Visa Conditions During your Studies

As a Student visa holder, you have some responsibilities which come with the visa. This page will provide you with information about how to make sure you are keeping your Student visa safe.  You can find more information about how the Unviersity monitors Student visa holders, including engagement monitoring, UKVI reporting, and the documents we are required to keep on file for every international student on our International Student Monitoring Procedures Student Zone 23.24

Understanding the University's responsibilities to Student visa holders as well as your responsibilities as a Student visa holder will ensure that you have a more positive and informed time during your course.

An important condition of your Student visa is that you maintain regular attendance on your programme of study and fulfil the academic requirements of your programme. This requirement is also laid out in the general student regulations.  UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) require the University to monitor attendance of all Student visa students. Poor attendance or failure to engage with your programme could lead to you being withdrawn from the University and your Student visa being curtailed.

We will also consider your engagement and performance on your course if you need to request an extension for your visa. If you have poor attendance and engagement, we may decide that we are not able to offer you continued visa sponsorship.

The Monitoring of Attendance and Engagement policy is explained in the International Student Engagement Monitoring Procedures Document 23.24

Communications

You will always receive emails notifying you if your attendance is not satisfactory and offer you the opportunity to provide information to the team for us to help you. If you receive one of these emails is it is important that you read the information in it carefully and follow the advice given in the email.

This will include the reasons why we are reaching out to you and give you advice as to what to do if you are experiencing any difficulties which are affecting your ability to attend regularly. If you do have any ongoing health or personal problems that are impacting your studies it is important that you let us know so that you can be offered appropriate support.

We may send you an email asking for you to attend an interview with a member of the team. If you receive this email, please do not ignore it. Usually, this will be because you have missed too many classes without explaining why or obtaining authorisation for your absences. We will want to give you a chance to talk to us about the reasons why you are not attending and for us to explain the impact this may have on your time in the UK.

A Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is a standard credit card-sized plastic document that contains a biometric chip. The card is evidence of the holder’s immigration status in the UK and stores biometric details (name, date and place of birth) and biometric information (facial image and fingerprints). A BRP is only issued to people coming to the UK for more than six months. The BRP is your visa and it is extremely important that you keep it safe as you will need it every time you leave and re-enter the UK.

If you are on a course that is fewer than six months in length, your full visa will be on a visa vignette in your passport and you will not receive a BRP.

Sometimes there are errors on your BRP so you should make sure you check it carefully as soon as you collect it from the Post Office. Both you and the University are responsible to report any errors to UKVI quickly so you must let us know when you come across an issue. UKVI will need to correct the error and issue you a new card.

Type of error and how to correct them

If you do come across any mistakes, we strongly recommend you discuss this with us in the first instance. We will help you make the correct type of application and follow up with UKVI on your behalf.

Work Rights

Tier 4/ Student visa holders studying on a full time course at London Met will have the right to work a maximum of 20 hours during term time and full time during established vacation periods.

Your BRP should state that you have work rights in the UK. If it doesn't, this is an error that needs correcting.

If you are studying in the UK on a  Student visa for part time study, you do not have any work rights in the UK at all. If your BRP states this, this is an error and will need reporting to UKVI.

Visa end date: post-study period

Course Length

Additional time is normally given after expected

course end date on the CAS

12 months or more

            4 months 

Between 6 and less than 12 months

            2 months

Pre-sessional programmes less than 6 months

            1 month

All other programmes less than 6 months

             7 days

If your BRP states that your visa expires on a date earlier or later than you expected based on this table, then you may have an error that will need to be amended so you have the correct visa length.

Personal details

If your name or date of birth is incorrect on the BRP, this is also important to correct as this is an official government document.

 

How to correct an error

Where did you apply for your visa?What is the problem with your BRP card?Where do I fix the problem?   Cost
Outside the UK All errors Report online Free
Inside the UK Personal details errors (spelling of name or date of birth) Report online Free
Inside the UK Length of visa or work permission errors Administrative Review 80 GBP - Refundable if the Home Office agree there is an error

Changing Modules

If you would like to change the modules of your course, you should first discuss this with your course leader and School Office.

With regards to your Student visa, if you will remain on the same credit load and therefore stay a full-time student, then it will not impact unless the changes mean that you are effectively changing your course, see below.

Failing a Module/ Reassessments

Sometimes things don't go as expected and you may fail a module on your course. Student visa holders are able to take reassessment opportunities if needed, according to the Student Regulations.

Generally, this isn't a problem and students can complete as expected.

Please note this can have a serious impact on your Student visa sponsorship. If you find yourself in a position where you are waiting to complete a reassessment and do not have any other modules registered, this means you are no longer in active study and attending, for example if you fail a pre-requisite module before a dissertation. Your enrolment status will change to Assessment Only and you are not required to attend classes. Due to this, students in this position may have their Student visa sponsorship withdrawn and may have to make arrangements to leave the UK while they wait for the next term. This is especially the case if you will be out of active study for more than 60 days in this position. You will then be issued a new CAS to make a new visa application to continue your course.

We strongly advise students in this position to make an appointment with our International Advice Service to talk about the immigration implications.

Change of Course

From a UKVI perspective changing a course is a big change of circumstances; changing your course, in some circumstances may mean that you have to apply for a new Student visa from outside the UK. The Sponsor document 2 confirms:

"5.97 A Student can only change their course without getting permission from us to start their new course if:
  • the sponsor is an HEP with a track record of compliance;
  • the new course is at degree level or above;
  • the new course is not at a lower level than the current course;
  • The student will be able to complete their new course within their current period of permission; and
  • for students who have previously been granted permission under the Student route (including Tier 4), the sponsor confirms that:
    • the new course is related to the previous course for which the applicant was granted permission as a Student (including Tier 4), meaning that it is either connected to the previous course, part of the same subject group, or involves deeper specialisation, or
    • the previous course and the new course in combination support the applicant’s genuine career aspirations. 

