Authorised Absence for Postgraduate Taught Students

If you are travelling during the Christmas or Easter vacation periods you are not required to apply for an authorised absence as you are free to travel during these times.

During term time, students are expected to be on campus throughout the published term dates, including assessment support weeks and assessment weeks. However, the University recognises that events outside of your control may occur whilst you are in the UK and understand that you may need to be absent during term time. Please note that the summer is considered term time for you, due to the requirement for you to complete a dissertation/project during this time.

For absences up to seven calendar days, you are not required to apply through a central absence process. If your School require you to notify them of an absence up to seven days, please follow their guidance on this matter.

You are encouraged to keep absences as short as possible to minimise time away from the University, however if you do need to be absent for longer than seven calendar days you may apply for an authorised absence. Where possible, authorised absence should be requested in advance of travel.

It is your responsibility to give a clear explanation as to why an absence is required at that particular time, and for the length of time requested. Please note, absence to fulfil commitments that need not necessarily be undertaken at that time will not be approved. Authorised absence will also not be approved during term time for the purpose of holiday, or for cultural or religious events that can be observed in the UK.

Where academic engagement is not continuing the University is permitted, under Home Office guidance, to approve an authorised absence for a period up to eight weeks, however we may refuse absence requests where there are concerns about the impact this will have on your studies. In the majority of cases, we would expect authorised absences to be for a much shorter period to minimise disruption to your studies.

If a situation requires you to be absent for a longer period of time, a leave of absence may be more appropriate for you.

Evidence requirements

Evidence must be provided with all requests. Any evidence where the original document is not in English must be translated into English by a certified translator; please provide both the original and the translated copy.

Evidence must be time-relevant and clearly demonstrate why you need to be absent during the dates requested. 

During the summer period you may need to undertake fieldwork for your dissertation in another location or choose to complete some or all of the writing up remotely. If this is something you would like to do, you can submit an authorised absence request for this purpose.

This includes situations where you choose to write up remotely for personal reasons; if you will be continuing to engage fully with your dissertation module, you can request the absence on academic grounds.

As you will still be studying whilst completing fieldwork or writing up, the University may approve a period of absence longer than eight weeks. We must fulfil our obligations as a Student route sponsor and continue to monitor your academic engagement and progress whilst you are away.

As students are expected to be on campus during term time, authorised absence for the purpose of dissertation writing up can only start after the summer term has officially ended. Please see the University’s term dates.

Reporting absences to the Home Office

If you take an authorised absence for the purpose of writing up your dissertation in your home country, you will be asked to confirm on the request form whether you plan to return to the University to complete your studies at the end of your programme.

If you return to the University before your official course end date (as stated on your CAS) and continue with your studies, we will inform the Home Office that you have temporarily changed your study location. This will not affect your visa.

If you tell us that you don’t plan to return, or you enter an absence end date after your official course end date (as stated on your CAS), we will report to the Home Office that you have returned to your home country to complete your studies there.  We will withdraw immigration sponsorship, and you will not be allowed to return to the University on your current Student route visa.

If you tell us that you will be returning before the end of your course, but your plans change and you don’t return, we will withdraw immigration sponsorship.

If you have any questions about withdrawal of immigration sponsorship and what this means for you, we strongly advise that you contact the International Student Team (IST). 

The authorised absence form is available online. Please see the step-by-step guide on how to submit a request.

You will be required to enter an authorised signatory, who must be a member of staff from within your School/Department. If you are not sure whose name to enter in this field, please ask your School. Please note that any requests ‘approved’ by a student will not be processed.

If you are using an @contacts email address in either the authorised signatory or administrator field, you may receive an error message stating that ‘the user does not exist or is not unique’. To bypass this error you can use an alternate @adf email address. Please see steps on how to retrieve this alternate email address. Please be aware that when this email address is entered into a form field it might look like it will revert back to an @contacts address, however, it will still work as an alternate mail address for a shared mailbox.

When you submit a request, the named authorised signatory will review your request and submit their decision.

If your request is rejected, your School will contact you to notify you of their decision.

If your request is approved, Registry will receive this for processing and email you to confirm whether the request has been approved or declined. Please be aware that this is a two-step approval process, and the University may be required to decline your request even if it was approved at School level.

If your authorised absence is approved you will be provided with an email for you to show to the Immigration Officer at the border, should they ask for proof that you are a student and have permission to travel outside the UK.

Please note that once an approved authorised absence request has been received by Registry the standard processing time is ten working days, however during peak times this may extend to twenty working days.

If you have indicated that you plan to return to the UK before your official course end date (as stated on your CAS) you are expected to return to the UK on the stated end date of your absence.  On the first University working day after your authorised absence ends, you must report in person to your programme administrator to confirm that you have returned by the agreed date.

If you are unable to return by the date provided on your request form, you should submit a new authorised absence request with evidence that supports why you require longer than planned.

If you do not report your return, or submit an extension request, the University may be required to report withdrawal of immigration sponsorship to the Home Office.