Studying in the UK

You must attend all in person classes as well as engaging with the online elements of your course. Your in-class attendance is how we will monitor your engagement with your course.

We are using a system called LA2 Check In to monitor your attendance. Your lecturers will provide you with a code at the start of your classes and you will need to enter the code into this weblink to prove that you were in attendance. If you do not have a device that you can use, please let your lecturer know. If your lecturer does not provide you with a code please ensure that you request one.

You must not provide the code to anyone else. If you are found to have passed on a code this will be dealt with very seriously by us through the Student Conduct Regulations.

Online Training Guides are available here

If there are exceptional reasons that prevent you from attending your classes, then you must advise USW by submitting Leave of Absence request if you are going to be absent for more than three working days.

What happens to the data gathered?

Data gathered through LA2 Check In or the electronic sources is fed into a system called SEAtS. The system then looks at the last date that you engaged with your course from the previous week. It will then move you automatically between stages if you do not engage as expected. Please see the Attendance and Engagement Policy section above for further information. Any emails sent from the system will be sent from [email protected]. Please ensure that you read any emails carefully.

If you are unable to engage with your course due to illness or other circumstances, please see our Leave of Absence pages for further information.

This policy applies to all students studying at the University of South Wales with a Tier 4/Student route visa.

As a Tier 4/Student route International student you are required to:

·        attend all on-campus classes;

·        attend any other academic engagements;

·        meet your coursework/assessment submission requirements.

You are also expected to:

·        live within the South Wales/South West area and have a commutable term time address in the South Wales/South West area to attend the University.

·        keep your current addresses (both in your home country and the UK), email address and telephone number up to date. This is for your own protection as we will use these details to notify you if there is an issue with your attendance/engagement as detailed below.

If you fail to adhere to the Tier 4/Student route Engagement Monitoring Policy requirements you could risk being withdrawn from your course. We could withdraw Tier 4/Student route sponsorship, which could result in your Tier 4/Student route visa being curtailed by the UKVI (Home Office). You would then need to leave the UK, if you have already travelled.

Engagement monitoring stages for students on taught courses (undergraduate degree level)

There are four stages of the Tier 4/Student route Engagement Monitoring policy. If you adhere to the policy you will remain at Stage 0, which means that no action is required as you are meeting the conditions of the Tier 4/Student route Engagement Monitoring Policy.

If you do not adhere to the policy requirements, you will be in breach and you will progress through the stages below.

Stage 1 (7 days non-engagement)
If you reach Stage 1, you will be sent automated communications from the engagement system reminding you to engage with your course online, attend classes and submit assessments, where appropriate. The emails will be sent to your student and personal accounts.

Stage 2 (14 days non-engagement)
After 14 days of missed interactions, you will move to Stage 2. You will be sent an automated email to your student and personal accounts requesting that you adhere to an action plan for 14 days.

Continuous failure to attend/engage thereafter will result in you being moved to Stage 3.

Stage 3 (28 days non-engagement)

After 28 days of missed interactions, you will move to Stage 3.  You will be sent an automated email to your student and personal accounts stating that your action plan has been extended for a further 7 days. 

Stage 4 (35 days non-engagement)

At Stage 4, you will receive a personalised email to your student and personal accounts notifying you of our intention to withdraw you from your course and withdraw Tier 4/Student route sponsorship. You will be given 10 working days to appeal the decision. Information regarding the appeals process and the deadline for submission will be provided in the email. 

If you fail to lodge a successful appeal, you will be withdrawn from your course and your Tier 4/Student route sponsorship will be withdrawn. Consequently, the UKVI (Home Office) will take steps to curtail (shorten) your visa and will no longer be able to remain in the UK. You will receive a personalised email to your student and personal accounts confirming that you have been withdrawn from studies and that we have withdrawn Tier 4/Student route sponsorship and that the UKVI (Home Office) have been informed accordingly.

If you are undertaking a dissertation/ project after your teaching has finished (normally post-graduate courses and select undergraduate courses) we will monitor your engagement with your supervisor at the half-way point of your dissertation/project and then again at the end. If you are not engaging satisfactorily between these check points your course leader will notify us and we will commence stage 2 of the policy above.

