Leaving university

To withdraw means to formally leave university before you graduate from your course. If you are considering or have decided to withdraw, we recommend making an appointment to see a Student Advisor before you begin the process. 

If after browsing the information on this site, you decide that leaving the university is the best option for you, there are a number of issues to be aware of.

Please don't forget you can visit the Student Advice Service for information, advice and support so that you can make an informed decision and a smooth transition into life after university.   The Careers Service will be able to help you to form a plan for your career after university at whatever stage you leave.

Things to be aware of

Depending on your circumstances you may need to make arrangements with Student Finance England and manage changes in your accommodation. It is also important to be aware of the student finance regulations which can affect your future choices if you decide to return to study at any point. Factors which can influence this include;

• The date you started your course.

• The stage in the course that you have reached.

• The leaving date that is agreed by your course office.

• Any previous study.

Once you withdraw from university you will also;

• Not qualify to continue living in your accommodation, for example if it is student only or university accommodation.
  
  
• Need to check your tenancy agreement, you may be liable for rent until someone else can move in - Contact the Accommodation Office or the Housing Advice Officer,

• Need to inform your bank, as you may no longer qualify for student bank accounts. 

• Need to start paying Council Tax as you will no longer be elibible for an exemption

Also, if you are not employed, you may qualify for social security benefits.

International Students

Under the terms of a Tier 4 or Student visa you must be enrolled on and attending a course of study. Therefore, if you withdraw from your course you must, unless you have a place to start another course elsewhere, leave the UK and return to your home country.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) will expect you to leave the UK within 28 days of the date you withdraw from your course.

Whatever your circumstances, if you are thinking of withdrawing from your course you are strongly advised to contact the International Student Adviser to discuss your situation.

 

If you withdraw from university, your student finance will be affected in several ways.

To withdraw you must get an agreed leaving date from your school office. It is important to remember that non-attendance is not usually taken into consideration when calculating this date, so it is important to avoid unspecified periods of non-attendance on your course wherever possible.

Keeping in touch is always a good idea. It helps you to make a good impression, even at difficult times. It makes it easier for you to be able to ask for help or references later too.

Once you have an agreed leaving date, you must inform Student Finance England of the change in your student status. From this point, the following is effective;

• Student Finance England can use their discretion as to when your payments stop.

• If you receive support from any other provider, such as the TA or NHS, you will also need to inform them that you have left your course. Further payments and repayments will be subject to each providers' discretion. 

• Student Finance England will now consider you as having left your course. This means that you will be liable to repay any loans in accordance within the normal repayment guidelines.  

• You may need to inform you bank as any student accounts may no longer be valid.

Tuition Fees

If you withdraw part way through the academic year, you will be liable for tuition fees for part or all of that year. This amount will be calculated inaccordance with the Tuition fee policy

The Tuition Fee Policy contains full information about fee payments at Brighton and the information here is based upon this. If you receive a Tuition Fee Loan from Student Finance England they will pay the university directly.  

For all students at Brighton

• If you withdraw from your course during term one you will be charged 25% of the annual tuition fee. 

• If you withdraw from your course during term two you will be charged 50% of the annual tuition fee.

• If you withdraw from your course during term three you will be charged 100% of the annual tuition fee.

If you receive a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England, you will be liable to repay it under the regular repayment agreement. This means that your student loan will become repayable in the April after you finish or leave your course and are earning the repayment threshold amount or above. If you started your course in 2011 or before, this is £15,795. If you began study in 2012 or later, this is £21,000. 

In addition to this and for administrative reasons, if you started study in 2012 or later, you will not be required to start loan repayments before April 2016, even if you leave your course early. 

If you pay your tuition fees directly, your tuition fee liability is calculated in the same way, only the way you pay is different. 

Bursary payments from the university

If you withdraw, you will not receive any further student bursary payments from the university, if you qualify to receive them. You may also be asked to repay some or all of any bursary payments made to you in the current academic year. You can discuss this with a Student Advisor or contact the bursary team by email bursaries@brighton.ac.uk or contact 01273 643408

It is important to understand that if you do not repay any bursary funding that you are invoiced for, or fail to arrange a repayment schedule with the agreement of the Finance Income Team, it could result in contact from the university's debt collection agency. This could damage your credit rating in the future, and could have implications for any students that wishes to re-enrol.

University Scholarships 

If you have been awarded a scholarship and you withdraw, you will not be able to receive the award or attend the award ceremony.

Withdrawing from University is a big step. Student Advisers are available at any stage to discuss the process of withdrawing, including how to approach it and manage the consequences.

