Next year the University of Newcastle will require 80 per cent tute attendance for first year undergrads. But not lectures

Required presence now varies from 100 per cent for some clinical health classes to nothing specified and Vice Chancellor Alex Zelinsky says an all-courses requirement is needed “to ensure our student experience is a highly engaged one.”

It also will mean more people on campus, “higher attendance will also help us create a more vibrant and active on-campus community which is a real focus for us. We want our students to experience a campus life that is diverse, inclusive and connected.”

The university means it, commissioning software for mobiles, which can record student attendance at class – those who don’t make 80 per cent will not be allowed to sit the course exam.

But it’s only for small-groups. Where technology permits lectures are recorded and available via the LMS, and university policy, “encourages students to attend face to face classes and to use the recorded lecture as a review tool.” This isn’t changing.