Engagement Monitoring for Research Students

The University records engagement data for all students at all learning sessions, including supervisory meetings. 

Engagement correlates with performance. The more you engage, the better you will do. Also, the University is required to collect attendance data by bodies that fund and sponsor students.  

Engagement will be monitored through monthly meetings with your supervisor. 

If you miss your monthly meeting without authorisation, the formal engagement monitoring process will start.

If you are a non-Student Route (previously Tier 4) student, your Faculty/School will contact you to advise you about the consequences of non-engagement and you will be asked to rearrange a meeting with your supervisor. 

If you are a Student Route (previously Tier 4) student sponsored by the University, you will be required to attend a meeting with Student Compliance Services. If you fail to attend these meetings you will normally be required to withdraw from the University.

If you miss supervisory meetings and research engagements for a further 4 week period, you will be required to meet with your Faculty/School Director of Research or Postgraduate Research. 

Student Route (previously Tier 4) sponsored students will be required to meet with Student Compliance Services to review their poor engagement. If you do not attend this meeting and your engagement does not improve, you may be required to withdraw. 

The University will contact you about your engagement by email to your student account. Email is used for nearly all communications with students so it is important to read your email every day. You should treat reading your student email account daily as a professional commitment.

Students who hold Student Route (previously Tier 4) visas are required to demonstrate high levels of engagement in order to maintain their visa status.

Unavoidably, students studying with a Student Route (previously Tier 4) visa who miss supervision are subject to an accelerated process. Student Route (previously Tier 4) sponsored students who miss one monthly meeting with their supervisor will be contacted by Student Compliance Services and will be required to attend a meeting to discuss their non-attendance.

To aid the University’s compliance with its obligations as a Student Route (previously Tier 4) sponsor, Student Compliance Services will undertake three attendance and engagement checkpoints in a rolling 12 month period. Following these checkpoints students may receive an email regarding their attendance or be required to meet with Student Compliance Services.

Non-engagement must be reported by the University to the UKVI, who will in turn act to curtail leave.

For further information, please contact Tier4Attendance@swansea.ac.uk

You should keep your Faculty/School informed of any reasons which are preventing you from engaging/attending.

If you need to be absent for a prolonged period – contact your Faculty/School as soon as possible.

Absences over 60 days normally mean suspending your studies; it is difficult to catch up after a long absence, for any reason.

For more information, contact your Faculty/School.

Please contact your Faculty/School to discuss applying for a request to study remotely and arrangements will need to be made to continue your supervisory sessions prior to leaving Swansea. These sessions should continue to be held using suitable alternative means (e.g Zoom) where it is not possible to be held face-to-face.  

Students on a Student Route (previously Tier 4) visa who are studying by distance learning outside the UK must have at least 50% of their supervisory sessions in person or via a suitable alternative means (e.g. Zoom) per academic session, unless agreed in advance with Student Compliance Services. 

If your engagement improves, you will be contacted and encouraged to continue engaging with your studies. You will progressively drop back down the ‘stages’ of the engagement monitoring system. 

You will be informed by email from your Faculty/School or  Student Compliance Services if you are withdrawn for non-engagement. You may request a review of this decision, please see the Engagement Monitoring Policy for more information. 

You will need to notify your Faculty/School of any planned temporary absence which exceeds five working days, this will then be considered as a “temporary request for leave from study”. The following is a non-exhaustive list of circumstances which would be commonly accepted by the University includes: 

• Reasonable circumstances that may arise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Death or serious illness of a close relative or friend. 
• Significant adverse personal or family circumstances – such as divorce, burglary, fire, major court proceedings, financial difficulties that are beyond the control of the student and require the student to leave the University at short notice. 
• Jury duty. 
• Sporting and/or arts commitments, normally where a student is a participant. 

You can view your engagement data via the RMS/eVision system. 

If you have questions, please go to your Faculty/School or MyUniHub.