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The information on this page outlines the steps that you should take to apply for your interruption and the things you should do before you leave.
Before you apply for an interruption, please review the checklist on our before you make a decision webpage to help you consider some important factors.
Contents:
The application process
Evidence
Return to study planning
Extenuating Circumstances before your interruption
Return date
The application process
Step 1: Read the Interruption of Study Procedures in the UCL Academic Manual
Step 2: Complete an interruption application form on Portico. When completing this form, you will need to provide your reason for interruption, interruption start date and proposed return date and, depending on the category of interruption that you are applying for, you may also need to provide supporting evidence.
Step 3: Your department will contact you to arrange a meeting to talk about your interruption and make a Return to Study Plan. This meeting could be on the phone, online or in person.
Step 4: After your meeting your department will consider your application and will inform you of their decision. If your application is approved, you will be notified of your formal Date of Interruption and Return Date.
Step 5: Ensure you complete these before you interrupt activities to enable you to keep in touch with your department and / or SSW services as needed whilst you are on interruption and to maintain access to UCL online resources including Portico, your UCL email and electronic resources in the Library.
It is important that you attend classes and submit assignments while you apply for an interruption and wait for a decision. If you are ill or are having other difficulties which are affecting your attendance or performance, please make sure that you read the guidance below on Extenuating Circumstances before your interruption.
Evidence
Depending on the category of interruption that you are applying for, you may be required to upload supporting evidence to your Interruption Application.
- ‘Category 1’ Interruptions do not normally require evidence.
- You will be asked to provide supporting evidence for a ‘Category 2’ Interruption or an earlier Return Date. This may be medical or non-medical evidence, depending on your circumstances.
If you are interrupting for reasons related to health and wellbeing, you may be subject to a Return to Study Welfare Review and will be asked to provide medical evidence.
Return to study planning
To help make your return to UCL as smooth as possible, you will be invited to a meeting with your department to complete a Return to Study plan before your application can be approved.
- How does it work?
When you have completed the online Interruption Application in Portico, your department will contact you to arrange a meeting – this can be on the phone, online or in person. The meeting is designed to help you think through the implications of interrupting, and to make sure there is a plan in place to make your return to UCL as smooth as possible.
The meeting might be with your Programme Leader, Departmental Tutor or Departmental Graduate Tutor, who are all authorised to approve interruption applications. You can also ask them to invite other members of staff to join the meeting if you would find this helpful e.g. your Personal Tutor or a departmental administrator.
In the meeting, the department will log into your online application and go through the onscreen Return to Study prompts with you.
The following list gives you an idea of the issues that you might discuss. You may find that some of the questions don’t apply to you – you can ignore them.
- Who can you contact if you have questions or need support while you are away?
- Will any modules or assessments have changed next year, including their timing (such as the term in which they are taught)?
- How might this affect you and how will this be addressed?
- Will any assessments or exams be due soon after you return?
- Will you need to do any revision or complete any work while you are away?
- Will you need access to the library or to Moodle for course materials to complete these assessments?
- Do any modules include group work? Will you be allocated to a new group when you return? Do you need to return at the start of the module in order to work with your new group?
- Do you need to re-attend any classes or re-do any assessments because you had Extenuating Circumstances in the period leading up to your interruption?
- Does your programme include a placement or study abroad? How will this be affected?
- Are there any induction or social events to which you could be invited before you return?
- Will you need a Return to Study Welfare Review with UCL Student Support and Wellbeing? This can be important if you are interrupting due to ill health or other Extenuating Circumstances as they can provide extra help and support.
- Are you interrupting for maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave?
- Are there any extra considerations to take into account?
- Have you read UCL’s Pregnancy and Adoption policy?
- How will interrupting affect your visa or immigration status?
- Do you know who to contact if you have questions about this?
- Are there any important fees or funding issues to take into consideration, such as repayment of loans, limits on loan eligibility, exceptional circumstances extensions?
- Do you know who to contact if you have questions about this?
- How will interrupting affect your accommodation?
Extenuating Circumstances before your interruption
You might have been affected by illness or other Extenuating Circumstances in the period leading up to your interruption. If this was the case, your interruption cannot be ‘backdated’ but you can submit a claim for Extenuating Circumstances to cover that period.
- Examples
If
- Your ability to attend classes and participate in seminars or laboratories was affected - you can apply for a ‘deferral with tuition’ which will allow you to repeat some classes and take the assessment when you return.
- You have already attended classes, but illness or other circumstances meant that you could not do the assessment, or you did not perform at your best in the assessment - you can apply for a ‘deferral without tuition’ so that you can re-do the assessment when you return to UCL.
To get a deferral with or without tuition, you must submit a separate Extenuating Circumstances Form and supporting evidence to your department.
Guidance on submitting an EC claim is provided on our Extenuating Circumstances webpage.
Return date
Typically students return from interruption one year after they leave, at the start of a term e.g. if you interrupt in November, you will return at the start of Term 1 in late September. This is your ‘Default Return Date’.
However, your return date could be slightly different.
- Examples
- You might need to return earlier because your programme or one of your modules has changed. For example, a module may now be running in Term 1 instead of Term 2, or the module may have been redesigned and include different content which it will be difficult to pick up part-way through.
- You might need to return earlier if a module includes group work or another activity which it will be difficult to work on if you are not there from the start of the module.
- You might have had Extenuating Circumstances in the period leading up to your interruption which meant that you missed a lot of classes, or underperformed in an assessment. You may need to return early to retake the affected module from the start.
- It may be better for you to return at half term if you don’t want to repeat classes unnecessarily.
If any of these issues affect you, you can discuss them in your meeting with your department and make sure they are included in your Return to Study Plan.
If you want an adjusted Return Date, you may be asked to complete the Statement of Need section of the online application, and you may be asked for evidence. An adjusted Return Date will need additional approval from your Faculty Tutor or Faculty Graduate Tutor.
See our Interruption FAQs page for more information.