During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Home Office made the decision to change UKVI compliance from attendance to engagement monitoring as students were not able to physically attend campus in the usual way. Until that point, reporting on attendance had been heavily relied upon to comply with UKVI regulations.
Post pandemic, students continue to favour a more flexible approach to how, where and when they learn. The shift in how students engage, and the increase in hybrid models of learning is bringing the definition of engagement and the impact on the international student experience into strategic focus.
The challenge is not limited to the legal obligations that HE institutions have. At the height of the pandemic, international students were hit especially hard, particularly in relation to financial support and mental health and wellbeing. In 2020/2021, researchers at Newcastle University Institute for Social Science ran a survey with 343 international students in the UK and found that 58% reported experiencing loneliness, 41% reported being ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ worried about their mental health and 46% experienced personal financial loss.
This highlights the importance for Higher Education providers to not only meet obligations as sponsors of students on the UKVI Student Routes, but also to ensure that students feel connected, supported and empowered to reach their full potential whilst studying in the UK.
As a proven proxy for progression, engagement provides a realistic representation of how a learner is participating in their academic activities whether that be on or off-campus and in real time. Offering universities the opportunity to both fulfil UKVI compliance and provide a means for early identification of disengagement and allowing timely intervention to help students not only stay the course but succeed in their study.
Guidance from the Home Office states that it is down to the university to decide what constitutes engagement, although it will likely include elements such as attending lectures, submitting assignments, and taking exams. Universities must be able to produce an academic engagement policy that explains the systems in place to monitor engagement, what information is being recorded and what measures are in place to act when a lack of engagement is identified. A student who fails to engage over a given time period is to be reported by their university sponsor.
It is also the responsibility of the student themselves to ensure they comply with UKVI regulations with many university policies explaining that whilst they have monitoring strategies and compliance teams in place to support them, there is an expectation that a student will ensure they are engaging sufficiently in their studies. But how do they know what good engagement looks like?
If there is to be joint responsibility for engagement and compliance then it brings into question whether a student understands what engagement means, how do they know if they are engaging well and if they are doing enough? Where do your students go to find out if they are on track?
At Solutionpath, a key design principle of the StREAM Student Engagement Analytics Platform is transparency. We believe it is imperative that students can visualise their own engagement to self-reflect, gain a deeper understanding of how they engage and how this impacts their success. They can do this via simple engagement dashboards. This approach empowers individual students to take responsibility for their own learning journey. By putting engagement data into the hands of the people who need it most more meaningful conversations between academic tutors, advisors and students can take place, leading to more personalised advice, guidance and coaching.
Several StREAM users have also decided to create more equity for their international students by applying the same engagement monitoring and support infrastructures to all their students. By doing this the university can build an understanding of what engagement means for their students across the institution and create a seamless support network of academic tutors and support services.
Post pandemic, there has been a change in emphasis on how international students are supported. Student Minds explain it is now – ‘less on how do you identify students when they get to a point of crisis, although that is extremely important, and more, how do we stop them getting to the crisis point in the first place?’ as well as recognition of the value in building a centralised approach to assistance by creating a support network across the institution.
Disengagement can be an indicator to potential ‘risk’ and that risk can take many forms from well-being and mental health to issues with living away from home, forming friendships and financial concerns. The key is being able to spot this early and provide timely and relevant intervention to help students get back on track with a better chance of success. The use of engagement monitoring used in UKVI compliance monitoring has far-reaching impact, beyond compliance, offering a tool to help address many of the issues facing international students today with a more inclusive, personalised and proactive approach.
Download this free pdf 6 ways StREAM can support international student engagement for more information or visit our website to book a demo and learn more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Home Office made the decision to change UKVI compliance from attendance to engagement monitoring as students were not able to physically attend campus in the usual way. Until that point, reporting on attendance had been heavily relied upon to comply with UKVI regulations. Post pandemic, students continue to favour a […]
Fill in your details in the form to the right to access the full article.