Student Guide

How to view and register your attendance in Canvas.

Contents

Overview Opening the tool My Attendance view Status colours Registering yourself Scanning a QR code Status not showing? FAQ

Overview

The Attendance tool records your presence at mandatory course activities such as labs, seminars, and lectures. You can:

See all sessions and your attendance status for each one
Register yourself as present when the teacher has opened self-registration for a session

You cannot change your own status once it has been set by the teacher.

Opening the tool

Open your course in Canvas

Go to the course where the Attendance tool has been installed.

Find Attendance in the course navigation

Look for Attendance in the left-hand course menu in Canvas. Click it to open the tool.

Your attendance view loads automatically

You are taken directly to the My Attendance view showing your own records. You will never see other students' data.

Open the tool early. You must open the Attendance tool at least once before your teacher can record your attendance. If you do not appear in the attendance sheet, simply open the tool and reload — this registers you in the system.

My Attendance view

The view shows one row per session. Each row contains:

My Attendance — Introduction to Chemistry (KEM101)

Date	Session	Mandatory	Status
2026-05-10	Lab Safety Introduction	Mandatory	Present
2026-05-14	Lecture 2 — Periodic Table	Mandatory	Absent
2026-05-18	Seminar 1	Mandatory	Excused
2026-05-22	Lecture 3	Mandatory	Not registered

Date — when the session took place (or is scheduled).
Session — the name given by the teacher.
Mandatory — a red Mandatory badge means attendance is compulsory for this course.
Status — your recorded attendance (see colours below).
Register Attendance button — appears only when the teacher has opened self-registration for that session and the window is currently active.

Status colours

Row colour	Status	Meaning
Green	Present	Your attendance was recorded.
Red	Absent	You were not present and there is no accepted excuse.
Yellow	Excused	You were absent but with an accepted reason.
White	Not registered	Attendance has not been recorded for this session yet.

If you believe a status is wrong, contact your teacher directly — you cannot change statuses yourself.

Registering yourself as present

Some sessions allow students to register their own attendance. When this is active you will see a green Register Attendance button on that session's row.

Find the session with the Register Attendance button

The button only appears while the registration window is open. If you do not see it, the window has not started yet or has already closed.

Click Register Attendance

Your status is set to Present immediately. The row turns green and the button is replaced by Already registered.

Done

No further action is needed. The teacher can see your registration and may override it if necessary.

You can only register once. After clicking the button you cannot undo your own registration. If you registered by mistake, contact your teacher.

Scanning a QR code

Your teacher may display or print a QR code at the start of an activity. Scanning it is the quickest way to register your attendance without opening Canvas manually.

Make sure you are signed into Canvas on your phone

Open the Canvas app (or canvas in your browser) and make sure you are logged in. You must also have opened the Attendance tool in this course at least once before scanning.

Scan the QR code

Use your phone's camera or a QR reader app to scan the code shown by your teacher. This opens a page in your browser.

Confirm your registration

If you are signed in, you will see a confirmation button. Tap Confirm — Register as Present. A green confirmation screen appears when done.

What if I see "Sign In Required"?

Your browser does not have an active Canvas session. Open Canvas, navigate to this course and open the Attendance tool, then scan the QR code again — the page will recognise you this time.

What if I see "QR Code Invalid"?

Your teacher has regenerated the QR code. Ask them to show the new one.

Each QR code is tied to one session and one teacher. You can only register attendance for yourself — the system always records the identity of the signed-in user.

My status is not showing / I am not in the system

If a session shows Not registered even though you attended:

The teacher may not have recorded attendance yet — check back later.
Contact your teacher if the session has passed and your status is still blank.

If you cannot see any sessions at all:

Make sure you have opened the Attendance tool in Canvas at least once — this is what adds you to the course roster in the system.
If sessions exist but are not listed, contact your teacher.

FAQ

No. You can only see your own records. Teachers see all students.

Contact your teacher. They can update the status and add a corrective note in the system.

The self-registration window has closed. Contact your teacher to have your attendance recorded manually.

Sessions marked Mandatory count towards course requirements. Whether absence affects your grade depends on your course rules — check the course syllabus or ask your teacher.

No. The QR link registers the attendance of whoever is currently signed into Canvas on the device. It always records your identity — you cannot register on behalf of someone else.

Questions or problems? Contact your teacher or course administrator. → Teacher guide