The academic decision about what kind of supplementary year you need to take is made by the Board of Examiners:

• A supplementary year is normally offered with attendance for teaching and assessment. This means you would need to attend all teaching and complete assessments in your units.
• A supplementary year without attendance (assessment only) may be possible. This means you are not required to engage in teaching. You would only need to take the assessment in the relevant assessment period.

Contact your Faculty Office if you wish to discuss the need to undertake your supplementary year with or without attendance.

In deciding whether to allow a supplementary year without attendance, the Board will consider:

• how many outstanding credits you have
• why you have not passed units (e.g. non-submission)
• your level of engagement with taught elements
• the types of assessment involved
• whether the required units are available to study in the next year.

Your assessment details in eVision will flag any assessments or units that need a resit or supplementary assessment. It will also show whether your marks will be capped or uncapped for each reassessment.

If you complete your reassessment in the supplementary year, you will progress to the next stage of your programme the following year. If you are unable to achieve the credit points for your re-taken units, you will need to withdraw from the University. There may be an exit award if applicable.

Access to University services

While on the supplementary year, you will continue to have full access to University resources, including online learning materials. Your student UCard remains valid, and you can use this to access the library and borrow items. Your bristol.ac.uk email will continue to operate as it does now; please check it regularly for any programme or unit-related updates.

Assessments and curriculum content

The structure of your programme may have changed between academic years. This may mean that you need to:

• take a new assessment where the format of the assessment has changed from the previous year
• undertake different units to the ones you studied before where the original unit is no longer running.

Your school or faculty will send you details via email if you need to take different units to the ones studied before.

Check the unit and programme handbooks, available online from your school. It is your responsibility to make sure you are aware of any changes in curriculum content for the unit in your supplementary year.

Tuition fees and funding

If your supplementary year is with attendance for teaching and assessment:

• there will be a tuition fee for the supplementary year
• the fee will be a proportion of a standard fee, based on the credit point value of the units you study, in line with SLC guidance
• as long as you attend across the full academic year, you are eligible for a full-time maintenance loan. You are still registered on a full-time programme and only studying part-time temporarily
• you may not be eligible for a tuition fee loan from Student Finance if you have already used your 'plus one' year of funding. However, you could apply for additional funding if compelling personal reasons affected your studies. Contact the Money Advice and Funding team if you need assistance.

If your supplementary year is without attendance, i.e. assessment only:

• there will not be a tuition fee for the supplementary year;
• you are not eligible for a tuition fee loan or maintenance loan for living costs, because you are not in attendance. 

Contact a Money Adviser for further advice.

Notifying the Student Loans Company

It can take the University up to eight weeks to notify the Student Loans Company of a change in your circumstances. It can then take more time for these changes to be processed by the Student Loans Company. This process may affect your funding.

Visa

Students on a Student visa should read our guidance about extending your period of study as soon as possible after being offered a supplementary year.

If your supplementary year is with attendance for teaching and assessment:

• the change to your end date is likely to affect your visa. Please read the Student Visas information about extending your period of study. Be aware that Student visas are not automatically extended. If you require a visa extension because your course end date has changed, seek advice from Student Visas.
• you must apply for a new ATAS certificate within 28 days of receiving your programme outcome, if you require ATAS clearance
• you must be taking at least one module that is a required part of your course in each teaching block. If there is a teaching block where you are not taking a required module, the University is required to notify the UKVI as you will not be studying for more than 60 days. This means that the UKVI will cancel your visa and you will have to leave the UK. Please read the Student Visas information about Supplementary Year
• you will be subject to attendance monitoring as usual during your supplementary year.

If your supplementary year is without attendance, i.e. assessment only:

• you are not required to be in the UK to study, only for exams
• the University is required to notify the UKVI of this change in your status. This means that the UKVI will cancel your visa and you will have to leave the UK. Please read the Student Visas information about Supplementary Year.

If you are taking one teaching block with attendance and another on an assessment-only basis:

• your visa will still be interrupted, and it is likely you will need to leave the UK for part of the academic year. 
• It is important that you contact Student Visa Advisers in a timely manner to discuss your case. 

Council tax

You may become liable to pay council tax if you are in attendance on a part-time basis, or not in attendance. If you have concerns about how this might impact your finances, please contact a student funding adviser for advice.

Support and guidance

You can talk about the requirements of your supplementary year to:

• your senior tutor,
• personal tutor,
• another member of your school (UG/PGT) or supervisor/supervisory team (PGR).

They will be able to help you consider any other academic support that may be suitable.

Support and guidance are available through the support services to help you manage your studies. You can also request wellbeing support while at the university. The Students’ Union Academic Advice Service has further information and contacts for advice and support.