If your course change does not meet the above requirements, then you will need to apply for a new visa from overseas.

International students sponsored under the Student visa must seek advice from the International Advice Service before requesting a course change as it may have implications on your current visa.

Mitigating Circumstances

Sometimes it is necessary for students to seek mitigating circumstances for the submission of coursework or an assessment. London Met has clear guidelines around how you can go about requesting this.

Please bear in mind that depending on your situation, this may drastically impact on your visa and may mean that you will need to leave the UK while you wait to complete your assessment.

You should make an appointment to speak to an International Adviser before you submit your mitigation request so that you have all of the information you need to make the best decision for you.

Taking a Break

If your circumstances change and you decide that you will need to take a break from your studies, you should first review the information on the London Met web pages.

Leaving your course, even if only for one term, will mean that you are no longer an enrolled student and we will need to withdraw your visa sponsorship. This will mean that your Student visa will be curtailed.

If you are thinking about taking a break from studies, please make an appointment to speak to an International Adviser so we can support you and provide you with the advice you will need.

Suspension or Withdrawal from Your Course

There may be circumstances where you are suspended or withdrawn from your course.  This can be due to tuition fee debt, poor academic progress and engagement or administrative issues.

Suspension from your course may be temporary but could have a direct impact on your Student visa. If you are suspended, you will receive communication from the University to inform you why this is and what you need to do to rectify the situation.

These changes of enrolment status will need to be reported to UK Visas and Immigration and could have a lasting impact on your immigration status. Please ensure you reach out to the Compliance Team to discuss the situation.

If you fail one or more modules, the International Support and Compliance team is the only department in the university who can provide immigration advice and should be the first point of contact to discuss the potential implications if you cannot complete your course as planned. School staff will be able to help you with regards to options and each option may affect your Student visa so please make sure you seek advice as soon as you know you have failed a module.

Attempts: academic regulations state that the maximum number of attempts at an assessment/module is four. In some cases you may be required to retake the module with attendance at a cost, in this case, you will need to study the module again from the beginning and are not only resitting an assessment. The fourth or final attempt would normally be on an assessment only basis which means the university will withdraw sponsorship of your visa if you don’t have engagement requirements.

Reassessment period: there is one reassessment period according to the university key dates which falls in July.

Reassessment on an assessment only basis: if you fail a module/year and you are enrolled on an assessment only basis, your student visa could be cancelled if there are no engagement requirements through the semester/year. 

Example

Assessment only module: if your failed module is registered on an assessment only basis and you don’t have other modules registered in that semester, the University must notify the Home Office of the withdrawal of sponsorship of your visa if you are not required to engage with your course for a period of 60 days or more (excluding vacation periods) This will result in the cancellation of your visa.

Assessment only year: the University must notify the Home Office the withdrawal of sponsorship of your visa If you are not required to engage with your course for a period of 60 days or more (excluding vacation periods) This will result in the cancellation of your visa.

Failing a module that is pre-requisite to progress to the dissertation: you will be given an opportunity to submit a reassessment in July. If the module is a pre-requisite to the dissertation, for example Research Methods, you won’t be permitted to start the dissertation until you pass this module which means that the end date of your course will be extended and not in all cases the university will issue a CAS to extend the visa. If the dissertation is submitted within the validity of the visa, the university won’t issue a CAS because your course is deemed to have been completed and the university cannot issue a CAS for the sole purpose of waiting for results.

Graduate visa eligibility if you fail modules/dissertation: If the end date of your course changes to a later date, you might not be eligible to apply for the Graduate visa if your visa expires before the awards board confirm the successful completion of your course.

Student visa holders should aim to complete the course within the CAS dates. The Home Office usually grants 2 or 4 months ‘wrap up’ period after the original course end date and in most cases the reassessment can be completed during this time without the need of a visa extension. If the course cannot be completed within the validity of the visa, the university will carry out some checks and will apply discretion to issue a new CAS for a new visa application.

Other resources:

Award publication dates

Academic regulations

Visa conditions during your studies

Graduate Route (Post-Study work)

UKCISA: Graduate Route

As a Student visa sponsor LondonMet is required to report to the Home Office if a student commences a work placement. The report will include information about the work placement employer, location, and duration. Student visa holders are permitted to undertake a full-time or part-time work placement as part of their course if it is integral and assessed, and not more than 50% of the length the course (unless it is a statutory legal requirement).

‘Integral and assessed’ means the work placement is part of the design of the programme and the student should not be able to achieve the award without undergoing the placement. The student may be asked to complete a minimum number of work placement hours to gain relevant industry experience and/ or produce a piece of assessed work based on the work placement.

If you would like to undertake relevant work experience while you are studying at LondonMet which is not integral and assessed as part of the programme, you can work part-time (no more than 20 hours per week) during term time and full-time during vacation period. We will consider this type of work experience ‘extracurricular’ therefore it must be completed within the allowance of your visa during term time.

If you have an integral and assessed work-based learning module as part of your course, you must liaise with the work learning practitioner to complete the paperwork and ensure that all the relevant health and safety checks are completed before you start. You must not start your integral and assessed work placement unless all the relevant checks have been completed.

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