Monitoring and Compliance Team

The University must adhere to the following requirements, which are set by UK Visas and Immigration:

• Keep accurate contact details for student who have a Student Visa (Tier 4).
• Only issue CAS numbers to students who are capable of completing their chosen course.
• Only issue CAS numbers to students who are eligible to complete their course within the time limits permitted on their Student (Tier 4) Visa.
• Retain scanned copies of passports, visas/BRP cards, Matriculation, Financial Guarantees/Certificates and ATAS certificates for students who hold a Student Visa (Tier 4) according to the University’s Record Retention Schedule.
• Only accept students with a valid Student (Tier 4) Visa or valid application for a course at Bangor University, or accept other visa types or applications where these permit study in the UK. 
• Monitor students’ attendance and engagement with their academic programme.
• Provide UKVI with the details of any third party, in the UK or another country, which has helped it to recruit students (overseas agents).

These are your main responsibilities

• Attendance: Students must attend all timetabled events and if you are unable to do so due to mitigating circumstances e.g. illness, you must place a note on My Bangor.  If you are unsure how to place a note on My Bangor then please contact us, and a member of the Team will be happy to help you. [Link to Academic Engagement Policy]
• Residency: According to the University’s rules students must live within a reasonable commute of Bangor, this will ensure that you have the best student experience possible and will have access to the numerous facilities at the University.
• Payment of Fees: for Student Visa holders this includes both Tuition fees and, if you are staying in the University’s Halls of Residence, Halls fees.  You will need to pay 50% of your fees prior to your arrival in Bangor and, on arrival you need to set up a Payment Plan with our Finance Office for the outstanding balance.  Home Students tuition fee payments will be processed by the SLC.

• You will need to complete your online student registration (you will have received an e-mail from the University with the details). If you have not received an e-mail, please contact registration@bangor.ac.uk who will re-issue the details.
• Once this is complete you will need to attend one of the Registration events at the University. If you are unable to do this you will need to complete an ID Check with a member of the Monitoring Team please contact us to arrange this.
• Please note: you will have had to have paid 50% of your fees prior to your ID Check as per the University’s Policy
• Please note that the University’s Policy on residency is that you must live within reasonable commute of Bangor.

Please bring the following documents with you to your ID Check :

• Passport
• Stamped Vignette
• Your Home Office letter informing us where your Biometric Residency Permit (BRP) card should be picked up – if your card is in the Post Office please collect this before coming for an ID Check
• A copy of your payment plan agreement (you will not need to produce this if you have already paid your fees)
• If you are a PGT/PGR or PhD student, then you will need to show us your original certificate from your previous University

Attendance at lectures is now monitored by an online University system or by the manual scanning of your Student ID Card.  Students are asked to log in during timetabled events using a PIN system, which automatically uploads your attendance into My Bangor. The Monitoring Team, module tutors and students can view this data later that day.  Students can record reasons for not attending, e.g. illness or other mitigating circumstances on MyBangor. Please note, though that any comments added next to your missed contacts will not result in your attendance being amended.

Undergraduates

Data on undergraduate students is monitored on a regular basis and, in line with the University’s Academic Engagement Policy , automatic emails generated by the University’s system are sent to students on Stage 1 or 2, attendance issues which are higher that a Stage 2 will result in an email from the Monitoring & Compliance Team and the Stage 3 email will give you a week to re-engage with your studies.  Following this if you fail to re-engage you will be invited to a Stage 4 meeting which is normally held with the Head of Student Administration.

PGT

PGT attendance is monitored on a regular basis.  Students who fail to attend timetabled events in line with the University’s Academic Engagement Policy will receive automatic emails generated by the University’s system flagging their non-attendance. Students are  advised to meet with their Personal Tutor if they are experiencing difficult circumstances.  The Personal Tutor will record this on My Bangor which the Monitoring Team can also view.  Students who continue to miss timetabled events will be contacted by the Team to attend formal meetings to explain their reasons for non-attendance. 

PGR/PhD

Supervisors must meet their Postgraduate Research Candidates at least once every two weeks. Where a meeting cannot be arranged, an alternative contact method must be used  e.g. contact through email, Skype etc. These meetings, and all other alternative contact points, must enable the Principal Supervisor to confirm that the candidate is committed to the programme of study. Each meeting/contact point must be recorded, as required by the University’s Academic Engagement Policy. 

