Leave of absence

When a student is based at another location for a period of time (for example, if a student goes on a work placement or field work), they must apply for a leave of absence. The student will remain enrolled on their programme on a full time basis, but will be physically absent from the University for a period of time.

  • The absence must be academically approved and documented in advance.  Each School has its own processes and further details can usually be found with the staff in the School Office.
  • Details of the absence must be recorded officially on EUCLID to reflect the student’s actual status, including, where appropriate, the address of the new location of studies, details of the work placement, etc
  • Arrangements must be made to ensure Tier 4/Student visa sponsorship duties are maintained for the duration of the absence.  This could mean an agreement with an employer, or a schedule for Skype meetings with a supervisor.  This is implemented differently within individual Schools and more guidance can be found in your School’s Attendance and Engagement Monitoring Plan.
  • Change of circumstances must be reported to UKVI within 10 working days of the change (e.g. change of location or details of work placement).  This is carried out by the Student Immigration Service and the information is collected by running a BI report on changes to the student record.  It is of vital importance to our Sponsor Licence compliance that these details are recorded accurately and in a timely manner.  Any backdated reports will cause us to breach our sponsor duties and could impact on the student’s visa.

A leave of absence will normally have no effect on the student’s visa.  Providing the University can continue its monitoring duties, the student’s visa will remain valid.

 

Academic Services - Leave of Absence information

This article was published on