Student visa holders are required to attend and engage with their course in order to maintain their Student visa and remain registered on their programme. The conditions of your visa do not permit you to study your programme entirely online and so you must attend your course's in-person teaching and supervisory sessions.
Prolonged periods of non-attendance without sufficient justification, confirmed with your school or department, may result in the withdrawal of sponsorship for your Student visa and your withdrawal from your course.
Term-time Attendance
For taught students, term-time is set out on the Key Dates page of The University's website. This includes the summer period for postgraduate students who are working on their dissertation. Except for the specific arrangements for single-year PGT students during the summer, as detailed below, taught students are expected to be studying on campus during term-time and should limit travel to official holiday periods. This is to ensure that you protect your Student visa status and also maintain your eligibility to apply for the Graduate route, upon the successful completion of your course.
Reading weeks and non-teaching weeks are still considered term-time and are a not vacation periods for taught students to travel away from campus.
For research students, the standard University vacation periods do not apply. You are only considered to be outside of term-time during the 32 working days of annual leave permitted each academic year, in addition to public holidays and University closure days, as approved by your supervisor and recorded by your Doctoral Academy.
It is compulsory for all undergraduate and postgraduate students to record their in-person attendance at taught activities on campus using SEAtS. You can access your guide to SEAtS here.
If you are experiencing technical issues preventing you from recording your attendance, you should report these through SEAtS support. If you have been marked as absent from a mandatory session in error, you will need to submit an Absence Correction Request.
If you know you will be absent from timetabled sessions, you should log this in the SEAtS app so your school can review and approve the absence. If you require wellbeing support, please contact your School Attendance team to discuss this further.
NOTE: You do not need to notify the Student Immigration Team about short-term absences or technical issues that have prevented you from recording attendance at a small number of sessions. Short-term absences will be assessed and authorised by your school and do not require additional approval from the Student Immigration Team. In the event of a longer-term absence from study, you must first clarify the academic implications with your school's attendance team before the Student Immigration can advise on the visa implications.
Students who do not have the option to use SEAtS to check-in need to speak to your School Attendance Team to confirm the alternative arrangements for monitoring your in-person attendance.
Single/final-year postgraduate taught (PGT) Student visa holders who will be working on their dissertation or final project over the summer must complete one in‑person check‑in on campus between Wednesday 1 July and Friday 31 July. You will need to check in at the hub specified to you by your school or the front desk of the Main Library.
This check‑in forms part of our engagement monitoring during the summer dissertation/project period and is necessary to support the University’s responsibilities to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
The Hub you have been instructed to attend will be open 10am-4pm Mon-Fri during this period. The Main Library will be open for check-ins 8am-8pm Mon-Fri & 9am-5pm Sat/Sun. You also need to ensure you attend with your University ID card.
Requests for late check-ins will generally not be considered. However, if you experience serious or unforeseeable circumstances that prevent you from attending the in-person check-in and have a significant negative effect on your academic progression, you may submit a formal Mitigating Circumstances application. This application must still meet the grounds for mitigation as detailed in the University’s Policy on Mitigating Circumstances and Extension Requests. Please note that routine non-attendance, personal travel arrangements, or other commitments will not be considered through this process. It is recommended that you discuss your situation with your School before submitting a Mitigating Circumstances application.
If you do not complete this check‑in within the specified timeframe, the University will be unable to confirm your eligibility to apply for a Graduate visa upon completion of your course. It is strongly recommended that you arrange to attend the check‑in as early as possible within the available window.
Students undertaking fieldwork over the summer must have this formally approved by their School via My Placement so that we can report a change of study location and exempt you from the check-in requirement.
You remain responsible for meeting all programme engagement requirements and for complying with the conditions of your Student visa. The University will be required to withdraw visa sponsorship where required work is not submitted by the published deadline, and no approved Mitigating Circumstances application is in place.
