Postgraduate research students on a Student visa

This page is designed as a short general summary of the attendance expectations and requirements. All students are required to read and understand the full Student Visa Holders Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Policy. This is available on your student record and also in the Useful Links section of this site.

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

The following table outlines the timeline for logging a meeting each month and a schedule of the reminders the student will receive:

Timeline	Reminders sent/received	Action for the student
1st of the month	Email sent to student to notify them that a new task has appeared on their student record and that this must be completed by the 23rd of the month	Task appears on ‘My Tasks’ on student record.
If no meeting is logged by the 16th of the month	Email sent to student reminding them that a meeting should be logged by the 23rd of the month	Complete task by the 23rd of the month.
If no meeting is logged by end of the month (i.e. 30 days non-engagement)	Email warning sent to student informing them that non-compliance with the requirement to record a meeting has been noted. The warning email will notify the student that they must log a meeting the following month.	Student MUST log a meeting the following month to protect their Student Visa.

Where a student does not record a meeting as outlined in the table above, the student must log a meeting the following month to protect their Student visa.

Where a student has not recorded a meeting for 2 consecutive months as outlined in the table above, they will receive the same automated reminder emails the following month and, in addition, will be subject to the following escalation process:

Trigger point

Action to be taken by UKVI Compliance Office

Action required by the student

If no meeting has been logged by the 23rd of the second consecutive month (i.e. approaching 60 days of non-engagement)

At this stage the student’s engagement with their course has reached a serious point of escalation and concern and places their Student Visa at risk. Failure to re-engage by the end of the month will result in withdrawal of sponsorship of the student’s Student Visa and exclusion from their course.

The UKVI Compliance Office will issue the student with a formal warning letter.

The formal warning letter will explain that if the student does not record a meeting by the end of the month, they will have reached 60 days of non-engagement with their course. As such, their case will be escalated (as outlined below) with a recommendation that sponsorship of their Student Visa is withdrawn, and they are excluded from their course.

This is the student’s final opportunity to re-engage with their course or to provide any additional evidence to account for their non-engagement.

Meet with their supervisor and log a meeting via the task on their Student Record before the end of the month.

Respond to the formal warning letter from the UKVI Compliance Office.

1st of the month (third consecutive month)

Where a student has not logged a meeting for two months, 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.

The Executive Lead for UKVI 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.

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.

On receipt of a formal exclusion letter, the student must make arrangements to leave the UK.

The student may wish to access support from the International Student Adviser and other support services.

Prior to withdrawal of sponsorship, the University may use discretion to consider whether any other evidence of engagement with studies can be considered as a contact point, for example, evidence of in-person attendance on campus to conduct laboratory work or training events.