external study)
• Name of your external supervisor
• Date of your return to Aberystwyth

You must obtain the signature of your external supervisor using the Split Site Study Attendance Moitoring Form.  This can be obtained from the Compliance Office.

You must maintain email contact with your Aberystwyth University Supervisor to discuss the work you are undertaking.

You must email a copy of your split site study attendance form along with evidence of contact with your AU supervisor to your academic department every month, before the end of the month.

You need to email the Compliance Office before your placement begins with the following details:

• Name of the organisation / work placement
•        Name and email address of your line manager at placement
• Address of the organisation
• Start and end dates of your placement

You need to obtain the signature of your employer every month and record it on the Work Placement Attendance Monitoring Form provided by the Compliance Office.

You need to email a copy of your attendance form to the Compliance Office before the end of the month, every month that you are away.

If the student fails to provide a signed Attendance Monitoring Form for one month, this will be noted on their Student Record. If the student fails to provide a signed Attendance Monitoring Form for a second consecutive month, sponsorship of their Student Visa will be withdrawn. Failure to submit signed attendance forms will place the student’s visa at risk as the University is required to hold evidence that students are engaging with their course. The university cannot continue to sponsor a student if they have not engaged with their course for 60 days. 

If you are unwell and this means that you are not able to meet the minimum requirement of 2 contact points in a week, please notify your Department so that they can be made aware and can advise on any academic impact to your absence.

The Compliance team understand that from time to time students may be unwell and unable to attend classes, however where an absence of 3 weeks is noted you will be contacted and asked to account for your absence. You may be asked to provide medical evidence.

If you expect your absence will be prolonged (above 60 days), you may wish to consider taking a Temporary Withdrawal from your studies. This would mean the Home Office would be informed, your visa would be cancelled and you would need to return to your home country. If you wish to discuss this option, please contact your International Student Advisor (immigrationadvice@aber.ac.uk).