If you are studying a postgraduate level course at the University of South Wales, it is important that you understand that the entire programme, with the exception of official vacation periods, is considered to be full time study, including any time spent writing your dissertation or final project.

You may, in limited circumstances, be granted permission to undertake the later stages of your programme from your home country, but this is entirely at the discretion of your academic supervisor and will not be granted unless your supervisor is confident that you have progressed sufficiently and can be adequately supported while away.

Additionally, permission to undertake periods of study away must be academically necessary (for example, you are collecting data from a company in your home country) and not for personal reasons such as the expiry of a tenancy. There is an expectation that students are aware and have planned for the total duration of the course, including writing up periods and as such have planned to remain in the UK for the total course duration. Please visit our Leave of Absence page for more information.

If you are studying on a course which is below undergraduate level, e.g. a stand-alone CertHE or a foundation year where you have to apply for a new CAS to move to the degree programme, you must attend a minimum of 15 hours of daytime (08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday) classroom-based study per week. If you do not reach 85% attendance of your classroom-based study in any given month, we must review the reason for your absence. You will be placed on an action plan. We will then update your student record with the reason for the non-attendance and the steps being taken to improve your attendance. 

If your attendance falls below 70% for three consecutive months, we will withdraw your sponsorship due to lack of academic engagement unless there are exceptional and evidenced reasons for the non-attendance (e.g. illness). 

There are four stages of the Engagement Monitoring policy for students who are studying at postgraduate research level. If you adhere to the policy you will remain at Stage 0, which means that no action is required as you are meeting the conditions of the Tier 4/Student route Engagement Monitoring Policy. 

Stage 1 

If you do not log an engagement with your supervisors on PhD Manager for more than 4 weeks, you will be in breach of our requirements and will progress through the stages. At Stage 1, you will be flagged as amber within the visa monitoring dashboard on PhD Manager and will receive a reminder from the Graduate School to log your engagement within the system.  

Stage 2 

If you do not log an engagement with your supervisors on PhD Manager for more than 5 weeks, you will reach Stage 2 and your record will be flagged as amber within the visa monitoring dashboard on PhD Manager. You will receive an email from the Graduate School inviting you to attend a meeting with a representative from the Graduate School to discuss your non-engagement. At this point, the Graduate School may check other key engagements. 

These include: 

Submission of a key stage application e.g. Annual Progress Review, Transfer Report or Thesis 

Attendance at a viva examination or a formal skills development workshop 

Stage 3 

Continuous failure to attend/engage thereafter will result in you being moved to Stage 3 and your record will be flagged as red on the visa monitoring dashboard on PhD Manager. You will receive a personalised email to your student and personal accounts notifying you of our intention to withdraw you from your course and withdraw Tier 4/Student route sponsorship. Information regarding the appeals process and the deadline for submission will be provided. 

Stage 4 

If you fail to lodge a successful appeal, you will be moved to Stage 4, be withdrawn from your course and your Tier 4/Student route sponsorship will be withdrawn. Consequently, the UKVI (Home Office) will take steps to curtail (shorten) your visa and will no longer be able to remain in the UK. You will receive a personalised email to your student and personal accounts confirming that you have been withdrawn from studies and that we have withdrawn Tier 4/Student route sponsorship and that the UKVI (Home Office) have been informed accordingly. 

The table below gives a summary of what to expect if you fail to adhere to the Tier 4/Student route Engagement Monitoring requirements. 

Attendance on courses run by the Centre for International English is compulsory. Students must attend every day. Students who do not attend and are unable to account for their non-attendance will be withdrawn from their studies. 

Academic Registry will notify you of the intention to withdraw you from the course and provide details of the appeals process. If you fail to lodge a successful appeal, you will be withdrawn from your course and your Tier 4/Student route sponsorship will be withdrawn. Consequently, the UKVI (Home Office) will take steps to curtail your visa and will no longer be able to remain in the UK. You will receive a personalised email to your student and personal accounts and/or a letter to your term address confirming that you have been withdrawn from studies and that we have withdrawn Tier 4/Student route sponsorship and that the UKVI (Home Office) have been informed accordingly. 

If you are/will be undertaking a work placement as part of your course, you must contact Academic Registry so that you fully understand how your engagement will be monitored whilst you are not studying on campus.