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Engagement monitoring on postgraduate research (PhD) courses

If you hold a Tier 4/Student Route visa, read more about how UAL will monitor your attendance and engagement with your PhD course. Find out what to do if you miss a session and how to request authorised absence.

Review the UAL Attendance policy

Information for all UAL students

Engagement monitoring

Your engagement will be monitored by the following:

  • evidence of 1 recorded face-to-face academic contact per month and
  • monthly email contact between the Assistant Head of Postgraduate Research (PGR) and your Director of Studies to confirm engagement.

Your monthly academic contact can be evidenced by:

  • Supervision meetings (must be in-person, not online)
  • RNUAL attendance (Blocks 1-3, Study Days and Core Research Concerns)
  • submission of the Application for Registration
  • the Confirmation Meeting
  • the Annual Report
  • thesis submission
  • Viva voce.

At the start of each academic year, you’ll be asked to agree on your plan for academic contact with the supervisory team and send it to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.

The Assistant Head of PGR will also email your Director of Studies once a month to confirm engagement.

  • There must be at least 1 academic contact for each month. It’s not possible to have a number of contacts in a short period which can then be averaged out over the year.
  • The type of contacts throughout the year will vary for each student.
  • The monitoring runs from October to September each year. Term dates do not apply.

Example academic contact plan

An example academic contact plan based on a full-time student in their first year is:

  • October – RNUAL Registration Study Day
  • November - Supervisory meeting
  • December - Supervisory meeting
  • January - Supervisory meeting
  • February - RNUAL Block 2 attendance
  • March - Supervisory meeting
  • April - Supervisory meeting
  • May - Supervisory meeting
  • June - RNUAL Block 3 attendance
  • July - Supervisory meeting
  • August – RNUAL Core Research Concerns
  • September – Supervisory Meeting

Evidencing your monthly academic contact

Email the document confirming your academic contact by the end of each month. At the end of each month, the Assistant Head of PGR will check your academic contact plan and email you if the document is missing.

Submit your documents as follows:

  • Supervision record sheets: record your supervisory meetings on a supervision record sheet. Email the completed form, signed by you and your supervisory team, to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk. Copy your Supervisors into the email. Submit the form by the end of the month during which the supervisory meeting took place.
  • RNUAL attendance: sign into the event using your full name. The Research Student team will check registers.
  • Application for registration: email your completed form, signed by you and your supervisory team, to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.
  • Confirmation meeting reports: your Director of Studies will submit this form to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.
  • Annual reports: email the form to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.
  • Thesis submission: either i) email your thesis and submission declaration form to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk or ii) make an appointment to submit in person to a member of the Research Student team.
  • Viva voce: your viva voce Chair will submit the joint final report to confirm your examination took place (either in-person or online).

Students in Writing Up status

For students in Writing Up status only 5 supervision meetings are scheduled for the year. For the remaining months, schedule a meeting or email contact with the Assistant Head of PGR (instead of meeting with your Director of Studies).

Record these meetings in a supervision record sheet. Email your completed form, signed by you and the Assistant Head of PGR to researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk. Submit the form by the end of the month during which the meeting took place.

Missed sessions

If you miss 2 academic contact points in a row you'll be sent a link to download the Course Engagement Form (Word 50KB). This gives you the opportunity to confirm your reasons for non-engagement and provide evidence (where applicable).

You'll be asked to complete and return the Course Engagement Form to confirm that:

  • You understand the University’s attendance policy
  • You understand the conditions of your Tier 4/Student route visa
  • You understand the authorised absence process (see below)
  • You understand the conditions under which you’ll be allowed to return to studies and the consequences of further non-engagement.

If you complete and return the Course Engagement Form within 7 calendar days, you’ll be able to continue your studies.

If you don’t complete the Course Engagement Form within 7 calendar days, you'll be suspended and given an additional 7 days to return the form. If you don’t return the form within an additional 5 working days, you risk being withdrawn from your studies.

If you don’t engage with your course for 30 calendar days after the first intervention, you’ll be suspended from your course. We'll email you to confirm your suspension and give you 5 working days to respond to the suspension email. If you respond to the email, your overall engagement will be assessed and a decision as to whether you should be withdrawn from your course will be made. If you fail to respond to the suspension email, you’ll be withdrawn from your course.

Course withdrawal

If you’re withdrawn from your course, your withdrawal will be reported to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), who will be instructed to cancel your Tier 4/Student Route visa. You’ll receive an email confirming this and outlining your next steps. Upon receipt of the withdrawal email, you’ll need to prepare to leave the UK within 60 days.

Authorised absences

1. Sickness or other unforeseen absences:

  • Absences of up to 10 working days: you must inform your Director of Studies and the Research Student team at researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk. You may be asked to provide evidence, for example a doctor’s certificate.
  • Absences over 10 working days: you must submit an application for authorised absence form to the Research Student team at researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk. You must include supporting evidence and written confirmation from your Director of Studies in support of the absence.

2. Planned absences of more than 10 working days:

  • You must request authorised absence no later than 1 month before your absence is due to begin. Requests made after this time will not be authorised. Email your application for authorised absence form to the Research Student team at researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.
  • Academic-related absences (e.g. conference attendance) must be approved by your Director of Studies. Submit an application for authorised absence form stating your dates of departure and return. Include an agreement that you will contact your Director of Studies at least once while you’re away.
  • Absences of more than 4 weeks will not be authorised. If you are absent for more than 4 weeks your sponsorship will be withdrawn and reported to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). As a result, UKVI may cancel your visa.

Authorised Absence Form

To request an Authorised Absence Form, or if you would like to discuss your plans for an authorised absence, please contact the Research Student team at researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk.

Study away from UAL

You may be permitted to study away from UAL, either in another city or country, if you need to collect data or conduct research as part of a project.

You may be permitted to study away for up to 60 calendar days per academic year. In order to be eligible, you'll need to:

  • have satisfactory engagement with your studies
  • be up to date with the payment of your course fees
  • obtain approval from your Director of Studies
  • complete the study away application form
  • meet academic contacts and demonstrate engagement with your studies during the time that you will be studying away from UAL.

Study Away Form

To request a Study Away Form or if you would like to discuss your plans for study away from UAL, please contact the Research Student Team at researchdegrees@arts.ac.uk

Please note that authorised absences and study away periods cannot run at the same time.

Time out from your studies

A formal time out can be for a period of no shorter than 3 months. If you need to request time out from your research degree studies this will mean that:

  • your Tier 4/Student Route visa will be cancelled
  • you will need to leave the UK and reapply for a new Tier 4/Student Route visa from your home country following the time out. This will not have a negative impact on your visa history.

Before submitting an application for time out you should plan this carefully with:

Retrospective time out will not be allowed. If you need to take time out, please contact the Research Student team as soon as possible to discuss your options.