About this page
This Policy sets out the School’s expectations in relation to its students’ attendance, and their engagement with their studies.
Student Attendance and Engagement Policy
- Introduction
- Registration
- Recording and monitoring attendance - taught programmes
- Recording and monitoring attendance - research programmes
- Placements and attachments
- Reporting absence, and escalation
- Health, Wellbeing and Support for Studies
- Students in receipt of a Student Route visa
- Further reading
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (Central, or the School) monitors and records student attendance to support student wellbeing, retention, progression and achievement, and to enable it to fulfil its statutory and legal obligations (for example, to UK Visas and Immigration [UKVI]).
Students, as active participants in their learning, are expected to engage fully with their studies whilst registered at the School, including attendance at all scheduled lectures, seminars, tutorials, rehearsals, supervisions, training, performances, and any other event or meeting convened as part of the teaching, learning, research or assessment for a particular unit or programme of study.
Staff (including visiting lecturers and visiting professionals) who deliver learning, teaching and assessment activities are required to record and report on students’ attendance.
This Policy applies to students on all taught and research higher education programmes at Central.
All students must register at the start of their first year of their programme, and if they successfully progress at the start of each subsequent academic session thereafter for the duration of their studies.
Central reserves the right to withdraw any student who fails to register by the start of their programme, or to confirm their continuing registration by the anniversary of their original registration. In doing so, it will:
- report students who have applied for a UK student loan to the Student Loan Company (SLC) and their relevant funding body: Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, Student Award Agency Scotland, or Student Finance Northern Ireland;
- report students in receipt of funding from other sources (for example, an employer or research funder) to those organisations;
- withdraw students who have applied for a U.S. Federal Loan from the Federal Aid programme for the relevant academic year;
- withdraw sponsorship for overseas students who are in receipt of a Student Route visa, and report their change in circumstances to UKVI (refer also to section 8, below);
- inform Transport for London that the student is no longer eligible for an 18+ Student Photocard and cancel their card at the point of withdrawal.
The School will issue periods of temporary registration to new students who cannot complete their original registration by the start of their programme due to delays beyond the student’s control. During this time students are granted full student status. Central reserves the right to withdraw any student who fails to provide the required documentation by the end of the temporary registration period.
For further information, refer to the School’s Terms and Conditions for students on higher education credit-bearing programmes.
3. Recording and monitoring attendance – taught programmes
Staff (including visiting lecturers and visiting professionals) should record student attendance at each timetabled learning, teaching and assessment activity and report any unauthorised absences to the Programmes Office within 24 hours.
Central is currently developing mechanisms for the online web- or app-based recording and reporting of student attendance.
4. Recording and monitoring attendance – research programmes
Research students will receive, indicatively, a monthly supervision session from their First Supervisor each year (pro-rata for part-time students). They must also attend timetabled training sessions during their period of registration. Supervisors are required to report any missed contacts to the Research Degrees office.
Annual Progress Reviews will be held which each research student every year (every two years for part-time students). In their first year of registration, this takes the form of a Transfer Review. The Review serves as confirmation of students’ engagement with the programme over the previous twelve months.
Attendance and engagement requirements for students undertaking placements or attachments are the same as for those studying on-site. Students should report any absences to the Programmes Office as they should do for all other learning, teaching, research and assessment activities (see section 6, below), and also to their placement/attachment host. It is very important that students inform the School about any absences as soon as possible on the day of absence, as Central is required, for external reporting purposes, to record off-site activity.
Hosts will report any unauthorised absences to the Programmes Office (via the Placements Officer) within 24 hours, and will sign off the student’s attendance record/diary each week.
Further information can be found in the School’s Placements Handbook (internal link).
6. Reporting absence, and escalation
The process by which students on taught programmes (including those on placement or attachment) can seek authorisation for any planned or unexpected absences from their studies is described in the Student Handbook (internal link). Any student who is unable to attend for 5 or more days/scheduled contacts in succession must provide a doctor’s note or other appropriate independent confirmation to the Programmes Office.
Students on research programmes should notify their supervisors and the Research Degrees office as soon as is practicable. Where appropriate, the medical leave and parental leave policies for research degree candidates will apply.
Central may refer extended or continued authorised absences (whether or not they are consecutive) to the appropriate internal procedure, for example its Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedure (see section 7, below).
As stipulated in Central’s Academic Regulations, 4 unauthorised absences from scheduled contacts will result in an informal warning letter to the student from the Programmes Office; 8 will result in a formal warning from the Programmes Office. After 10 unauthorised absences, the matter will be referred to the Academic Registrar and Director of Academic Services as a disciplinary matter, and the student will be at risk of immediate termination of studies.
7. Health, Wellbeing and Support for Studies
Central’s Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedures may be considered as an alternative to other means of managing concerns about student attendance where it is thought that it could be the result of mental or physical ill health or disability.
Students who are engaging with or subject to the School’s Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedures are expected to attend all teaching, learning, research and assessment activities as normal. Unauthorised absences will continue to be managed in line with Central’s Academic Regulations (see section 6, above).
8. Students in receipt of a Student Route visa
In accordance with UK immigration law, a report will be made to UKVI if an international student holding a Student Route visa is absent from the School for more than 10 consecutive expected contact points without authorisation, or, in the case of research students, fails to attend 10 scheduled supervisions or training sessions.
The non-attendance of students holding Student Route visas will be treated by the School as a matter of urgency: the maximum period of non-engagement before the School reports to UKVI or otherwise intervenes cannot be greater than 60 days.
Attendance regulations (Academic Regulations, Part 2: General Regulations – refer to paragraphs 8.5-8.16)
Attendance guidance (Student Handbook [internal link])
Visas and international student support (Student Handbook [internal link])
Placements and attachments (Student Handbook [internal link])
Terms and Conditions for students on credit-bearing higher education programmes