Academic Rights: Attendance

Whilst university can be a place to explore and get involved with a huge range of different activities, your primary purpose here is to study. Therefore, attendance plays a significant role in your university experience. Reduced attendance can be detrimental to your education, but we completely understand that attendance isn’t always possible because of a whole range of exceptional circumstances.

What are my attendance requirements?

• Attend all classes, meetings and other activities needed for your studies, and record your attendance at scheduled activities using the link on the Student Intranet.
• Arrive on time for all your classes and make sure you have completed any required preparation work.
• Complete all your assessments (if you cannot complete them due to exceptional circumstances you will need to submit extenuating circumstances. Our Advice Centre will be able to help you if this is the case).
• If you do not meet the attendance requirements for your course, you may find yourself subject to the formal warnings process. You can find more information on the Student Intranet about attendance guidelines.

As much as we understand the other commitments you have (and believe us we do!), you should manage your time effectively. Any paid employment, voluntary work, extracurricular activities or social commitments should not interfere with your attendance. Students studying on a full-time basis are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week during term time and if you are an international student you must follow the working restrictions stated on your visa. If you feel you need to work more hours or are struggling to find flexible employment, please talk to our Advice Centre.

What are my rights around attendance?

• If you are unable to attend any of your required sessions, you will need to let the college know by submitting a Notified Absence form. This form needs to be submitted either before your absence or by the end of the day of your absence.
• If you are going to be absent for more than five days, you need to follow the Authorised Absence procedure.
• Some modules may have a specific attendance requirement, which you should be informed of if this is the case.
• As per the Equality Act 2010, you can ask for an adjustment to your attendance requirements if needed. Please contact your department who will help you liaise with the Disability and Neurodiversity team and the Academic Quality and Policy Office.
• If you are experiencing ongoing difficulties causing you to miss classes, you can contact your personal tutor, the Wellbeing team, the Student Services Centre, or the Advice Centre at the SU, who should all be able to help and advise you.
• If you are an international student on a Student visa, then non-attendance could result in your visa being withdrawn. So, making sure you have the required attendance level and that you’re clued up on how to submit the Notification of Absence form, as well as being fully aware of the support services available to you, is even more important! For further support, please reach out to the University's International Advice team.

If you cannot attend for a legitimate reason and have provided appropriate evidence, you have a right to not face unjust repercussions. You must also have informed your department of your absence appropriately, or submitted extenuating circumstances/applied for extensions in line with University guidelines. If you are experiencing ongoing absence, it is really important that you get in touch with your department and reach out to other services such as the Wellbeing team, the Student Services Centre, or the Advice Centre at the SU to help you.