Academic Regulations

Registration and Payment of Fees

(See also the Registration website, Payment of Tuition Fees website and Essex Student Online Payment System)

5.1.
Student status commences at first registration for a programme of study and continues, unless it is otherwise terminated, until the award is conferred or granted or until the end of the specified period of study whichever is the earlier.

5.2.
All prospective or continuing students must register each year at the required times in accordance with procedures approved from time to time by the University. The University reserves the right, on academic grounds, not to allow students to register after term has started. Only exceptionally and with the special permission of the Academic Registrar will prospective or continuing students be allowed to register late. A late fee will be charged in such cases, of an amount to be determined from time to time by the University.

5.3.
Students who have commenced a programme of study but who fail to re-register or are prevented by the operation of other Regulations from re-registering by the end of the period of twenty-eight days starting with the first day of the Autumn term shall be deemed to have withdrawn permanently from the University and from their programme of study and shall thereupon cease to be students of the University. This Regulation does not apply to students excluded temporarily by the Senate, continuation students or completion students, whose registration is governed by Regulations 5.13, 5.14. and 5.15. respectively.

5.4.
All prospective or continuing students, full-time or part-time, will sign at Registration a statement undertaking that they will comply with the Charter, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University.

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5.5.
Students shall notify the University as soon as possible of any subsequent change in the information which they have given at Registration relating to name, address, choice of module, choice of options, and source of financial support.

5.6.
A student who loses his/her Registration Card must inform the University immediately, and a duplicate Registration Card may be issued on payment of a fee determined from time to time by the University.

5.7.
All students are required to register with a doctor in the vicinity of their term-time residence within four weeks of registering with the University. Students who register with a doctor other than the Health Centre on the Colchester campus may be required to notify the University of his/her name.

5.8.
No prospective or continuing student will be permitted to attend lectures, classes or laboratories or to use the University Library, computing or any other facilities of the University until he/she has registered and paid or made satisfactory arrangements to pay the tuition fees due.

5.9.
Fees and other charges must be paid at the times prescribed by the University. Students who have not paid fees and other charges including accommodation charges by the required date will be liable for a late payment charge of an amount, or rate of interest, to be determined from time to time by the University. Fee refunds will only be made in accordance with the policy published by the Director of Finance.

5.10.
The use of University facilities may be withdrawn from students who have not paid or made satisfactory arrangements to pay the tuition fees due to the University. In the context of this Regulation the term 'University facilities' is to be interpreted to comprise all forms of academic instruction and supervision, the Albert Sloman Library, computing facilities and residential accommodation owned or administered by the University. A student who incurs a debt at another academic institution for which the University of Essex is liable to repay that institution during the programme of study will be deemed to be in debt to the University of Essex and therefore subject to Regulations 6.5. and 6.28. until the debt is paid.

Except with the permission of the Director of Finance no student who is in debt to the University may register for a further period of study in the University.

5.11.
Persons who hold office in the Students' Union and are not otherwise registered as students shall be required to register as full-time occasional students, without fee, during their period of office.

5.12.
Former students who have withdrawn permanently or been required to withdraw permanently or been deemed to have withdrawn permanently from the University may be re-admitted to a programme of study and become students of the University only with the permission of the Academic Registrar.

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5.13.
Students who have been excluded temporarily by the Senate or by its Disciplinary Committee or Disciplinary Committee of Appeal will be automatically granted partial registration without fee for the period of their exclusion and shall remain subject to the Charter, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University.

Such students may, however, inform the University that, having been temporarily excluded, they wish to withdraw permanently from their programme of study and from the University.

5.14.
Students who have completed the minimum period of study prescribed by the Academic Board for the programme which they are following and who are required under Regulations or rules to register and pay a continuation fee are required to register each year as continuation students and shall remain subject to the Charter, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University. A continuation student who fails so to register will nevertheless be deemed to have done so and will be permitted and required to pay the appropriate continuation fee in arrears until his or her programme of study is completed or his or her permanent withdrawal from the University is recorded by the Registry; a student who fails to register and pay the appropriate fee as required each year will not however be entitled to use University facilities.

