PGR Engagement and Attendance Procedure
Section 4: PGR Engagement and Attendance Procedure
Please make sure you are familiar with the PGR Engagement and Attendance Regulations - these include information on annual leave and reporting absences.
4.8 Procedural introduction
4.8.1 You must demonstrate regular engagement and attendance with your programme to avoid being withdrawn.
4.8.2 You must also re-register for your programme every year, including when you are in the writing-up period and the final thesis examination phase of your programme.
4.8.3 If you are studying with us on a Student Visa you must register your attendance weekly (please see points 4.9 and 4.10 below).
4.8.4 For all other PGRs who are not studying with us on a Student Visa, there will be no requirement for you swipe-in with your student ID card.
4.8.5 All PGRs must record discussion and actions coming out of your supervisor meetings, using the University’s online supervision log (currently SkillsForge).
4.9 Recording your engagement and attendance
4.9.1 You are expected to record your attendance and engagement with your research by completing the online supervision record (currently SkillsForge) each time you meet with your supervisor. For full-time candidates this should be a minimum of once per month and for part-time candidates this should be a minimum of once every second month.
4.9.2 For candidates who are either in writing-up or the examination phase of their degree, you must complete the online supervision record each time you meet with your supervisor. At this stage of your programme, you are expected to be in contact with your supervisor once every second month.
4.9.3 If you fail to regularly complete the online supervision record, this will be considered a breach of the attendance and engagement regulation and the procedure for non-engagement will be followed.
4.10 Additional obligations for students studying on a Student Visa
4.10.1 You are required to register your regular attendance on campus by swiping your student card at the designated point. .
4.10.2 You must swipe every week to comply with the terms of your visa.
4.10.3 When you submit your thesis you will not have to swipe for the following six weeks.
4.11 Annual leave
4.11.1 You need to request any annual leave that you are entitled to by submitting your annual leave card to your PGR Admin Support team for approval. As a postgraduate research student, you can request up to 35 days a year annual leave. You will be issued with an annual leave card and the PGR Admin Support team will approve and record your leave. You can use your leave card as proof of authorisation for absence from the University.
4.12 Other absence reporting
4.12.1 You must let us know if you are going to be absent for any other reason, such as illness.
4.12.2 You should complete an authorised absence form, which you can request from, and must submit to, your School PGR Admin Team.
4.12.3 If you are a student with a Visa, all absence must also be approved by the International Office. Ensure you carefully read the Authorised Absence Reporting and Your Visa part of Section 2: International Student Information.
4.12.4 If you are going to be absent for a prolonged period, you may wish to consider an interruption of study.
4.12.5 The table below outlines the categories of leave which may be permitted as authorised absence. It is very unlikely that leave will be authorised if it does not meet the criteria below:
|
Category |
Allowable period |
Evidence requirements |
|
Annual leave |
35 days (except where leave is likely to impact on progress of a research project or where there are funding implications) |
n/a NB this is approved by your School on a leave card, not by the International Office |
|
Study visit / data collection outside the UK |
Up to 60 days |
Supervisor confirmation |
|
Pregnancy and birth (refer to the Policy on Support for Pregnant Students and New Parents) |
Up to 6 weeks |
Medical documentation |
|
Paternity leave |
Up to 2 weeks |
Medical documentation |
|
Sickness or ill-health |
Up to 2 weeks. Longer periods may require students to interrupt their studies |
Sick note or other evidence from the student’s doctor / specialist |
|
Sick relative or dependant[1] |
Up to 2 weeks |
Reliable 3rd party evidence / medical certificate |
|
Close family bereavement[2] |
Up to 2 weeks |
Reliable 3rd party evidence / death certificate |
|
Involvement in competitive sports at national or international level |
Up to 2 weeks |
Reliable 3rd party evidence |
|
Victim of serious crime |
Up to 2 weeks |
Crime number / police report |
|
Conference outside the UK |
Up to 1 week |
Supervisor confirmation |
4.13 PGR employment
4.13.1 Completing a research degree can be demanding on your time and we understand that many of our PGRs work to support themselves whilst studying. We have provided some guidance below as to what we believe is an acceptable level of employment to allow you to be able to balance your work and study commitments.
- Full-time research postgraduate students are expected to work no more than 16 hours per week and must not be in full-time employment.
- Part-time research postgraduate students are expected to work no more than 37 hours per week.
4.13.2 If you are a studying with us on a Visa and wish to find employment, please read our advice about Working whilst studying. It is very important that you check your employment status prior to starting work, you can do this by contacting the Immigration and Compliance team or attending one of the Immigration Drop-in Sessions.
4.13.3 If you are looking at employment within the University, additional rules apply. Please see our Work Experience, Placements and Employment of Students Policy.
4.14 Procedure for non-engagement
4.14.1 If you continuously fail to attend or record supervision meetings and / or engage with your supervisors and studies, a member of the administrative team will use an informal approach to encourage you to re-engage. This may also apply if your School have concerns regarding unsatisfactory progress. If you do not respond to this informal approach, you will be invited to a formal meeting to discuss your engagement with your programme. The meeting provides an opportunity to identify whether you have had valid reasons for disengaging (such as any barriers to participation that you are facing and may not have disclosed), identify whether there is a mutually agreeable way for you to continue your studies with us and to offer you with support.
