Research News and Updates

Good afternoon,

Aware that we are heading towards the Easter break period at the University of Warwick. Research students who are registered as full-time students are required to be in attendance throughout the year. Term time does not apply to PhD students. Your supervisor may be looking to take a break after the end of this week, so we strongly recommend that you connect with them to ensure you can meet with them in March to meet your monitoring point requirements.

What's on at Easter at Warwick: https://warwick.ac.uk/students/news/easter/

Teaching Term: 2024/25

Spring Term: 6^th January 2025 – 15^th March 2025

Summer Term: 21^st April 2025 – 28^th June 2025

Attendance Policy: www.warwick.ac.uk/eropgr/attendance 

Requesting leave form: www.warwick.ac.uk/eropgr/attendance/forms/t4

• Note that there are different forms depending on the period of leave

Authorised absence allows a student enrolled on a doctoral programme to pause study for a short, pre-determined period, with no impact on their Student Visa. It is not available to students on undergraduate or postgraduate taught courses.

Subject to departmental approval, a PhD student can request up to 42 days of authorised absence per 12-month period, for the following reasons: sickness, medical treatment or surgery, maternity, bereavement, to take annual leave or to work full-time.

You are not expected to engage academically during a period of authorised absence, however, unlike temporary withdrawal, time is not added to your registration period to account for the break in study so the course end date will remain the same. If your department is concerned that you will be unable to progress in your studies as expected due to taking a period of authorised absence, then they may not approve your request or might agree to a shorter period than you asked for.

As this break in study is not reported to the Home Office it will not result in curtailment of leave and you can stay in the UK.

If you need a longer break

In exceptional circumstances (excluding for holidays and employment) it is possible to request a longer authorised absence than 42 days. However, if you will need significant time away from study, are not eligible for a longer period away from study or your department cannot approve your request, then temporary withdrawal or a change of study location may be a better option, depending on your situation.

Want to proceed with this option? Ensure you discuss it with your supervisor and academic department, then request a period of authorised absence in your Student Records Online account.

Provisions for PGR students who would like to work full-time:

1) Students in Limbo, E.g., you have submitted your thesis and have a date for your Viva. if you want to work full-time during this period, you can request a period of Authorised Absence via your eVision portal. If the request is accepted, you will be sent an email which will confirm your right to work more than 20 hours during the AA period.

• Please note: If the outcome of your Viva is corrections, then you will revert to the 20 hours per week work restrictions. Once you have submitted the corrections, you can request a letter to confirm full-time work rights, see below.

2) Students who have had their Viva and passed or who have submitted their final corrections can now request a letter to confirm they can work more than 20 hours per week. With this letter, you will no longer need to wait for Senate's degree conferral to work more than 20 hours per week.
For the letter request, you will need to attach confirmation from your department/supervisor/doctoral college that you have passed or submitted your corrections, without this confirmation, your request for the letter will automatically be refused.

The letter can be requested by clicking hereLink opens in a new window

We hope this information is helpful. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with us at eng.pgr@warwick.ac.uk.

Best wishes, Kerrie

Kerrie Hatton & Christina Claridge

Research Student Office

eng.pgr@warwick.ac.uk | External: +44 (0)24 765 22046 or 24826| Internal: 22046 or 24826

PGR Office F317| School of Engineering | University of Warwick | CV4 7AL | Find us on the interactive map

WFH: Monday and Friday. On campus in F317: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Intranet - www.warwick.ac.uk/EROPGR