Attendance and Conduct Policy

at-Taʾṣīl (التأصيل) · Foundation Diploma in Islamic Studies · International Islamic College, Leicester

Ref: TSL-POL-011 · Version: 1.0 (draft) · Date: 7 September 2026 · Owner: Programme Lead (Ustādh Emran Ahmed) · Review: before the Programme opens, then annually.

1. Purpose

1.1 This policy sets out what the College expects of students in attendance and conduct, why it matters, and what happens when the expectation is not met. It is read with the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment (TSL-POL-004), the Fees and Refunds Policy (TSL-POL-003) and the Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006).

1.2 Attendance and conduct together carry 10% of the final Diploma grade, so this policy is also part of the assessment scheme.

2. Attendance

2.1 The expectation is 90% attendance. The Programme is three one-hour sessions a week — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8.00–9.00pm — and only 100 contact hours in the whole year. There is no slack in the design: al-Fiqh al-Muyassar runs in sequence every week, the Arabic strand moves at the Madinah pace, and each hour is a complete lesson with its own memorisation heard back. A student who misses an evening has missed a whole unit of the year, not a fraction of one.

2.2 90% means, in practice, missing no more than about ten sessions across the year. Students who know they will struggle to reach this — through work, study or family commitments — should speak to the teacher early rather than fall behind quietly.

2.3 Telling us about an absence. Where an absence can be foreseen, tell the College in advance on 07436 436363 or info@theiic.uk — a short message is enough. Where it cannot, tell us as soon as possible afterwards. For a student under 18, an absence message comes from, or is copied to, the parent or guardian, in line with the electronic-contact rules in the Safeguarding Policy (TSL-POL-007). What was missed will be set as directed study; a termly examination missed through illness is sat within a fortnight, as the Assessment and Award Regulations provide.

2.4 Students under 18. Parents of under-18s are told of every absence the same evening. This is a safety measure first and an academic one second: parents should never assume their child is in class when the register says otherwise.

2.5 Persistent absence. When attendance falls persistently below the expectation, the steps are, in order:

• 1. a private conversation between the teacher and the student, to understand the cause and agree a way back;
• 2. for a student under 18, a meeting with the parents;
• 3. only in the last resort, withdrawal of the place, with the Fees and Refunds Policy applied in full.

2.6 There are no fines. The College never charges money for an absence, a late arrival or any other attendance matter — no £-per-absence charges, no penalties of any kind. The only financial consequence of leaving the Programme, however that comes about, is the one the Fees and Refunds Policy sets out.

3. Conduct

3.1 The standard of conduct is the ādāb of the ḥalaqah, taught from Ḥilyat Ṭālib al-ʿIlm in Week 1 and kept all year:

• phones away for the hour;
• the teacher and one's companions honoured — no interrupting, no belittling a question, no talking over the text;
• the room left better than it was found.

3.2 The Programme is for brothers and sisters together, and respect between them is part of its ādāb. Seating and delivery arrangements follow the masjid's practice, and every student keeps to them without being asked.

3.3 Sessions take place at Masjid Fida, and the masjid's own rules — for dress, cleanliness, prayer areas and quiet — apply to every student from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. Students are guests in a house of Allah before they are members of a class.

3.4 The Rāʿī of the Week. Carrying the week when one's turn comes is a conduct expectation, not an optional extra. The Rāʿī calls the class to order, opens with the adhkār, keeps time, welcomes newcomers and sees the room left tidy. The register itself is marked and kept by the teacher alone — attendance information never passes into a student's hands. Every student serves at least once in the year, and the role counts towards the portfolio.

4. When conduct falls short

4.1 Most matters are dealt with as they should be in a ḥalaqah — quietly and quickly. The steps, in order, are:

• 1. a reminder in the moment;
• 2. a private conversation with the teacher if it recurs;
• 3. a written note — to the student, and to the parents where the student is under 18 — recording what was discussed and what is expected;
• 4. withdrawal of the place, only for serious misconduct or persistent breach after the steps above, decided by the Programme Lead, with the Fees and Refunds Policy applied in full.

4.2 No step is skipped except for misconduct serious enough to put the safety or dignity of others at risk. Anything raising a safeguarding concern is handled under the Safeguarding and Welfare Policy (TSL-POL-007) by Ustādh Emran Ahmed, the Programme's safeguarding lead — or, where the concern involves the lead/teacher himself, by the independent route that policy sets out in section 3.3.

4.3 A student — or the parent of a student under 18 — who believes any step in this policy has been applied unfairly can use the Complaints and Academic Appeals Policy (TSL-POL-006). Complaints go to Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī, Academic Lead of the College, who is independent of the teaching of this Programme.

4.4 As with attendance, there are no fines for conduct matters. The College's responses are the ones listed above and nothing else.

Revision history

International Islamic College, Leicester · 07436 436363 · info@theiic.uk · theiic.uk