Your Student Services Hub is the place for advice, support and the information you need. Your question matters and you’ll get answers from experts. Email us, call us, or chat with us online.
If you have a COVID-19 query please check our COVID-19 student advice before contacting us.
Below are all the services provided by the Student Services Hub. If you can't find what you're looking for, try the search function in the Student Directory.
Online registration is now open for students who are starting a new course in January.
All new students must register with the University, including payment of fees, before you are able to access your Online Welcome programme or attend teaching (online or face to face). Once on campus you will also have to complete a right to study check and collect your student registration card. Please book an in person appointment with our Student Services Hub to complete this.
For students registering from 2020/21 onwards, details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by termly instalments. The first instalment for the term 1 is payable as part of online registration to enable you to register. Subsequent instalments for terms 2 and 3 are due on specific dates, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.
If you are receiving a student loan please refer to information on our webpages.
Immigration advice and guidance is regulated in the UK by the Office of the Immigration Services commissioner, this means only authorised University teams can provide you with guidance and advice about the UK’s student Immigration Rules. We recommend you read the extensive information about the UK’s student immigration rules and requirements on our immigration pages. We hope you will find all the information you require. You can also read the UKCISA webpages.
After reading the online information, if you can’t find what you’re looking for or need further guidance, you’ll be able to contact the relevant team via the ‘ask us a question’ section of our immigration pages.
Our International Services team can produce the following documents for UK immigration purposes only:
Fill in our immigration enquiry form for current Essex students and let us know in the "Something else" section which of these documents you require. We’ll need your employers name, if it’s for employment purposes. We can’t provide any other documents.
Your CAS – if you are continuing a course that started before October 2020 - we won’t be issuing CAS until we’re back in the New Year. If you have been asked for additional evidence or information to support your request please email this to international@essex.ac.uk and we will respond as soon as possible in the new year.
If you started your course in the Autumn term and have a question about your CAS, you’ll need to contact our Admissions team, they may not respond until the new year.
If you have already obtained your Tier 4/Student entry clearance vignette (sticker in your passport) but won’t be travelling into the UK until after the expiry date, do not travel until you have applied for and been issued with a new entry clearance vignette.
UKCISA have published guidance on what to do if you cannot travel to the UK during the validity of your entry clearance vignette, please read the information included under the heading “Immigration permission granted, but you cannot travel to the UK”. UKCISA recommend that you: Contact the Coronavirus Immigration Helpcentre in the first instance to request a free replacement entry clearance vignette. We do not know if you will be issued with a replacement vignette free of charge if you already have a 90 day entry clearance vignette, this is because the Home Office have stated in their Covid advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents that this free replacement is for those who were issued with a 30 day vignette up to the end of 2020.
If you can’t obtain a free replacement vignette, the standard process for replacing an entry clearance vignette is outlined on UKCISA’s webpage (under the heading 30 day vignette expired outside the UK) and a charge is payable for this. UKCISA have asked the Home Office if the free replacement applies to those issued with a 90 day vignette and as soon as they receive a response will publish additional guidance on their COVID-19 webpage.
The standard processing time for Student route applications made in the UK is 8 weeks. If you made your application more than 8 weeks ago, we may be able to contact the Home Office when we re-open in the new year to request an update on your application. You may also be able to contact the Home Office directly to request an update. There is a charge to use this service.
If you’re travelling via Ireland, it’s important you read this information - Arriving via Ireland
We are only authorised to provide guidance about the UK’s student immigration rules. However, there is some information on our immigration pages with links to online guidance from reputable sources that you may find useful.
We can’t offer any guidance until the Home Office publish the rules in the spring of 2021.
Via live chat, email or telephone: 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday.
If you have an appointment you can find us in:
Your school, department or centre is available to help and provide you with information and guidance related to your studies, including:
We'll do our best to answer your question directly. Even if we cannot answer it, we will guide you to someone who can.
Details of who to contact in your school or department can be found your Student Handbook or online.
You can also contact your Personal Tutor who is there to help you feel connected to your department, school or centre and is someone you can talk to if you have questions about your course or encounter any difficulties which affect your studies.
As part of your experience at Essex, we want you to benefit from the wisdom and experience of those students or alumni who have been down a similar path. Find out more about mentoring.
We aim to give you the highest levels of service at the Student Services Hub. If you're unhappy with the service you've received, we will investigate what has happened and respond to you as quickly as possible, normally within 10 working days. If it takes longer to resolve your complaint, we'll send you an update and a revised timescale.
We'll confirm we've received your email, normally within three days of receipt. It may be necessary for us to contact you to ask further questions. If this is the case we will use your University email address (please indicate in your initial email if you'd like an alternative address to be used).
If you remain unhappy once we have looked into the matter then you can take things further by submitting a formal complaint.