4.14.2 You will be given 5 working days’ notice of the date, time and location of the meeting. You will also be informed of who will be in attendance, which, in addition to you, should be:
- Your main supervisor (both supervisors may attend, but the main supervisor is a minimum requirement)
- The Director of Graduate Education
- A member of the School PGR Admin Team to take notes that will act as a formal record of the meeting
- You are also able to bring a supporter with you (usually an adviser from the Students’ Union Advice Centre).
4.14.3 We expect you to attend the meeting but, if you are unable to attend for a good reason, we may be able to hold the meeting at a later date. You must, however, notify your School PGR Admin Team of this in advance and you will be required to provide evidence to explain why you are unable to attend. Please be aware that we are unable to indefinitely postpone the meeting and we will not usually postpone the meeting more than once. If you do not tell us in advance that you are unable to attend the meeting and you do not attend, it will go ahead in your absence and a decision will be made based on all of the information available on the day.
4.14.4 We will send you an email no later than 5 working days after the date of your meeting to confirm the outcome.
4.14.5 There are three possible outcomes to a formal meeting:
- You are able to continue with your studies. They may specify some conditions that you need to meet in order for your registration to continue, to prevent any further problems with non-engagement or to support you with any difficulties you are experiencing;
- There may be concerns about your ability to engage with your studies and you may be referred to the Support to Study procedure (section 10)
- You are no longer able to continue with your studies and you will be withdrawn from your course.
4.14.6 Students that are withdrawn will lose access to their University accounts within 10 working days of the withdrawal being processed. If your School notifies you that you are being withdrawn, and you intend to appeal, please let us know as soon as possible, otherwise you will lose access to your University accounts. To download your training records from SkillsForge, please log in, go to "My Training, Development & Skills", then select "Development Summary" for a complete list by date of Training and Courses which you have attended. Alternatively, select "My Completed Activities" for an overview of the last couple of years divided by Researcher Development Framework skill areas and from where you can print off the details of the sessions if required.
4.15 Withdrawal for non-submission
4.15.1 You must submit all work by agreed deadlines and it is your responsibility to ensure that you know your submission deadlines. Your school will withdraw you if you fail to submit:
- Your research support plan and skills audit
- Progression monitoring reports
- Your thesis
4.15.2 Students that are withdrawn will lose access to their University accounts within 10 working days of the withdrawal being processed. If your School notifies you that you are being withdrawn, and you intend to appeal, please let us know as soon as possible, otherwise you will lose access to your University accounts. To download your training records from SkillsForge, please log in, go to "My Training, Development & Skills", then select "Development Summary" for a complete list by date of Training and Courses which you have attended. Alternatively, select "My Completed Activities" for an overview of the last couple of years divided by Researcher Development Framework skill areas and from where you can print off the details of the sessions if required.
4.16 Appealing against a withdrawal
4.16.1 You can appeal a withdrawal decision if you can demonstrate:
- That a procedural irregularity has occurred during the process that led to your withdrawal; and / or
- You have extenuating circumstances, which can be independently evidenced, which for good reason you could not tell us about at the time and before the decision was made. Please see our Supporting Evidence Guidance for PGRs for information about appropriate standards of evidence.
4.16.2 The burden of proof in substantiating your appeal arguments rests with you.
4.16.3 To appeal, you should complete the PGR Withdrawal Appeal Form in full and email it, with your evidence, to RegistryAttendanceMonitoring@hud.ac.uk.
4.16.4 You must submit your appeal no later than 10 working days after the date of the email confirming that you have been withdrawn from your studies. If your appeal is submitted later than this and without a good reason, we will reject it. If you have a good reason for submitting your appeal late, you must provide independent evidence to support this.
4.16.5 We will consider your appeal and will normally deliver the outcome via a Completion of Procedures Letter no later than 20 working days from the date of receiving your completed appeal form and associated evidence. We will send you the outcome by email and we will explain the reasons for our decision.
4.16.6 If your appeal is successful, we will notify you and your School of the outcome. When we notify you of this decision, we may provide you with a deadline by which you are required to confirm that you accept the outcome. If you fail to accept the offer by the specified deadline, we will write to you and confirm that the offer has been withdrawn.
4.16.7 If your appeal is rejected, the original decision made by your School will remain. This decision will be final and will bring to an end the University’s internal procedure.
4.17 OIA independent review of our final decision
4.17.1 You can request an independent, external review of the University’s final decision by sending your Completion of Procedures letter to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) within 12 months of receiving it.
[1] A dependant is classed as a spouse, cohabitee, child, parent or someone who reasonably relies on the student for assistance if they fall ill, or are injured, or relies upon the student for help, or in making arrangements in the provision of care
[2] Close relative, partner/spouse, or partner’s/spouse’s immediate relative