5.15.
Students who have completed the minimum period of study prescribed by the Academic Board for the programme which they are following and who are required under Regulations to register and pay an annual completion fee, as prescribed from time to time, are required to register each year as completion students and shall remain subject to the Charter, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University. Completion students may, however, be permitted to pay prescribed fees termly. Students who, by the end of the specified period have not presented themselves for examination, fail to pay, or make acceptable arrangements to pay, the appropriate completion fee shall be deemed to have withdrawn permanently from the University and from their research degree and shall thereupon cease to be students of the University.

5.16.
Completion students must present themselves for examination by the end of the final term (including the relevant vacation period) of their completion year. Where a student has extenuating circumstances that affect their ability to submit their thesis by the agreed deadline they may request an extension to their submission deadline of up to two weeks without having to register for the next term or pay the prescribed fee for that period. Requests for an extension must be made to the Registry in advance of the existing deadline. Students who fail to present themselves for examination by the deadline shall be deemed to have withdrawn permanently from the University and from their research degree unless they are permitted a further period of completion (subject to regulations 4.25 and 4.26) for which they must register and pay the prescribed fee for that period.

5.17.
Other cases which are not governed by Regulation 5.16 where a student has extenuating circumstances that affect their ability to submit their thesis by the agreed deadline will be considered by the Dean/Associate Dean of the Graduate School on a case-by-case basis.

Temporary Withdrawal (Intermission)

5.18.
Permission may be given to students to withdraw temporarily from the University during their programme of study with a view to returning at a later date. Applicants must make written application to the relevant Dean and must give acceptable reasons for their request. The Dean will consult the Head of the student’s department or other members of staff as appropriate before reaching his or her decision. Taking into account any comments by staff concerned, the Dean, acting on behalf of the Board, may give permission to students to withdraw temporarily from the University. The Board, or the Dean acting on its behalf, may prescribe conditions which shall be fulfilled before students may resume their programme of study. If permission is given, the students concerned will be required to register as partially registered students for the whole of the period of their absence, to pay an appropriate fee as determined from time to time by the University and to sign an undertaking that they will comply with the Charter, Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University.

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Students who fail to register within twenty-eight days of being given permission to withdraw temporarily will be deemed to have withdrawn permanently and may be re-admitted only with the permission of the Academic Registrar.

If the period of absence extends beyond the commencement of the next academic year, students will be required to re-register at the beginning of the new academic year and, if they fail to do so within 28 days starting with the first day of the Autumn term, they will be deemed to have withdrawn permanently and may be re-admitted only with the permission of the Academic Registrar.

Special procedures apply to students applying to withdraw temporarily after the sixth week of the Spring term (ie week 21) of a final year undergraduate course (see Regulation 5.19.).

5.19.
Candidates following a final year course will be permitted to withdraw temporarily from the University only if permission has been given either by the relevant Faculty Board or by the Dean acting on its behalf before the Monday of the sixth week of the Spring term (ie week 21) in the year in question. Exceptionally the relevant Faculty Dean may approve requests after this date. The final deadline for permission to withdraw temporarily in the first and second years is 4pm on Friday of week 30 (or the working day two weeks immediately prior to the first day of the examination period). If permission is given, such candidates shall be required to register partially and to pay an appropriate fee as determined from time to time by the University.

If permission is not given, candidates must submit themselves, or will be deemed to have submitted themselves, for assessment in the main examination period in the normal way (see also Regulation 6.25. relating to the award of aegrotat degrees).

5.20.
A student who is permitted or required to withdraw temporarily from the University shall remain away from any part of the University site or premises during the period of withdrawal, except for any attendance permitted by the Dean. The Dean may, after consultation with the relevant officers of the University, permit students who have temporarily withdrawn to use Library and/or computing facilities.

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Other useful documents:

Regulations, Policy and Procedure homepage

Information for Students homepage

See also the Registration website, Payment of Tuition Fees website and Essex Student Online Payment System)