E-Gates

• Student (Tier 4) Visa holders should not go through eGates as you will need your Vignette date stamped as proof of entry into the UK, if this not stamped, then you will need to provide proof of your date of entry into the UK e.g. boarding pass.
• There are over 250 eGates in place at 15 air and rail ports in the UK to enable quicker travel into the UK.
• You can normally use eGates if you:
  • have a biometric symbol on the cover of your passport
  • are aged 12+ (12 to 17 year olds must be accompanied by an adult)
• are either:
  • a British citizen
  • a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA
  • a member of the Registered Traveller Service
• Those travelling with ID cards cannot use the eGates.

Can I Change Course

There are strict rules about changing courses and you will, in most cases, need to apply for a new Visa.  

 The Home Office guidance is: 

• The Student (Tier 4) Visa guidance states, in relation to a change of course.
• If you applied for your current leave on or after 6 April 2016, you can only change your course without getting permission from us to start your new course if all of the following apply:
  your sponsor is an HEP with Student (Tier 4) Sponsor status;
  • your sponsor has a track record of compliance
  • your new course is at degree level or above;
  • your new course is not at a lower level than the current course;
  • you will be able to complete your new course within your current period of leave;
  • if you have previously been granted Student (Tier 4)(General) leave, your sponsor confirms either of the following:
  -    your new course is related to the previous course for which you were granted leave as a Student (Tier 4)(General) Student, meaning that it is either connected to your previous course, part of the same subject group, or involves deeper specialisation
  -    or your previous course and your new course in combination support your genuine career aspirations.

If you meet the any of the above stipulations and are eligible to change your course, you must complete your new course within your existing period of leave; the only exception to this is if you are applying to re-sit exams or repeat modules or you require further leave because you have previously resat exams or repeated modules for your current course.

You will need to provide evidence that you have attempted exams/modules when applying for leave. You will not be allowed to use this provision to undertake part(s) of the course for the first time.

Can I Change to Another UK University

If you wish to study in another University then you will have to return home to make an application directly to that University.  We will then have to curtail your Visa and you will be expected to return home.

You will be able to make a new application from home.

Pregnancy

The Home Office rules on students who have babies following their arrival in the UK are clear and students can take a leave of absence, however, the University Policy gives a student 30 days maternity leave and the student will need to complete within their current Visa timescale.  According to Home Office rules we cannot provide a visa extension for those students.

Babies born in the UK to Student Visa holders will not be recognised as British and will adopt the nationality of their mother. 

Useful Links

• TB Testing
• ATAS

Study and Time Limits

You should make every effort to complete your degree within the timescale of your current Visa. Extensions will not always be granted for Students and you may need to return home to complete and you will then be ineligible for the Graduate Visa.

New CAS for Continuing Students

Where you are a continuing student, you may require a new CAS if you are:

• repeating/resitting modules
• returning from a Leave of Absence
• upgrading to an integrated degree programme (there are rules that apply to this request however and you will need to meet Home Office requirements)
• continuing a degree course following repeats/resits
• a PhD/MPhil candidate requesting a time extension to submit/resubmit/attend Viva

• Visitors Visa
• Ancestry Visa
• Dependent Visa
• Graduate Visa
• Working after Studies

Academic progression is required for you to be issued a CAS for your new course and determines whether you can apply in the UK for your new Student (Tier 4) Visa.

Your application will meet the academic progression criteria if:

• You are applying for a course at a higher level than your previous course (e.g. applying for a Masters after completing a Bachelor’s degree).
• You are applying for a course at the same level as your previous course (e.g. applying for a second Masters) and both courses are related or both courses combined will support your career goals.
• You have not completed your previous course but the Admissions Team deems your reason for study valid.

Your application will not meet the academic progression criteria if:

• You are applying for a course at a lower level than your previous course (e.g. applying for a Bachelor’s after completing a Masters).
• You have not completed your previous course and the Admissions Team deems your reason for study invalid.

