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Are attending tutorials compulsory at uni?

Anonymous #1

At mine they are and even some lectures they started taking attendance.

Yes

Pretty much for tutorials (we didn’t have anything regarding lectures and I watched most of them online if didn’t have any tutorials that day (as I commute to university)
But you could usually swap to another one if you had to miss one due to say about interview or sickness.

Reply 3

mike23mike

Original post by Anonymous

At mine they are and even some lectures they started taking attendance.

If a student is on a tier 4 visa then they are required to attend lectures and tutorials. If you are a UK or EU student then no, lectures and tutorials are not compulsory. Frankly, I don't understand why you would get into debt for thousands of pounds to gain a degree and then not attend the lectures and tutorials. Everyone misses one or two but any more than that and you will find you will fall behind.

Reply 4

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

At mine they are and even some lectures they started taking attendance.

Hey,

Yes, they are compulsory especially for student on tier 4 visa. In some cases there is even a percentage of the course mark that is given from attendance so If you don't attend it affects your mark.
This may differ depending on the Uni.

Hope this helps
Doreen-maria - Official Student Rep 😀

Reply 5

Rorty

It depends on the university. Typically, however, if your submitted work is of sufficient quality then nobody will care. It is true that sometimes you gain some marks for attendance and thus should go for the free marks, but even then you don't have to. If your work is poor and you have not been attending then that will usually warrant some attempt at intervention by the university (assuming they have competent pastoral staff and sensible policies).

Reply 6

rowan_tree

My uni is going non-compulsory for everything and no exams. 90% of people only do the assignments. But what's happening is that people are graduating and can't work in their field because they missed too much and don't know the discipline. My feeling is it's irresponsible to graduate people without discipline knowledge. It gets the sector into disrepute.

Reply 7

PhoenixFortune

Even if they aren't compulsory, it might be best to act like they are so that you don't get complacent re: attendance and engagement.

Reply 8

Mr Wednesday

Original post by PhoenixFortune

Even if they aren't compulsory, it might be best to act like they are so that you don't get complacent re: attendance and engagement.

Agreed, why would you NOT want to turn up to spend time talking about the subject you have chosen to study with someone who may well be a real expert in the field, teaches the course, sets and marks the exams, is potentially fishing for good project and possibly future PhD students, and might also have to write a reference for you. That last one is way easier if you have actually met and interacted with the student.