Attendance monitoring
If you hold a Student visa, we monitor your attendance to check that you are engaging with your studies. This will also tell us if you need any extra help or support to complete your degree.
On this page
How your attendance is monitored
If you need to miss a contact point
Minimum engagement requirement
Not meeting the attendance requirement
Low engagement or low attendance could mean you are breaching your visa conditions. We may have to report your non-engagement to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)/Home Office and your visa will be cancelled.
As your visa sponsor, we must report any changes to your studies. This includes:
- changes in your attendance or engagement
- work placements, year in industry or study abroad
- change of study location
- if you stop studying or attending in person
How your attendance is monitored
We get your attendance information from “contact points”(scheduled academic activities). To meet your visa conditions, you must attend contact points in person.
In person contact points include:
- attending lectures, seminars, tutorials
- attending supervisor meetings
- doing the required laboratory work
- submitting essays and assignments in person
- attending exams in person
It will not include:
- attending online teaching
- online examinations
- online submission of work
- meeting on Microsoft Teams or Skype
- watching lecture recordings instead of attending in person.
If your school uses the Check-in app, it is your responsibility to record all the academic activities you attend.
If your school does not use the Check-in app yet, attendance may not be recorded at all activities.
If you undertake a work placement, year in industry or study abroad to retain visa sponsorship you will be required to submit a completed a monitoring form to your school/faculty each month to confirm your attendance.
If you need to miss a contact point
Your absence will be recorded. A short absence is unlikely to affect your visa (see minimum attendance requirements below).
You may need to notify your school for any period of absence if it is required by your programme of study or a specific unit. Your school will provide details on how to do this. You should also seek any support you need.
If you miss an exam or assessment, you should follow the missed exam or assessment process.
If you need to take a long break from your studies, you should consider suspending your studies so you do not fail to meet the minimum attendance requirement. If you need to suspend your studies for more than 60 days, we will withdraw your visa sponsorship you will likely need to leave the UK and need to apply for a new CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies)/visa to return.
Taking leave during term time
Any absence during term-time could affect your visa and is at your own risk, please also be aware that it could affect your eligibility for the Graduate route visa, please see the information about the Study in the UK requirement.
Unless you have an approved work placement or change in study location, you are expected to be attending in Bristol during term-time and to attend all timetabled academic activities in person, including supervisory meetings.
Apart from agreed suspensions and agreed annual leave for postgraduate research students, we cannot approve or advise on absence during term-time.
If you request advice on term-time absence, you will be told to look at this attendance requirements page.
If you attend most of your in-person contact points or you have only a short absence, for example one teaching event for illness, this is unlikely to affect your visa. However, you must meet the attendance requirements of your programme and any absence may affect your academic progress.
Minimum engagement requirement
The engagement requirements are explained in our engagement and attendance policy (PDF) on page 3, point 6
Be aware that, by attending the minimum requirements (as set out in the policy), you might not be meeting the academic requirements and engagement expectations of your degree.
Therefore, you should aim to fully engage with your course, complete assessments/assignments and attend all scheduled contact points.
Undergraduates
You must attend at least one in person contact point, every 2 weeks during term-time for the whole course.
Pre-sessional and International Foundation Programme (IFP)
You must attend all of your timetabled in person teaching and contact points during term-time for the whole course.
You will be contacted by your school if you attend less than 85% of your classes per month. If you attend less than 70% of your classes for 3 consecutive months we will need to withdraw your visa sponsorship and you will be withdrawn from your course.
Postgraduate taught (PGT)
Taught modules: you must attend at least one in person contact point, every 2 weeks during term-time teaching weeks.
Dissertation writing period:you must attend at least one in person contact point, every month.
Postgraduate research (PGR)
You must attend at least one in person contact point per month, usually a supervisor meeting.
We will monitor your engagement up until your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies) end date or viva (oral exam), whichever takes place first.
Not meeting the attendance requirement
We will contact you if you do not meet the minimum attendance requirement. You might also get an email from your school and faculty.
You must respond to all of us so we can:
- discuss why you were absent
- support you to resume your studies and
- explain how it will affect your visa if you continue to not attend.
If you are absent from in person contact points for 60 days or more, we must tell the UKVI/Home Office and withdraw your visa sponsorship. You will usually be withdrawn from your course as well.
You cannot appeal against this decision.
Changing where you study
You cannot study from another location (anywhere outside of Bristol) unless it is part of your degree (such as work placements, study abroad, fieldwork or research).
If you want to request a change of location for personal reasons or because you are leaving the UK and not coming back on your student visa, we will withdraw your student visa sponsorship.
Find out how to request a change in study location.