Student engagement and attendance monitoring

In accordance with the University general degree regulations you are expected to attend all teaching and assessment events associated with all courses that you are enrolled on. 

All students are expected to be actively engaged with their studies. That means going to classes - whether on campus or online, engaging with Learn, answering emails from staff, attending meetings with your Personal Tutor, handing in coursework, attending examinations, and so on. Missed engagement points will be recorded and monitored. 

The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences undertakes routine monitoring of attendance at tutorials and seminars for all students enrolled on courses delivered by the School. We undertake monitoring of attendance and engagement to enable us to identify where individual students may be experiencing difficulties and to ensure that timely and appropriate intervention can be delivered to provide support and guidance. We also undertake monitoring for sponsored students specifically to meet our obligations to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). If your engagement drops you may be contacted by our Student Support Team and be asked to provide an explanation. 

Information on the School Student Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Plan is available below. 

School Student Engagement and Attendance Monitoring Plan (332.43 KB PDF)

As always, if you are having problems, please contact your Personal Tutor and/or Student Support as soon as you are able, as the sooner we know the more we will be able to do to help. 

Undergraduate Student Support Office

Postgraduate Teaching Office

All data is gathered and stored in line with the University policies and guidance on data handling. 

Privacy Statement

As a Sponsored Student, the University of Edinburgh is the sponsor of your UK visa. The University has a number of legal duties to manage our sponsorship of your visa. These include: 

• Monitoring your attendance on your programme 

• Reporting to the Home Office where you suspend or withdraw from your studies, complete them early, fail to register or are repeatedly absent to the point of being excluded from studies 

As a student with a Tier 4/Student Route visa sponsored by the University of Edinburgh, the terms of your visa require you to, (amongst others): 

• Ensure you have a correct and valid visa for studying at the University of Edinburgh, which, if a Tier 4/Student Route visa, requires that it is a visa sponsored by the University of Edinburgh 

• Attend all of your University classes, lectures, tutorials, etc. where required. This includes participating in the requirements of your course including submitting assignments, attending meetings with tutors and attending examinations. We will be monitoring this and will follow up with you on any concerns. If you cannot attend due to illness, for example, you must inform your School.  

Please note that any email relating to your Sponsored Students sponsorship will be sent to your University email address - you must therefore check this regularly. 

Further details on the terms and conditions of your Tier 4/Student Route visa can be found on the Student Immigration Service website.  

Tier 4/Student Route visa rights, responsibilities and restrictions

Information or advice about your Sponsored Students immigration status can be obtained by contacting the Student Immigration Service.  

Student Immigration Service

The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences will follow these escalation stages if a student’s attendance and engagement is deemed to be unsatisfactory.  

Stage One 

If a student’s attendance and engagement is deemed unsatisfactory, the School will address this concern with the student.  

A student will enter the escalation procedure if their attendance and engagement level falls below expected levels, if their last positive engagement was more than 30 days ago, or if the student fails to respond to communication regarding non-engagement.  

The School will make the student aware of the concerns via email and will ask the student to explain the lack of engagement, with a deadline to respond. If the student does not reply within the given deadline, the School will move to the second stage of escalation. Students will be directed to the various support that the University offers.  

Stage Two 

Where a student fails to respond to a Stage One escalation, or their engagement continues to be unsatisfactory, they will be asked to attend a meeting with the Head of Undergraduate Administration to discuss the reasons for their continued non-engagement, and any support they need from the University.  

Stage Three 

Where a student fails to respond to a Stage Two escalation, they will be considered at Stage 3. They will be asked to attend a meeting with the School Senior Tutor, again to discuss the reasons for their non-engagement, and any support required from the University.  

At this stage, the student will be made aware that if they do not respond within a given deadline, this continued non-engagement will result in referral to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, under the University’s Withdrawal and Exclusion from Studies procedure.  

Withdrawal and Exclusion from Studies Procedure 

Stage Four 

The student will be referred to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and will be invited to a meeting at the College. One possible outcome is exclusion based on non-engagement.  

At each of the four escalation stages, the student record (engagement tab) is updated to show that this communication has taken place.  

Where there are repeated instances of escalation due to non-engagement, students will be required to meet with the Head of Undergraduate Administration and/or the School Senior Tutor.