Academic Engagement Policy

Whilst you are a student at the University on a degree level or above course, you are permitted under your Student Visa to work part-time. UKVI consider work to be both paid work and voluntary work (please check the full conditions of your visa for further details). During term-time you are allowed to work no more than 20 hours per week. The 20 hours includes any paid work and also and unpaid volunteering hours you may do. The 20 hours is total hours – it is not per job. If you hold multiple part-time jobs then the total hours of all the work you are doing added together should not be more than 20 hours per week in the term time. If you are an Undergraduate student you can work up to 40 hours per week during vacation periods (out of term time). Postgraduate students are restricted to 20 hours per week at all times.

When you undertake work, whether it is at the University or somewhere else, you must provide your employed with a code that you can generate from the Home Office, your passport and the Certificate of Registration from the University which confirms your term dates. All employers in the UK have a legal obligation to check that you are allowed to work in the UK and that is why you need to have these documents to show them before you start work. They must take copies of all your documentation to prove to UKVI that they have checked your right to work.

Please remember when accepting work that any volunteering hours you might be doing somewhere counts towards your 20 hours permitted work per week.

Many of our international students choose to live off-campus. They often live with relatives or friends as a way of saving money and having a supportive environment whist studying in the UK. Both of these are important but there are other things you should also take into account when considering just how far away from the University it is appropriate to live.

Cost

The cost of travelling in the UK can be very high. If you come from a country where travel is relatively cheap, you may find travelling long distances to the University is far more expensive than you expected.

Time

The UK’s road and rail networks can be congested, especially at peak travelling times in the morning and evening. If you plan to travel to and from the University by road or rail this could make for a very long and tiring day.

Impact on your studies

It is our aim to help you achieve the very best possible result from your time with us but travelling long distances to the University could make this more difficult if you:

• Arrive late for classes – if this happens regularly, you risk falling behind, and risk being marked absent.
• Miss classes altogether – if this happens too often, we would be obliged to refer you to the Home Office because you would be in breach of the terms of your visa and the University Academic Engagement Policy.
• Reduce your access to the libraries – this would limit the time you have for important research and private study.
• Restrict your availability to meet your tutors – receiving feedback on your work or help and advice, when required, is key to achieving your best.
• Restrict access to activities/societies/events for you to interact with other students on a social level.

Our Recommendation

For all of these reasons we would expect that if you do decide to live off-campus, you should live within approximately 40 miles (65 km) of the University, or 60 minutes travelling time, door-to-door.

As a Student visa holder you are permitted to undertake a work placement/year in industry or study abroad period as part of your course, providing it is an integral and assessed part of the course.  The University will remain responsible for you throughout your work placement/year in industry or study abroad. 

Transferring onto a course to include a work placement/year or study abroad year at the same level you are currently studying

If you would like to transfer onto a programme at the same level of study, to include a work placement/year in industry or study abroad year, please note the following:

• You will be required to apply for a new Student visa if your new course requires an additional year/s of study.
• You can make this visa application in the UK or in your home country.
• You can make the visa application either before you start your placement year or after you have completed your placement year, but you are not able to make the application during the placement year.

If you make the visa application before you start your placement year :

• you must ensure that you have time to receive the decision before you commence your placement year.  If you do not, you should apply for your visa after you have completed your placement and before returning to the University to complete your course.
• and are travelling abroad, you must ensure that you have time to receive the decision on your application before your intended date of travel as leaving the UK (if you applied in the UK) or requesting your passport back for the purpose of travel (if you applied in your home country) will result in your visa application being withdrawn. 

If you make the visa application after completing placement year :

• you must make the application no more than 3 months before the start date of your course resuming in September if you are applying in the UK or 6 months before the start date if you are applying outside the UK – the start date will be stated on your CAS.

Transferring onto a course to include a placement  year at a higher level of study than your current course

If you are a Student visa holder and would like to transfer onto a programme at a higher level of study, e.g. BEng to MEng, to include a placement year, you are required to apply for a new visa before you transfer as you will be studying a higher level, please note the following:

• You will be required to apply for a new Student visa as you will be studying a new level course andyour new course requires additional further year/s of study
• You can make this visa application in the UK or in your home country
• You will need to make the visa application before you start the new course if you are staying in the UK for the duration of your placement year
• If the new course requires ATAS you will need to apply for ATAS before commencing your new course

 What is next?

• Consider where and when you will be making a new visa application.
• Prepare your visa application documents, including financial documents, when necessary.
• Apply for ATAS (if required).
• Speak to your School
• Submit your Change of course request through the Request Centre on My Bangor