Last Updated: 27 June 2022
We will aim to update this page as often as possible to ensure that you have the most up to date information regarding the Reasonable Diligence process. Please check this page regularly for updates.
Stages of Reasonable Diligence
Pre-Reasonable Diligence Contact
If you attend less than 70% of your in-person timetabled seminars you may receive an Attendance and Engagement Support Advisory (AESA) email, or an invite to the Making the Most of Your Studies (MMOYS) canvas course.
Attendance and Engagement Support Advisory (AESA)
The purpose of this email is to advise you about how to best ensure that your attendance and engagement is recorded and to submit appropriate absences. In addition, the email recommends different options for further support if you are encountering difficult personal circumstances that are affecting your engagement. Finally, the email seeks to remind you of your responsibilities to the University's standards and expectations with regards to Reasonable Diligence.
If you have received an AESA email, you should check that:
- you have submitted the appropriate absences using our Submit an Absence page where you have been unable to engage with your studies as expected.
If you need further support you should also contact your Personal Academic Tutor, School, Wellbeing Officer or the International Student Team for appropriate advice.
Stage 1
Making the Most of Your Studies (MMOYS)
If you have attended less than 70% of your in-person timetabled seminars you may be invited to Stage 1 of Reasonable Diligence, which can take the form of the Making the Most of Your Studies Canvas Course. The Making the Most of Your Studies Canvas course is an opportunity to explain in more detail what support the University can offer you and the ways in which the Wellbeing Team can assist you with any personal or private issues that may be affecting your attendance. The event features content from CALSAT, Senior Academics, The Wellbeing Team, and representatives from Support Services. The meeting highlights the following:
- Academic support available in the School, College, and University
- Advise students when support may be better provided by the School Wellbeing Officer(s)
- Advise students when support may be better provided by the International Student Team.
Following the completion of the canvas course you will be asked to complete an Attendance and Engagement Action Plan that outlines general expectations to improve a student's attendance and engagement and includes space for the student's personal reflections. The personal reflections do not form part of your actions.
One-to-One Meeting
If you have been invited to Stage 1 of Reasonable Diligence you also have the option of a One-to-One Meeting with an Academic representative rather than completing the Making the Most of Your Studies Canvas course. These meetings are usually conducted by the student's Personal Academic Tutor but may be taken exclusively by a Senior Tutor or the School's Reasonable Diligence Officers at their discretion.
A Stage 1 One-to-One Reasonable Diligence meeting is an important opportunity for a student to discuss any adverse circumstances that may be affecting their engagement as well as to be signposted to appropriate support within the School and College to further assist them.
Ordinarily, the academic leading the meeting will highlight:
- Academic support available in the School, College, and University
- Advise students when support may be better provided by the School Wellbeing Officer(s)
- Advise students when support may be better provided by the International Student Team.
The meeting is concluded with the discussion of an Attendance and Engagement Action Plan that outlines general expectations to improve a student's attendance and engagement and includes space for the student's personal reflections. The personal reflections do not form part of your actions.
If you do not attend, you may be immediately progressed to Stage 2 of Reasonable Diligence.
Stage 2 - One-to-One Meeting
Following the Stage 1 meeting, you will be provided with an action plan to support you as you improve your attendance and engagement. If your attendance and engagement does not meet the requirements of your action plan, then you may be progressed to Stage 2 of Reasonable Diligence and be invited to a one-to-one intervention with a senior academic within your School. This meeting is a formal opportunity for you to ensure that we are aware of any substantial circumstances that have had an adverse and ongoing effect on your attendance and engagement or have prevented you from meeting the requirements of your action plan. If there are substantial circumstances, you must let us know immediately and provide contemporaneous , independent third part evidence to confirm the existence of the reported circumstances so that we can ensure that you are provided with the appropriate support to still make the most of your studies and achieve your academic potential.
This is a compulsory event and if you are unable to attend the original date, you must inform the CAL student Attendance Team within 5 working days of receiving the invitation so that an alternative date can be agreed.
If you do not attend, you may be immediately progressed to Stage 3 of Reasonable Diligence.
Stage 3 - Progress and Awards Board
Following the Reasonable Diligence Intervention meeting, you will receive a formal letter outlining any revision to your action plan and the appropriate services that you must engage with to support your improved attendance and engagement. If you do not show an attempt to engage with these services and/or your attendance and engagement does not substantially improve, then you may be referred to the University's Progress and Awards Board with a recommendation that you are withdrawn from your programme of study.
If you have any further questions about the Reasonable Diligence process and how it may affect you, please contact the CAL Student Attendance Team using the appropriate email address for your school:
Please note: Your progression through the Reasonable Diligence process will be carried over between academic years. For example, if you have been invited to complete Making the Most of Your Studies as part of Stage 1 of Reasonable Diligence in one academic year and fail to improve upon your attendance and engagement or meet the requirements of your action plan in the next academic year, you will be progressed to Stage 2 of Reasonable Diligence. Your progression is not 'reset' each academic year. This is so that we are able to provide the most appropriate support to you throughout your studies at the University of Birmingham.