Changes to the postgraduate taught (PGT) dissertation period
Check if you can relocate overseas during your PGT dissertation on a Tier 4 or Student visa.
On this page
- Overview
- If you do not proceed to your dissertation
- Changing your study location
- Submitting your dissertation early
Overview
Your Student visa was issued to cover the full summer period, during which you should be studying your dissertation. Certain changes to your circumstances during this period could affect your Student visa or eligibility to apply for the Graduate visa after studies, including:
- If you do not study your dissertation over summer
- If you leave the UK and study your dissertation from overseas
It’s also important to know what your engagement requirements are so you can keep your Student visa throughout the dissertation period, and when you are considered to have completed your programme.
If you do not proceed with your dissertation
Depending on your academic school, you may not be permitted to start or continue studying your dissertation if you have not met the necessary academic requirements to do so.
How this affects your visa
If you will not have any studies to attend (eg timetabled teaching or exams and assessments) for more than 60 days over the summer period, your Student visa may need to be reported to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
This can result in the cancellation of your visa, and you would need to apply for a new one if you need to resume studies at a later date. If this applies to you, you will receive email advice from ISSAC with further details.
Changing your study location
Your visa was issued specifically to study within the UK on the University’s premises, and we strongly encourage all students to remain in Sheffield whilst completing their dissertation. However if you choose to leave the UK during the summer period, there are a number of implications to be aware of, you must notify the University:
Check if your school permits you to study overseas
Your school may or may not permit you to study your dissertation from overseas. Depending on your specific programme you may be required to remain in the UK for this period for academic reasons. The change of location online form will advise you if you cannot study your programme from overseas, and if so you will not be able to complete this.
Some schools may require their students to formally request a period of study overseas or provide further information before completing the change of location online form. If so, your school should contact you with further instructions.
The following schools either do not permit study overseas for the dissertation period or require you to get approval from them first. If this applies to you, do not complete the online form- contact your school instead.
- Departments within the Faculty of Engineering
- Department of Music (only applies to MUST64 and MUST65 programmes)
- School of Biosciences
- School of Languages and Cultures
How this affects your studies
The University strongly encourages students to remain in the UK during their dissertation period. By doing this you can get the most out of the University’s facilities, materials and academic support throughout your studies and obtain the best result possible.
By choosing to relocate overseas you are accepting that you may not have the same levels of access to support, supervision and resources provided by the University.
If you're studying in China, you may need to use University Connect for China (UCC) (login required) to access some learning and teaching resources. Contact your school to request access to this.
Attendance and engagement
If you study overseas for this period, you must still retain contact with the University and regularly check your emails for any important information.
If you wish to keep your Student visa and return to the UK in the future, you must remain engaged with your studies on a monthly basis throughout this period. This may include attending online or in-person meetings, submitting assessments, completing forms or replying to emails.
If you have a valid Student visa and stop engaging with your studies or lose contact with your department, the University will contact you by email and require you to re-engage with studies within a limited period. Failure to re-engage can lead to withdrawal from studies.
For more information:
Student Visa attendance and engagement
How this affects your visa
If you will be completing your course from overseas, the University must withdraw sponsorship of your Student visa. This means your visa will be cancelled by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and you should not use it to return to the UK. You should use a Visit visa for graduation.
If you study from overseas for a temporary period the University will maintain sponsorship of your Student visa and your visa will remain valid. This means you must leave the country for a limited period only and return to complete your course from the UK.
How this affects the Graduate visa
- To be eligible for the Graduate visa you must have studied in the UK for the duration of your programme, except for temporary and authorised periods of study overseas. If you leave the UK to complete your programme and your visa sponsorship is withdrawn, you will not be eligible to apply for the Graduate visa.
- If you leave the UK for a temporary period and return before completing your programme, your Graduate visa eligibility should not be affected.
When you don’t need to notify the University
You do not need to notify the University of a change to your study location in the following circumstances:
- Your course includes a placement or study abroad period as a formal part of your studies (eg you are on a course with a year in industry). The University will inform UKVI of your temporary change of study location automatically and continue to sponsor your visa during this period.
- if you are only leaving for a short period, for instance where you have periods of authorised absence from studies or for visits overseas for up to two weeks. This is not sufficient for the University to consider you as formally studying from overseas.
- If you submit your final dissertation and wish to leave the UK after this point. Refer to the attendance and engagement information above about staying in contact with your school throughout the dissertation period.
How to notify the University
If you intend to leave the UK for your dissertation period, whether permanently or temporarily, you must notify the University using the form below:
Before completing this form, make sure that you have read the visa implications of this decision as detailed above.
If you do not complete the form and it becomes apparent that you are not studying on campus, for instance because of your attendance record, the University may proceed to withdraw sponsorship of your visa.
If your Student visa sponsorship is withdrawn, then your visa may be cancelled by UK Visas and Immigration at any time. If you intend to return to the UK (eg for graduation), you will need to apply for a Visitor visa to travel instead.
Do I need to wait for International Student Support, Advice & Complianec (ISSAC) to send visa advice before leaving the UK?
ISSAC will send their report to UKVI in line with the date of intended travel you include when completing the online form. You may wish to travel before receiving the visa advice from ISSAC if there is a delay. You should only do this if you are fully aware of and accept the visa implications of your decision.
If you change your travel plans after completing the form
The University only reports the change to UKVI after your travel date has passed, which is when you will receive email advice from ISSAC.
If this action results in your visa being cancelled you will receive a separate notification email from UKVI directly, and they will give you 60 days to leave the UK before your visa expires. Therefore a short delay to your plans should not be an issue and would not require any action.
If your travel plans change significantly after completing the form, for instance you wish to travel at a much later date, you should email immigrationcompliance@sheffield.ac.uk.
Submitting your dissertation early
As a PGT student, your Student visa will have been issued for the full duration of your masters programme until September of each academic year, including the summer period. The summer dissertation is defined as term-time, and your Student visa conditions continue to apply.
You should remain engaged with your studies and in contact with your academic school until the end of your programme. If you stop engaging, or fail to respond to attempts to contact you in this period, you could be identified as a non-attendance case and your Student visa may be affected.
Working in the UK
If you intend to work in the UK on your Student visa you should keep to the term-time work rules until after the official course end date stated on your last Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), even if you submit earlier. In most cases this means waiting until 30 September each year, but you can find your course end date on your previous CAS statement or on your Student Status letter to confirm this (login required).
The reason for this is because you can only work full-time on your Student visa after you have formally completed your programme, which UKVI views as the formal course end date.
In some very limited cases you may receive your formal award sooner than your official course end date. If this applies to you, and you wish to work full-time sooner, please contact us for advice.
For more information: