Resits and Supplementary Year
Supplementary Year with Attendance in both Teaching Blocks
If you have been given a supplementary year in attendance in both teaching blocks, meaning that you have taught modules in both Teaching Block 1 and Teaching Block 2 OR a taught module in Teaching Block 4, then there should be no interruption in your current Student visa sponsorship.
To be eligible to retain their visa during a supplementary year, a student must be taking at least one unit in each teaching block, and that unit must be:
- the unit that was previously failed; or
- if that unit is no longer offered, an appropriate replacement unit for the original unit
Your current visa will remain valid until its expiry date, and you will need to apply to extend it to cover the additional year at some point. This does not need to be done immediately, but rather before your current visa runs out. Please note however that for courses at Bachelor’s level you will be subject to the 5-year time limit. If you think you are affected by this, please contact us to discuss. For MEng and MSci programmes there is currently no visa time limit.
There is an ATAS requirement applicable to some MSci and MEng programmes. If your course has an ATAS requirement, you will need to apply for a new ATAS certificate with a new course end date within 28 days of being notified of the supplementary year.
Supplementary Year with Attendance only in Teaching Block One or Teaching Block Two
If you are required to take a supplementary year where attendance of a taught module is required only in one teaching block (TB1 or TB2), your visa sponsorship will be interrupted at some point in the academic year. This means that during the other teaching block you are only required to take assessments but no teaching, and that your status will most likely change from Registered (R) to Exams Only (RE) at some point in the academic year, which will result in your visa sponsorship being withdrawn and you needing to apply for a new Student visa before returning to full-time studies.
Students with this academic outcome can contact Student Visa Advisers to discuss how this may affect them, but here are some common scenarios below:
Attendance in Teaching Block One but not in Teaching Block Two
To be eligible to retain their visa during a supplementary year, a student must be taking at least one unit in each teaching block, and that unit must be:
- the unit that was previously failed; or
- if that unit is no longer offered, an appropriate replacement unit for the original unit
If you have at least one taught module that you need to re-take in TB1, your visa sponsorship will remain active until the start of TB2 as per this schedule.
If you are an undergraduate student - after TB1 is over the Visa Compliance team will withdraw the visa sponsorship by making a report to the UKVI as per the University's sponsorship duties. They will notify you of this by email and you will then usually have 60 days to leave the UK from that moment. You will then be expected to apply for a visa from outside the UK before returning to full-time studies the following academic year. You will need to contact Student Visa Advisers to get advice and arrange a new CAS a few months before returning to full-time studies.
If you are a postgraduate taught student - your visa will expire in January at the end of TB1. Therefore, you have a visa that covers you to remain in the UK for teaching in TB1 so do not need to take any visa action. You will need to ensure that you leave the UK before your visa expires in January. You cannot extend your visa to remain in the UK without further immediate in-person study.
Attendance in Teaching Block Two but not in Teaching Block One
To be eligible to retain their visa during a supplementary year, a student must be taking at least one unit in each teaching block, and that unit must be:
- the unit that was previously failed; or
- if that unit is no longer offered, an appropriate replacement unit for the original unit
If you are an undergraduate student - if the unit you need to re-take falls in TB2 and you do not have any eligible units in TB1, then your current Student visa sponsorship will be interrupted in TB1 due to a break in study engagement. You will receive an email from Student Visa Compliance in TB1 notifying you that the visa sponsorship has been withdrawn and you have 60 days to leave the UK. This means that ordinarily you will need to travel home during those 60 days (or before) and then apply for a new visa from outside the UK to re-join the rest of your studies in TB2. If you are outside the UK when receiving the notification from Student Visa Compliance, please do not attempt to re-enter on the same Student visa: there is a possibility it may have lapsed due to you being outside the UK and a report being made on it at the same time.
If you are a postgraduate taught student - if the unit you need to re-take falls in TB2, you can remain in the UK during TB1 as you are in the 'wrap-up' period of your visa i.e. the 4 months after your course original end date. Provided you are required to be in attendance by your school/faculty for further in person study in TB2, you will be able to request a new CAS to apply for a new Student visa. You will need to apply for a new Student visa before your current Student visa expires if you are still in the UK. Alternatively, if you have travelled home during TB1 you can apply for the new visa overseas if you wish before returning to resume in person studies.
Resits and supplementary Year not in Attendance (Exams only)
To be eligible to retain their visa during a supplementary year, a student must be taking at least one unit in each teaching block, and that unit must be:
- the unit that was previously failed; or
- if that unit is no longer offered, an appropriate replacement unit for the original unit
If you are required to do re-sits or a supplementary year without attendance, your student status will change from Registered (R) to Exams Only (RE). This means that you will not be required to be in the UK to attend lectures and workshops but will only need to attend the exams or submit assessments. It may be possible to do these remotely - you should contact the Faculty Office to ask if this can be arranged.
If your student status changes to Exams Only, it is the University’s obligation to report this change to UKVI. Following this report, your Student visa will be curtailed (cancelled). The Student Visa Complaince team will email you and will let you know when they are about to send a report to UKVI. You will normally have 60 days from the date of our email to leave the UK.
In order to come to the UK to take your exam(s) in person, you can obtain a Visit visa. There may be some circumstances when you can apply for a short Student visa to come back for exams - please contact Student Visa Advisers for further guidance on this.
To support your return to the UK on a Visit visa you would need a Visit visa support letter, which this can be requested from your Faculty Office. This letter will state the exam dates that you are required to be in the UK.
Once you have successfully passed the exam(s) and been:
- given a final submission date for the dissertation or
- allowed to continue with your course on a full-time basis
we will be able to issue you with a new CAS number which will allow you to apply for a new Student visa. Please note that Visit visa holders will not be allowed to switch to a Student visa in the UK.
Undergraduate students and August resits
If you are a final year undergraduate student and are taking August resits, your visa should expire in October and, therefore, you can take your resits during your existing visa period. You may still be able to start a new course in September as you should receive your results in time to apply for a new Student visa and start your new course. You should speak to your school/faculty regarding when you will receive resits results and then the admissions team dealing with your admission to your new course regarding your admission and your new CAS to apply for your new Student visa.
If you are an undergraduate student and need to pass August resits to progress onto the next year of your current course you should receive your results in time to progress on your current course.
Postgraduate students and resits
If you are taking resits during your visa period, including during your wrap-up time which is the 4 months of your visa granted after your original course end date on your CAS, the University is not obliged to report this to the UKVI so there will be no impact to your Student visa. This also means that because resits fall within your existing visa period you will not be eligible to apply for a new Student visa. You would only be eligible to apply for a new Student visa if you have resits and are then required to complete further study, following the resits e.g. dissertation, in attendance full time and your new course end date is beyond your visa expiry date. Please note that if there is a delay in results and they will not be published before your visa expires, it could affect your eligibility for the Graduate route visa.