Early Submissions: If you submit your final assessment before August, you will be considered to have completed your studies early. In this situation, the University must report this to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and withdraw sponsorship of your Student visa. You should only submit your final assessment early if you plan to leave and complete outside the UK and are willing to give up both your Student visa and eligibility for the Graduate route.
Please refer to the section below for answers to some frequently asked questions about the arrangements set out above.
Can I leave the UK during the summer dissertation / project period?
You may travel during the summer period, provided you are still able to attend the mandatory July in‑person check‑in and meet any additional in‑person attendance, engagement, or assessment requirements specified by your programme. Outside of these required activities, on‑campus attendance over the summer period will not be routinely monitored.
You will be responsible for ensuring that any travel plans do not interfere with your academic obligations or any programme‑specific requirements.
What if I plan to leave the UK and complete my dissertation from outside the UK?
If your intention is to leave the UK and complete entirely remotely without returning to the UK, and this has been permitted by your supervisor and school, then you will need to inform the Student Immigration Team. We will report to UKVI that you have left the UK to complete remotely and withdraw sponsorship for your Student visa, resulting in it's curtailment (shortening) and early expiry. You should only leave the UK with no intention to return if you are happy to give up your Student visa sponsorship and eligibility for the Graduate route. You will also still need to complete any relevant checkpoints prior to the date of your final departure from the UK.
I have already booked travel during the checkpoint period. Can I check in before or after I return?
The checkpoint has been set up to meet UKVI requirements and cannot be amended or extended. If you have already booked travel which will prevent you from checking in during the specified dates, you will need to change your arrangements so that you can still physically check in.
Why will my Student visa be reported if I submit my dissertation/final project earlier than August?
Your Student visa has been issued to you to enable you to study the course as set out on your CAS and the Student Immigration Team are required to inform UKVI of any instances where students complete their studies early and no longer meet the conditions of their Student visa as a result. This notification represents the withdrawal of sponsorship for your Student visa and will result in the curtailment (shortening) of your Student visa's expiry. We strongly advise against submitting early unless you are happy to give up your Student visa sponsorship and eligibility for the Graduate route. If you do still choose to submit earlier than August then you will need to apply for a new visa to return and attend your graduation ceremony.
If you are studying without any in-person sessions (such as classes or labs) where attendance is recorded, and you are not undertaking fieldwork or a placement that has been formally approved by your School and reported to the Home Office, you must physically check in at the Main Library front desk once every two weeks, in addition to any other checks set by your School (e.g. monthly meetings with your supervisor).
This arrangement includes:
In the case of the programmes above, you will need to continue to undertake these checks until your final submission deadline (or extended deadline, if you have been granted an extension).
You cannot send someone else to check-in for you - if you cannot come to campus, you must contact your School to register your absence.
Taking leave / holiday
Up to 14 days: No authorisation required, as long as you can continue to meet the check-in requirements.
More than 14 days: You can request an authorised absence for any of the reasons below – contact your School Student Attendance team with leave dates and evidence. If you take this leave without School authorisation, it could impact your current student visa and your eligibility for a graduate route visa (meaning you could only return to the UK on a visitor visa).
|
Leave reason |
Evidence required (must be in English or with translation) |
|---|---|
|
Seeking urgent medical treatment |
Medical letter |
|
Bereavement / funeral |
Order of service OR letter from parent / guardian OR death certificate |
|
Family member illness |
Letter from parent / family member OR medical letter |
|
Need to renew passport or other official document(s) |
Copy of passport or other document to be renewed |
|
Fieldwork or data collection trip |
Approval from Ethics Review Manager system |
You should only submit your final assessment early if you are planning to leave the UK and are happy to return in future on a visitor visa (e.g. for graduation).
Early submission will end your current student visa and make you ineligible for the graduate route visa, due to recent changes in the UK visa system.
Contact your School if you do decide to submit early - you will be exempted from check-ins after submission.
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