Time off from university

If you are experiencing challenges with staying on your course for academic, financial or other personal reasons, please make sure that you have explored all the ways that we can help to support your learning. If you would feel more comfortable speaking to someone outside of the university, your Students’ Union also has a number of support services - please contact them for further information and contact details.

However, sometimes time off from study may be just what you need. If this is the case, you will need to speak to your Course Leader as any time away from your studies needs to be agreed by them and they are an excellent source of support and advice. For example, if you are close to completing a stage of study and nearing final assessments, a better option for you may be to request an extension or apply. Our Skills Hub are also on-hand to support with your learning and assessments so please do get in touch on skillshub@brighton.ac.uk if you need help with academic studies.

If intermission, assessment extension or Additional Consideration is not the right option for you, your Course Leader can also discuss a permanent withdrawal from your course and help you decide when to withdraw to make the most of your studies and assessments.

We've provided some basic FAQs below re: the impact of intermitting or withdrawing from your course but you should contact your Course Leader, Personal Academic Tutor or Student Support and Guidance Tutors if you are considering time away from university so that we can provide one-to-one advice and support for this important and personal decision.

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An intermission is a temporary break from your studies and university life. Periods of intermission have a start date (the Friday of the week that you last engaged with your course – for example, attendance at a scheduled teaching event, assessment submission, VLE engagement, supervisor meeting etc.) and an end date (the date you are due to resume studies which will be at the start of a semester/teaching block).

Intermissions must be agreed with your Course Leader following a discussion with you. This meeting can be in-person or on MS Teams. To request an intermission, please see further information below.
Your School will contact you two months before you are due to resume studies to check that you are ready to return, advise re: any changes to the course and make sure that you are re-engaged with the study and personal support that you need. We will email you using the personal (not University of Brighton) email account that we hold on your student record so please do make sure that it is up to date before you leave us by checking and updating your Student View contact details.

If you think you need a further period of intermission, please let us know. We can agree an intermission for up to one academic year at a time but may be able to grant a further period of intermission if your circumstances warrant it and you have sufficient time left to complete the course as per our regulations.

If you do not respond to our email re: returning to studies and do not re-enrol at the University, we will assume that you are no longer interested in completing studies with us and will withdraw you permanently from the course.
A withdrawal is a permanent removal from your course and university life. If you withdraw from your course, your course end date will be the Friday of the week that you last engaged with your course – for example, attendance at a scheduled teaching event, assessment submission, VLE engagement, supervisor meeting etc. When you withdraw, we will look at your academic achievements to date – and make you the highest exit award (e.g. Certificate or Diploma of Higher Education) that we can. This is why it is important that you successfully complete as many modules and course stages as you can before you stop studies; please do speak to your Course Leader or PAT to understand your eligibility for an exit award. To request course withdrawal, please see further information below.

If you wish to return to studies after withdrawing from your course, you will need to make a new application to the university, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to offer you a place. If you think that you will want to return to studies in the near future, please do discuss the possibility of intermitting with your Course Leader as this may be the best option for you.
If you leave your course at some point during the academic year, you will be liable for tuition fees for all or part of that year. The percentage of the tuition fee that you are charged depends on when you leave the course: term one (25%), term two (50%) or term three (100%). For further information, please see our “Tuition Fee Policy” in your Student Contract.

If it is agreed that you can intermit from your course, the duration of intermission will normally be a period within the formally designated university’s academic year structure i.e., a semester, term or whole academic year. When you return to complete the year that you intermitted from, you will be charged the balance of tuition fees for that academic year (e.g. 75%, 50% or 0%) at the rate charged in your returning year.
If you withdraw or intermit, you will need to inform your funding provider – for example, Student Finance England (SFE) – as soon as possible. We recommend that you speak to a student adviser to make sure that you have all the support and advice you need, as financial issues can be complex when it comes to intermission/withdrawal and will vary according to your individual circumstances. This team will also be able to advise re: impact on any bursaries or scholarships awarded to you.
Yes! If you are permitted to live and study in the UK because you have a student visa, this permission will be withdrawn if you stop studies, even if on a temporary basis as with an intermission. If you are thinking about stopping studies for any reason, you must speak to the International Student Advice Team to make sure that you understand the impact on your current and future immigration status for the UK.
If you live in university accommodation and are intermitting from your course, you may have the option to continue living in your halls of residence, providing that you are not in debt to the university. If you wish to leave your accommodation, your contract will be terminated once you have removed all your belongings from your room, returned your key, completed a termination form and your intermitting status has been confirmed by your school office. Please note there is a £50 fee for terminating your contract.

If you are withdrawing from the university, you are no longer eligible to live in halls of residence and must vacate them. Your contract will be terminated once you have removed all your belongings from your room, returned your key, completed a termination form and your withdrawn status has been confirmed by your school office. Please note there is a £50 fee for terminating your contract. Please contact the Accommodation Office on 01273 644100 or email accommodation@brighton.ac.uk if you have any queries or concerns.

If your student accommodation is not university accommodation you will need to speak to your landlord to find out if you are able to stay in the accommodation whilst intermitting or following permanent withdrawal from the course.
You will automatically retain access to library and computing services until the November of the following the academic year in which your intermission started. You will be able to borrow University of Brighton books as usual - but will be unable to borrow any media items as licenses restrict these to students actively studying on the course. You also cannot borrow laptops or request inter-library loans whilst intermitting.
Please log-in to Student View and click on “Request to intermit (take a temporary break) or withdraw permanently from your course” in the “Your courses” area.

This will take you to a brief form for you to complete to tell us if you are requesting an intermission or withdrawal, provide a brief reason for your request, confirm that you have read and understood implications for your studies (as outlined above) and agree to meet with your Course Leader to discuss the request further.

The information in this form will be emailed to your Course Leader and they will contact you to arrange a time to meet to discuss your request. This information will also be copied to your School Helpdesk; please do contact them for further guidance if you have not heard from your Course Leader within seven days of submitting your request.