Attendance Recording

ULearn keeps a record of its students’ attendance. All students must attend at least 85% of their course in order to receive a certificate of attendance.

ULearn awards three daily attendance percentages to students:

• 100% - the student arrived on time and was present throughout the day’s lessons.
• 50% - the student arrived late and missed more than 15 minutes of the day’s lessons but remained until the day’s lessons finished.
• 50% - the student arrived on time and was present until the coffee break but either did not return to class after the coffee break or returned but left before the day’s lessons finished.
• 0% - the student did not come to school or the student arrived late and missed more than 15 minutes of the day’s lesson and left before the day’s lessons finished.

Students may be excused absence if they or have been ill and have provided the school with an original medical certificate from a certified Irish medical practice. Please note students with an excused absence are always marked absent on the attendance register.

If you cannot come to class for any reason or you know you are going to be late, you must send an email to success@ulearnschool.com to inform us.

Original medical certificates should be presented at the school reception or at the Director of Studies’ office when the student has recovered and has returned to school. Teachers have the right to refuse entry to the lesson to students who regularly arrive late. Students with punctuality problems will be required to speak to the Director of Studies regarding this problem.

Change of Course

As per Immigration Rules, students may not change course – ie. from the Morning Course to Afternoon Course or vice versa.

Change of Class

Students are permitted to change class within the same course. For level change, please speak to your teacher and/or Director of Studies. Based on academic performance they can advise and agree level progression with you. If you need any information regarding this process, please come to the Academic Office. You can also change from IELTS to Standard and back within the same course (level and space permitting).

Information

Students are permitted to change class within the same course. For level change, please speak to your teacher and/or Director of Studies. Based on academic performance they can advise and agree level progression with you. If you need any information regarding this process, please come to the Academic Office. You can also change from IELTS to Standard and back within the same course (level and space permitting).

Participation

Students are expected to participate in class. Students who are present, but not taking part - for example because taking calls/working remotely etc., may at the teacher’s discretion be marked absent.

Absenteeism & Expulsion

Students whose Irish Residence Permits (IRPs) are linked to ULearn’s  ILEP-registered courses are expected to meet the minimum attendance requirements determined by Immigrion Service Delivery (ISD):

• a minimum of 75% attendance in the first six weeks of the student’s course
• a minimum of 85% overall course attendance

ULearn is required to share information on IRP-holding students’ attendance with ISD. Those students who do not meet ISD attendance requirements risk expulsion from their course. It is the students’ responsibility to ensure that they are fulfilling the requirements of their visa and attending regularly.

Poor attendance patterns that put students at risk of not meeting ISD’s attendance requirements include:

• arriving late on 2 more days of the week
• being absent on 2 more days in a fortnight (a period of 2 weeks)
• being absent and arriving late in the same week
• being absent once and arriving late twice in a fortnight

Students with  poor attendance are contacted by Academic Management via our SIS. Their problem attendance is highlighted in the email and they will be requested to take steps to immediately remedy the situation. They will also be requested to attend a meeting to discuss their attendance. Where possible, the school will offer support to help the student to improve their attendance.

Where a student’s poor attendance is due to illness, the student will be required to present an original medical certificate to justify their absence.

1^st Written Warning

Students whose poor attendance is not due to illness and does not improve after this meeting, will receive a written warning from the Director of Studies. After receiving this written warning, the student will be required to attend another meeting to discuss their poor attendance again.

2^nd Written Warning

Students whose attendance does not improve after attending this meeting will receive a second written warning and will be required to attend a third meeting with the Director of Studies.

Further Action

If after this third meeting the student’s attendance does not improve, their case may be escalated for review by the Executive / Board . In such cases ULearn may proceed to take further action up to and including expulsion from the school.

In these cases the school will contact the currently relevant authorities related to the students course and stay within the State (ISD). ULearn will then act in accordance with the wishes of ISD with this regard.

Students Right to Appeal

Students who receive a notice of expulsion may appeal this decision by sending an email to the Director of Studies to schedule a meeting within 5 days of receiving the notice of expulsion.

The School Board & Management reserves the right to make a final decision regarding a student’s expulsion if it is appealed. Students will be notified of this decision within 5 working days of the meeting. Any decision to expel a student will be communicated to the student and to ISD.

Further Notes

• Students may not make up time for sessions missed/late by attending “extra lessons”. Supplementary tuition will not be provided
• It is the learner’s responsibility to ensure that they are fulfilling the requirements of their visa and attending regularly
• Requesting that an employee of ULearn alters your attendance in order to meet minimum levels is an offence and immigration will be notified immediately
• All warnings will be stored in the student’s individual profile within the schools SIS.