Transforming Attendance Monitoring at Queen Mary University of London’s (QMUL) Institute of Dentistry (IoD)

1. Origin of QMUL IoD’s Interest in CATQR

COVID‑19 Operational Exposure

In spring 2021, Dr Dominic Hurst (Senior Clinical Lecturer and Academic Lead for Student Support) was supporting the COVID‑19 response at The Royal London Hospital. He used CATQR to ensure QMUL dental students:

• scanned in using the CATQR mobile app
• collected their lateral flow testing kits
• met testing requirements before clinical duties

This gave Dominic first‑hand experience of CATQR’s reliability in a high‑pressure, safety‑critical environment.

Initial Enquiry

Seeing CATQR’s potential for QMUL’s IoD, Dominic approached Barts Health’s Deputy Director of Education & Quality (Medical & Dental) to identify who held responsibility for the platform. He was promptly directed to the designated custodian within Barts Health. This exchange established the formal starting point for QMUL IoD’s exploration of CATQR.

2. Why QMUL IoD Needed CATQR

Complex Timetabling Across Multiple Programmes

This created a scale and complexity far beyond typical NHS educational environments.

Key Requirements

QMUL IoD needed a system that could:

• prevent fraudulent attendance
• handle thousands of classes per month
• integrate with the University’s data warehouse
• support both on‑campus and online teaching
• provide audit‑ready evidence for regulatory bodies (including UK Visas and Immigration)
• remain simple for educators to use

CATQR’s architecture aligned directly with these needs.

3. Dynamic Class QR Code — The Feature That Attracted QMUL IoD

QMUL IoD was particularly interested in CATQR’s Dynamic Class QR Code, which:

• changes every few seconds
• prevents screenshots or forwarded images
• ensures only students physically present can register
• provides real‑time, fraud‑proof attendance data

This feature addressed QMUL IoD’s concerns around professionalism, clinical safety, and data integrity.

4. Scaling CATQR for University‑Level Teaching

The Challenge

Barts Health uses CATQR across a workforce of around 25,000 staff, but each clinical or training area only manages a small, well‑defined set of programmes and courses. For example, the Resuscitation team typically handled a dozen resuscitation courses, and specialty training teams managed a similar number of course types for each hospital site. Medical‑device educators delivered hundreds of device‑level training sessions, but these were still organised within a small number of overarching programmes or course types. In this context, CATQR facilitators added classes one by one, which aligned perfectly with NHS workflows: each team created only the sessions relevant to their area, at the pace required, and the system worked smoothly across all Trust sites and departments.

QMUL IoD, however, needed:

• hundreds of subjects
• thousands of classes per month
• automated QR code distribution to educators one week before teaching

Manual class creation was not viable.

Rapid Development: Bulk Class Upload

In response, CATQR’s developers built a bulk‑upload system that allowed QMUL IoD to:

• upload thousands of classes in a single operation
• automatically generate Dynamic QR Codes
• automatically send each educator their QR code one week before teaching
• maintain the same security and auditability as NHS deployments

This functionality was designed, built, and delivered within weeks, enabling IoD’s planned rollout.

5. QMUL IoD’s Implementation Model

Phase 1: Morning/Afternoon Session Capture

Due to the inherent complexity of university timetabling, QMUL IoD adopted a pragmatic approach:

• one CATQR code for the morning session
• one CATQR code for the afternoon session
• similar structure for labs, clinics, and cohort‑based teaching

This model:

• reduced administrative overhead
• ensured consistent data capture
• aligned with QMUL IoD’s teaching patterns
• integrated cleanly with the University’s data warehouse

Five years later, this model remains in use because of its stability and reliability.

Phase 2: Individual Session Capture

With the bulk‑upload system fully established, QMUL IoD expanded CATQR to:

• individual teaching sessions
• uploaded in bulk each month
• with automated QR code distribution

This allowed QMUL IoD to achieve granular attendance data without increasing staff workload. 

6. Geolocation — Additional Assurance for Online and Off‑Site Teaching

CATQR introduced an optional geolocation feature following a request from another university. QMUL IoD quickly recognised its value.

How It Works

When enabled:

• When the student scans, their device automatically captures the precise Google Maps address exactly as displayed on Google Maps, along with the corresponding latitude and longitude.
• only with the student’s permission
• no tracking before or after the scan
• administrators can define a geofence radius

Why QMUL IoD Uses It

IoD found geolocation particularly useful for:

• online lectures delivered via Teams or Zoom, where the University must confirm whether students were:
• on campus
• within the UK
• overseas
• UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) compliance, requiring evidence of physical location
• off‑site clinical placements, where students are dispersed across NHS sites and other settings
• specialist teaching spaces, such as simulation labs and clinical skills suites

This feature gives QMUL IoD a unified attendance system across on‑campus, clinical, and online teaching environments.

Screenshot from CAT Organiser back-end Geolocation Analytics (real attendance data; student names redacted for privacy):

7. Institutional Fit: Why CATQR Works for QMUL IoD

Regulatory and Professional Requirements

Dental programmes require:

• strict attendance monitoring
• professionalism tracking
• audit‑ready evidence for clinical exposure
• compliance with UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) for international students

CATQR supports all of these requirements.

Data Integration

CATQR’s structured data feeds directly into:

• the University’s data warehouse
• student support systems
• engagement monitoring dashboards

This supports early intervention, regulatory reporting, and academic governance.

8. Outcomes

For QMUL IoD

• Reliable, fraud‑proof attendance data
• Scalable system supporting tens of thousands of classes
• Unified approach across clinical, on‑campus, and online teaching
• Stronger UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) and regulatory compliance
• Reduced administrative burden
• Improved student support through accurate engagement data

For Educators

• QR codes are automatically issued one week before the class begins
• No manual setup required
• Simple, consistent process across all teaching types

For Students

• Fast, contactless attendance
• Clear expectations
• Consistent experience across all teaching environments

Video Production from JJ Hunt. During the UK lock-down in 2020, CATQR was selected by the NHS to monitor induction and simulation training in real-time for thousands of staff and volunteers at London’s ExCeL Centre and O2 Arena.