Frequently asked questions

Sometimes you may need or may want to repeat a period of study you’d already undertaken prior to your leave of absence. You won’t normally be allowed to repeat periods of study longer than 10 weeks apart from in exceptional circumstances.

Aside from repeating your first year of study, all repeat study is at the discretion of your department, requires exceptional circumstances and is not guaranteed. Repeating for more than 10 weeks requires approval from Special Cases. If you’re repeating a period of study on your return from a leave of absence you’ll normally still be charged for that repeated period.

The University is changing to a semesterised structure from the 2023/24 academic year. If you took a leave of absence prior to this, you may be required to return to the University early to repeat study due to changes to your programme.

Please discuss this with your academic department.

If you take a leave of absence you’ll have to pay tuition fees for the period before your absence but won’t have to pay tuition fees for the period you’re away from the University. When you return from your leave of absence your account will be credited on a pro rata basis for any fees paid in excess before your absence.

You don’t need to pay any tuition fees during a leave of absence, and will be charged fees from the date you return to your studies. If you’re repeating a period of study on your return for a leave of absence you’ll normally still be charged for that repeated period.

If at the end of your leave of absence you choose not to return and withdraw from the University, the date of withdrawal will be the start date of your leave of absence and your fee liability will be calculated accordingly.

All tuition fees are calculated in line with the details set out in the Student Tuition Fee Refund Policy (PDF , 216kb). Your fee liability will be determined by your last date of attendance (this date therefore needs to be accurate and agreed by you). If you have further specific questions regarding your last date of engagement with your course and any tuition fees you may owe then you can contact fees-office@york.ac.uk and you may also wish to speak with your academic department.

You might find it helpful to check with your department what will be the start and end date of your leave of absence and whether you will be repeating any study next academic year. If you end up having to do any repeat study, then you would be liable to pay additional tuition fees for that repeat study. 

If your reason for taking a leave of absence is financial, you may want to contact the Student Support and Advice team first to discuss your circumstances.

Student finance 

If you receive financial support from Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW),

Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI) or Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) Student Services will inform them of the leave of absence and the total amount of tuition fees for the period attended prior to absence. Student finance payments will usually stop during your leave of absence.

Funding

If you receive funding from an external source such as foreign loans, sponsors, studentships, scholarships or charities you should inform the University when requesting a leave of absence of this funding and you should ensure that your leave of absence would be compatible with the regulations of any granting agency where you’d normally receive funding during the proposed leave period. You’ll also need to inform the agency you receive funding from of your leave of absence.

If you’re a University of York or external scholarship holder you should check the terms of your award before requesting a leave of absence as there may be implications for your scholarship.

US loans

If you receive a US federal loan and take a leave of absence you’ll no longer be eligible for federal aid. You must apply in advance for a leave of absence unless unforeseen circumstances prevent you from doing so. The total period of leave of absence can't exceed a total of 180 days in any 12 month period including weekends and scheduled breaks.

When you take a leave of absence you won’t have to repay your loan until the grace period is used up. If you’ve used up the grace period you’ll have to begin repaying your loan immediately when you graduate. It’s possible to request an extension to the grace period but this must be done before the grace period is used up. Find out more about US loans.

Student finance use the following calculation to work out how many years funding entitlement a student can access:

Length of current course + one year – years of previous study / e.g. 3+1-1=3

You can read more information about eligibility from Student Finance England. If you have a potential shortfall in your tuition fee funding, there is the option to apply through the Compelling Personal Reasons process to access additional funding. Compelling personal reasons can be any personal circumstances (including health, personal and family related reasons) that have affected your ability to continue to study. Please see the compelling personal reasons document for further information. The Student Support and Advice team are very happy to answer any further questions you may have around this and how you can provide evidence for this. 

Student Finance reassess your maintenance loan entitlement based on the last date you engaged with your studies. If you have received maintenance funding you are no longer eligible for you may have an overpayment. Students are usually expected to repay any overpayment as soon as possible. Student Finance will write to you to let you know how much you need to repay. You can read more about how this works on the Government webpages.

If you take a leave of absence for health reasons then you would be entitled to receive a further 60 days of your maintenance loan. The additional 60 days will be counted from the start date of your LOA. Please note, in order to be eligible for this your department would need to document on your leave of absence form that your leave of absence is for health reasons. To apply for a LOA on this basis, you must provide a medical certificate or a letter from a doctor or certified/accredited medical professional. It would need to be noted on your leave of absence form that it’s reason code 7,8, 9, 10 or 11. Please note, a leave of absence for maternity reasons is not considered by the Student Loans Company (SLC) as ‘health’ in the first instance, and a student will only be afforded the extended period of financial support under health reasons if they have also included maternity-related illness as part of their reason for absence. You can read all about this on the Government webpages.

