If you are an international student at UNSW College, this guide explains your attendance requirements and what to do if you receive an Attendance Warning or a Notice of Intention to Report.
Click on the dropdowns for more information.
What are your attendance requirements?
All students are expected to attend 100% of scheduled classes as outlined in your program schedule. If you are an international student, you must maintain satisfactory attendance which is a minimum of 80%. If your attendance drops below 80%, the College is required to report you to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) due to your poor attendance.
Before a student is reported to DHA, the College will send 2 Attendance Warning emails, and then finally a Notice of Intention to Report. In cases where more than one attendance warning is due at the same time, the College may choose to send only a single notice or reminder.
How do we monitor attendance?
Attendance is monitored in 2 ways at the College:
1) Your actual attendance
Your attendance of classes at any point in time in your program.
2) Your potential maximum attendance
Your estimated attendance taking into account what classes you have already missed, and assuming you will attend every single class moving forward. It is a best-case scenario of your final attendance outcome.
What happens if you miss classes?
If you are sick or something happens that is beyond your control and prevents you from attending classes, you do need to let the College know by submitting an absence form as soon as possible along with formal evidence as proof of the reason for absence.
- If you missed 1-5 days of classes, you will need to submit an Explanation of Absence Form.
- If you missed more than 5 days of classes, you will need to submit a Leave of Absence Form.
The Explanation of Absence Form and Leave of Absence Form can be found of the Forms page of the Current Students Website, under the “Absence Forms” dropdown.
For all absences you are required to provide official evidence. This might be a medical certificate from a local doctor, hospital or other official document. It is important to note that the College does not accept overseas medical certificates for students studying in Sydney and we always recommend that you keep any medical certificates or documents that could explain your absences.
IMPORTANT: Please note, it is your responsibility to ensure supporting documents are authentic. If you provide falsified documents in support of your application, this will result in non-academic misconduct which may lead to penalties. Inaccurate or missing information will result in either delayed processing or your request may be denied.
Attendance Warning emails
The College will send 3 attendance notifications in total to a student who fails to meet satisfactory attendance.
1. The first warning: advises you that your attendance is dropping. You should follow the instructions in the warning letter to maintain attendance above 80%. Be aware!
2. The second warning: requires you to attend a compulsory meeting with a Student Progress Advisor located at UNSW College Level 1 Student Services to discuss your attendance.
IMPORTANT: The intent of this meeting is to find out why you have been absent and to see what support the College may be able to offer you. Therefore, it is in your best interest to attend this compulsory meeting.
3. Finally, a Notice of Intention to Report which means your attendance has dropped below 80% and the College will report you to the Department of Home Affairs due to your poor attendance unless you successfully appeal.
What are the grounds to appeal?
If you receive a Notice of Intention to Report, you may want to appeal the decision if:
- You experienced Compassionate or Compelling circumstances that stopped you from being able to attend classes. You must submit official evidence to verify the circumstances. Please refer to the Guidelines for Assessing Compassionate or Compelling Circumstances for more information.
- There was procedural unfairness, for example administrative errors in the calculation of your attendance or you were not sent any attendance warning prior to receiving the Notice of Intention to Report.
How do I submit an appeal?
If you receive a Notice of Intention to Report, you will have 20 working days from the date you are sent the letter to appeal. Appeals are submitted using the Stage 3 Appeal Form located on the Forms page of the Current Student Website.
You must provide supporting documentation (evidence) with your appeal, or your appeal may not be accepted.
During the appeal process, you must continue to attend all scheduled classes for your program. Any failure to maintain your attendance levels will put you at further risk of not meeting your satisfactory attendance requirement.
What happens after I submit my appeal?
Your appeal is reviewed by our Conduct & Integrity Manager who may contact you for more information or wish to meet with you to discuss your appeal. You will receive a decision outcome within 20 working days of your appeal submission. During this time your enrolment will not be cancelled.
If you receive a negative outcome but have more evidence or proof that the College did not follow the correct procedure in managing your appeal, you can further appeal externally to either:
You will have 10 working days from the date you are sent the internal appeal outcome to appeal externally. If you appeal externally to the Ombudsman, you are required to email [email protected] with the case number provided to you by the Ombudsman.
IMPORTANT: If no correspondence is received by the College within 10 working days about an external appeal, the College will consider that the matter is concluded and will act accordingly.
Appeal support & information is available
If you need guidance with your appeal, you can email [email protected] to arrange a meeting with the Complaints and Appeals Team who can discuss the process with you.
Wellbeing support is available
If you need support with your overall mental health and wellbeing during this time you may like to get in touch with our Student Wellbeing Team. You can come to UNSW College Level 1 Student Enquiries Desk and arrange a wellbeing meeting in person.
Or:
- Email them here (please include your name, zID, appeal information).
- Book an appointment with them.
If I am reported, what will this mean?
A report to the Department of Home Affairs may result in the cancellation of your student visa by the Department of Home Affairs. The College is unable to provide advice relating to student visas so it is recommended that you contact the Department of Home Affairs about how a report for low attendance will impact your student visa.
More information can be found on the Department’s website: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/
This guide should be read together with the College’s Attendance Monitoring Policy.
