The following attendance policy is made known to students, staff and other stakeholders by the following means:
Posters in classrooms and residences;
Covered in the student first day induction;
Included in the Student Induction Pack;
Covered in the staff induction;
Included in the Staff Handbook and the Teacher Handbook (in staff room & on shared drive);
Available in the policies section of the Language in Action website.
The Home Office requires all students on a course in language schools, colleges and universities to attend 100% of their classes with the minimum of 80%.
If students do not attend at least 80% of their course, they will not be able to get a final certificate or report and may have problems with future visa extension/renewal.
The UKVI will be informed of all students on a Tier 4 Visa whose attendance of their course falls below 80%.
Please advise students that what they need to do is:
If you are sick
Inform the school 30 minutes before the start of the class. This will be taken as authorised absence. If you are sick for 3 days or more, you must bring in a doctor’s note.
If you would like a holiday
Holidays may not be taken during term time without prior arrangement.
If you take time off without notifying us
If you do not arrange time off with LIA or call in when you are sick, this will be taken as unauthorised absence and your attendance will be affected.
If your attendance starts to fall the following procedures will be followed:
If your attendance starts to fall below 83%
We will inform you either in person or via a note given to you by your leader/teacher that we are concerned about your attendance, reminding you about the under 80% attendance
If your attendance falls below 80% (without permission)
You will be given a verbal warning. This will be kept on your record.
If your attendance is below 80% and has continued to drop since your verbal warning OR you miss 3 days in a row (without permission)
You will be issued a 1st Written Warning and you will be given an appointment to go and see the DoS/Centre Manager to explain your unauthorised absence.This will be added to your record.
If your attendance is below 80% since your 1st written warning and it has continued to drop OR you miss a further 3 days in a row (without permission)
You will be issued with a 2nd Written Warning, and you will be given an appointment to go and see the DoS/Centre Manager to explain your continued unauthorised absence.This will be added to your record and your agent/parent notified you are on your final warning. This is your last chance to improve. You will be issued an Attendance Agreement by a member of the Head Office. This will explain the terms and conditions of your course and the attendance policy. If you continue to fail to come to school without permission, you may be expelled from the school without refund.
If you have missed 10 days in a row (without permission)
The UK Home Office will be informed that you have broken the conditions of your Visa. You will be asked to leave the school and we will inform your parent and/or agent. If you are on a Tier 4 visa, you will be asked to leave the country immediately.