5 Must Have Features for your Student Attendance Monitoring System

Placing ownership for attendance in the hands of students, student attendance monitoring systems encourage a better student experience and as a result maximise student potential. Taking a pro-active approach to student attendance monitoring allows universities to improve pastoral care, intervening at the first signs of disengagement.

Providing access to real-time student attendance statistics, a fully automated attendance monitoring system reduces the administrative burden on university staff, allowing universities to focus greater resources and time on pastoral care activities. To maximise the benefits of a Student Attendance Monitoring system here are our customers top 5 features to look out for.

 

1. UKVI Compliance

One of the key drivers behind the adaptation of a student attendance monitoring system is the strict reporting requirements with regards to UKVI compliance and Tier4 sponsor status. With the home secretary, Amber Rudd, last year pledging to introduce tougher rules for overseas students coming to the UK to study – details yet to emerge – the pressure to monitor international students is set to increase in the coming years.

To protect UKVI compliance detailed UKVI reporting dashboards should be available within your selected student attendance monitoring system. The selected system should provide real-time data on international students, offering quick, concise audit trail in the event of an inspection. Automatically triggered alerts will assist in ensuring Tier4 sponsor status is protected.

 

2. Reporting

While all systems will capture student data, added benefit can be obtained by selecting a system which provides customisable reporting and graphical data display. A comprehensive reporting suite will allow university administrators to proactively monitor real-time attendance statistics and provide intervention and support if required.

By allowing administrative staff to access attendance data by department, course and module greater student insights can be obtained, such as overall course or module engagement.

 

3. Student Engagement & Retention

With one in ten students dropping out of university after their first year according to think tank, the Social Market Foundation, retention rates remain a key area for improvement in Universities across the UK and Ireland.

Student attendance monitoring is not all about reporting and compliance, a good system will place students as its number 1 priority. Student wellbeing and participation with campus life are inextricably linked. By placing the onus of engagement and attendance on students, universities will improve student wellbeing, thus increasing retention. Early intervention by staff will reduce the chances of a student disengaging from their course.

 

4. Integration

Running an array of software systems including Timetabling, CRM and Student Records systems, an efficient student attendance monitoring system will offer integration with existing platforms to provide a holistic view of student engagement across campus.

 

5. Automation

Switching from traditional paper-based attendance monitoring to a fully automated approach will dramatically improve administrative staff efficiency while reducing the administrative burden. The elimination of manual data entry will improve data accuracy and reliability.

In addition to minimising the manual entry of data, some systems can offer automated actions in light of pre-defined criteria. For example pre-setting an attendance threshold of 80% will trigger an email or SMS to proactively engage with the student and prompt improved attendance.