To withdraw from your course/university you will need to contact your course leader who will advise you on the process and arrange an official leaving date for you with your course office.

You will need to notify your course leader in writing. Your last date of attendance at the University is the date the University will use to calculate your fees.

• It is a good idea to meet with your course tutor or personal tutor to get a reference.  You may be able to discuss the wording with them in advance of their putting it in writing.
• Contact the school office as you may be entitled to a transcript. This details the modules and assesssment you have undertaken and could be used as credits for a course in future or as part of a reference for employers.
• Depending on when you leave you may also be entitled to an intermediate award (eg Certificate in Higher Education for 120 credits or Diploma of Higher Education for 240 credits for students doing a BA/BSC). This decision is made by the course examination board.
• Your school office will liaise with your course leader and send notification of your withdrawal to Registry (it is a good idea to check that your school office has done this).  Registry will update your student record, calculate any money owing to the university (in relation to your fees and repayment of any bursary payment to which you are no longer entitled) and prepare your end of module/year transcripts.
• If you started your course in 2011 or before and are applying to study at another University it is important to ensure you are recorded as 'transferrring'. Provided you aren’t also changing your mode of study this will ensure that you aren’t charged the 2012 fees at your new university.

If you withdraw you will permanently leave your course and the university system. If you decide to return to study in the future (at Brighton or elsewhere), you will need to re apply as a new student. You will be able to use your transcripts as evidence of previous study and you can ask tutors to provide you with references.

When you withdraw, you might feel live you will never study again - however we do recommend that you are aware of how the consequences of leaving could affect you later, just in case you change your mind or views or needs change in the future.

Student finance arrangements are particularly complicated in this situation. It is still possible to get support, but this is not guaranteed and it may not cover the full duration of your future studies. We recommend that you contact a Student Advisor for individual advice.  

Student Finance England will carry forward your existing student finance account to any future study that you enrol in. This is confusing because although you will be a new student on your course, your student finance account continues.

Any support you recieve will be added on top of any previous support. This could be under different terms and conditions to your original support, inline with the guidelines at the time you apply. 

Currently Student Finance England offer support for the length of your course, plus one year, minus previous study. Student Finance England count a single day of study as one full year of support. Therefore if you withdraw from a course after enrolling and at any point during that year,  the outcome will be the same - you have used one years worth of finance support. This is calculated differently to tuition fee liability.

As an example, you could potentially complete one year of study and still be entitled later to three years of support, to complete a degree course from year one to year 3. If you have withdrawn during your second year or later and wish to begin another course of study, you may find that you have to self-fund part of it. This is dependent upon individual circumstances and a Student Advisor will be able to discuss this with you.

 

If you withdraw from your course before graduating, you will not receive your full award, it is advisable to ensure you get the best record or reference from the university.

This will show the assessments that you have completed. You can show this to an employer or as evidence of previous study if you apply for another higher education course later on. 

Your course leader may be able to write you a reference which you can give to potential employers (or study providers should you come back into education) - however poor attendance or poor academic performance may be reflected in any reference you receive.

Therefore it is best to continue attending lectures and practical sessions until you are absolutely sure - that way you get the maximum credits for your work, and if you decide to stay you aren't behind. In addition, it is always preferable to finish the semester or year in order to gain maximum academic credit for the work you have done.

Depending on the course you have studied and what stage you have reached, you may be eligible to receive an exit or intermediate award. This would be decided by the Course Examination Board and you should discuss this possibility with your course leader. You can find full details about exit and intermediate awards in the General Examination and Assesment Regulations for taught courses (GEAR) (Page 12, Part 11.)   

If you are nearing the end of your degree and are thinking of leaving, if you feel able to continue, it's generally better to do so. Even if you no longer want to take the degree subject further or are likely to get a lower classification that you would like - it is better to have gained something from your studies.

You need to be sure that you are not cutting off the option of work you may want to follow later if it requires a specific degree. As long as you have considered this fully, then a less academic route may be just the right thing for you.

There are still many career areas in which you can progress through working to gain the relevant professional qualifications without university study.

Generally speaking, employers are interested in why applicants have behaved in a certain way and what you have learned from the experience. You may find it useful to meet up with a Careers Counsellor to discuss how you will present this to an employer in a positive light.

You will have gained many transferable skills whilst being at university which you can focus on when re-considering your career and presenting yourself to employers. As a starting point, see the Employability and your future career pages.

Careers Service

The Careers Service is able to offer you support on in your career planning, as well as job hunting and vacancies. Additionally their website has loads of resources to help you with your careers planning.

You will continue to have access to the Careers Service after you have left.

You also might find the following publication useful: 'New Directions Changing or Leaving your Course'