If you don’t have the means to repay an overpayment right away, Student Finance will look to recover this from your first maintenance loan instalment after you return from your leave of absence. If by doing so you won’t have enough funding to meet your costs and will find yourself in financial hardship, you can request to keep the overpayment on a discretionary basis. This isn’t guaranteed and you need to apply for this directly to Student Finance.

If you are concerned about an overpayment of your maintenance loan, or you are concerned about your finances during your leave of absence, you can also contact the Student Support and Advice team for further advice around this and your options. 

If you have already received all your payments of your Masters Loan this year, when you return to study, this would mean that you would not receive any further payments. This is because you would not receive anything in addition to your existing loan entitlement. 

From time to time courses may be modified, altered or occasionally discontinued. If your department feels your course will be significantly altered they should discuss the situation with you, including whether the changes may mean you’ll need to return from your leave of absence earlier than expected. As we are moving to a semesterised structure at the moment, this is particularly common for 2023/4.

If you are required to repeat study because the University has moved to a semesterised structure, please discuss tuition fee liability with your academic department.

If you are in receipt of support from DSA, for example a non-medical helper, you will only be eligible for this up to your leave of absence start date. Any DSA non-medical helper support that you receive after your leave of absence start date may be considered an overpayment, and you may be asked to pay this back. 

If you've received DSA funded non-medical helper support after your leave of absence start date, and are concerned you may have an overpayment, you can contact Student Support and Advice for further advice.

Students taking a leave of absence aren’t able to remain in on-campus accommodation. As a result, students are able to be released from their contract with an 8-week notice period. You can remain in your on-campus accommodation up to the end of this 8-week notice period.

Once you have contacted your academic department to submit a request for a leave of absence you need to complete a 'request to vacate' form and this would trigger the start of your 8-week notice period. 

Once Accommodation Services receive notification from Student Records that you have taken an LOA, accommodation services can then process this with an end date, which is 8 weeks from the original submission. If you have submitted a request to vacate form, the 8-week notice period will be taken from the date you submitted the Request to Vacate (RTV) Form. If the official notification doesn’t come through from Student Records until past this point, your contract will be back-dated and terminated 8 weeks from the RTV submission.

You will receive two emails; an acknowledgment email when you complete the form detailing the process and a confirmation email when it has been processed (after notification from Student Records), detailing the moving out process and the date the contract will be terminated. You can contact accommodation@york.ac.uk if you have any further questions about your contract.

Taking a leave of absence doesn’t affect your ability to remain in any private sector accommodation for part/all of your leave of absence.

If you don’t plan to remain in York or cannot afford to continue to pay rent you may need to consider whether you can end your tenancy early. This is usually through a break clause in your tenancy agreement or on the basis of finding a replacement tenant to take over the remainder of the tenancy.

You should first check your tenancy agreement to see if there is a break clause. There is further information about this from Shelter, including how to use this to end your contract early. 

If there isn't a break clause, you would continue to be liable for paying rent unless a replacement tenant is found. If you have any questions or concerns around your private sector accommodation, please contact our Student Housing Advisor Stephen via the Student Hub Online Self-Referral Form.

If you normally study full-time and are taking a leave of absence you won’t have to pay council tax. If you’re a part-time student you’ll already have to pay council tax and you’ll still have to during your leave of absence. See more information on council tax liability if you’re a student.

If you are a Student visa holder and take a leave of absence, it is likely that your Student visa will be cancelled.  

The University generally needs to report long absences to the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI). Therefore, once your leave of absence is processed, the University will likely report it to the UKVI and withdraw your CAS. You will then have 60 days to leave the UK before your visa is cancelled. 

You will need to apply for a new Student visa from outside of the UK before returning from your leave of absence. 

If you only want to take a short absence, then an Authorised Absence may be more suitable. If you meet the requirements for this type of absence, then you may be able to maintain your Student visa. 

While the above advice applies in most cases, it is advisable to get advice tailored to your specific circumstances. You can contact an Immigration Advisor through the International Student Support team’s self-referral form found before applying for a leave of absence. 

If you have Pre-settled or Settled status, then you aren’t required to leave the UK during your leave of absence. Though, if you decide to do so, please keep in mind that long absences from the UK (6 months or longer) can impact your EUSS status.

Please have a look at the International Student Support’s information on the EU Settlement Scheme to ensure you’re fully informed about the implications before you leave the UK. 

If you would like advice tailored to your specific circumstances, feel free to contact an Immigration Advisor through the International Student Support team’s self-referral form before applying for a leave of absence.