We know that when students engage with their course they do better. To help support you we regularly monitor your academic engagement and will contact you if we are concerned. Our aim is always to support you to re-engage in your studies if you are having difficulties. In the 24/25 academic yearÌýwe are following a new process to review and follow-up on low engagement.
If we tell you that your engagement is low, this meansÌýat least one of the following
- Your overall attendance over a period of time is below our current intervention level
- You have missed mandatory sessions
- You have missed a coursework submission or exam, withoutÌýan approvedÌýextension.
We contact you about these categories of engagement because they are signs that you might need support.
Find out about
- Why we monitor and follow up on low engagement
- When we will contact you about your engagement
- ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥'s engagement review process
- How we will support you
- FAQs.
You can also find out how to log your attendance and why engagement is importantÌýon the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ website.
Why we monitor and follow-up on low engagement
µþ±«â€™s policy on engagement and attendanceÌý(3K Academic Engagement and Attendance: Policy and Procedure) requires you to engage with your studies at a level which will:
- Enable you to make reasonable academic progress
Higher education sector data shows that you are more likely to pass your assessments and progress to the next stage of study and gain your degree if you attend classes. Attending and engaging at university is also important to get the best out of your time at ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ in other ways, including developing wider skills that are needed for employment or further study.
- Meet legal and regulatory requirements which apply to you.
There are regulatory and legal requirements to monitor and follow up on low student engagement which apply to almost all ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ students. However the exact impact of these requirements varies for different groups of students. For some students external bodies set specific higher engagement or attendance requirements which we need to apply on top of our standard engagement requirements: for example, student visa holders, apprentices and students on health professions and social work courses leading to professional registration.
We recognise that students come to university to be independent learners. By talking to you about your engagement we can help you make informed decisions about your situation and how you manage your studies.
We will always aim to support you to engage in your studies. However, if we have offered you support, and you are still not able to make reasonable academic progress or meet relevant legal or regulatory requirements, we may need to agree anÌýinterruption to your studies or withdraw you from your course.
The ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ policy allows us to monitor and respond to low engagement of individual students. This web page describes the current processes.
When we will contact you about your engagement
Your Programme Team meet regularly to review your engagement. They look at:
- Your attendance since the last review
- Any missed mandatory requirements (assessment submissions, exams or mandatory sessions).
If you have low engagement at a review point, your Programme Team will contact you to offer you support and ask you to increase your engagement if you can. If you have low engagement again at a later review point and there is not an agreed plan in place to support you to engage, you will usually progress to the next step in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ engagement process.
At first, we will email you. These emails will have the words "engagement concern" in the subject line. Later in the process you may need to meet with us, and we may phone you if you have not responded to earlier communications. All emails are sent to both your ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ email address and your personal email address (if you have provided this to us). At every stage we will offer you support.
The final step in the process is withdrawal from your course. We will only withdraw you if you have not increased your engagement enough and we have not been able to work with you to put in place an appropriate plan to support your engagement. Find out more in our frequently asked questions.
We know that many students often face difficulties which can affect them over short or long periods of time. It is normal to need support during your time at university.
Our process is designed to help you manage your life and find the right support when you need it. We recognise it can be difficult to start attending or pick up your academic work again and we can help you with this.Ìý
µþ±«â€™s engagement review process
Please note that the steps below are a guide only. Depending on your circumstances, we may miss steps where attendance is exceptionally low or for immigration compliance purposes. We may also choose toÌýrepeat steps in order toÌýsupport your re-engagement with your studies.
Step 1 - First step in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ engagement review process
Step 2 - Second step in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ engagement review process
Step 3 - Third step in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ engagement review process (Mandatory meeting)
Step 4 – Fourth and final step in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ engagement review process (Withdrawal Warning)
Step 5 - Withdrawal from your course
How we will support you
If you talk to us about your engagement, we will try to agree a support plan with you. This plan will include actions that you and ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ will take with the aim of increasing your engagement. The actions will need to be appropriate to your circumstances and include steps that we think are likely to be effective in supporting your engagement. If you are not having any specific difficulties, the plan could be as simple as you agreeing to increase your attendance, or perhaps we might arrange for your Personal Tutor or a member of the teaching team to provide some support with your return to classes.ÌýOther actions could include:
- Agreeing to access academic or learning support: this could be help from your Personal Tutor orÌýProgramme Team, working with our academic skills support staff or referral to our Additional Learning Support team.
- Signposting or referring you to a particular ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ support team, such as Achieve or Student Money Advice
- Helping you to access another ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ process which may help you manage your circumstances and/or help us decide together the best way forward for you, such as:
- Exceptional circumstances: You can submit information about circumstances affecting your ability to complete assessments on time, so that this can be taken into account in the assessment process
- Support to Study: We will follow this process if we are aware of factors which are significantly impacting your engagement and which are unlikely to be resolved by standard referral to one or more specific services in or outside ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥. The process is used to work out what support you would need to be able to make reasonable progress in your studies and determine whether or how this can reasonably be put in place.
- Interruption: We follow this process if you want to take a complete break from your studies and return later.
There is more information in our frequently asked questionsÌýabout different sources of support and information.