Leaving your course early, withdrawal or exclusion

If you have started your degree course and you are currently enrolled or temporarily enrolled and you are now considering leaving the course, it is important to understand the following:

• How to ‘officially’ withdraw from your course
• How the date you withdraw will affect the money you will be charged for your course fees
• How withdrawing from a course will affect your Student Visa

The University understands that withdrawing from a course is an important decision and that you will spend time deciding what is right for you. We hope you have had the support you need to make the right decision for you.

The decision to withdraw may be motivated by several reasons:

• You are not happy with your course
• You are struggling to pay the course fees and living costs
• You want to go home; you are missing your home and family
• There is an urgent situation at home, and you cannot remain in the UK
• You have medical issues and  cannot continue your course
• The course is harder than expected and you are struggling with it

Please remember that there are support services at the University, as well as your tutors, who can help with your decision. Depending on your circumstance, there may be other solutions worth considering.

If you choose to leave your course after the academic year has already started, you may still need to pay some or all fees for that academic year. Depending on when you withdraw and how much you paid, you may also be due a refund. You should check the fee liability deadlines, because the date you submit your withdrawal form affects the course fees you will be charged for the year or the amount of money you can be refunded if you have already paid. You may also prefer to interrupt instead of withdrawing so that you can rejoin your course at a later date.

Please see the information on interruption.

For information on the fee liability deadlines and refunds, see the relevant section in the student fees and other charges policy.

Withdrawing from your course means that you are leaving your course and you do not intend to return to it.

 To officially withdraw from your course you must:

• Complete a withdrawal of studies request via My Student Record
• Understand the fee liability deadlines 
• Understand that your student visa will be cancelled

You must officially withdraw from your course by completing the withdrawal process, explained above, or the University will have you listed as enrolled or temporarily enrolled, and the fees you owe will continue to increase even if you are not attending classes. 

If you withdraw and find you have paid too much towards your course fees and are eligible for a refund you must request a refund from our finance department after you have withdrawn from the course. You can contact the Student Centre and request a refund.

If you have not paid the money you owe the University following your withdrawal, then this debt will be passed to a debt collection agency and this agency will be responsible for collecting the amounts that you owe. 

When you submit your online withdrawal request the University will notify the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) that we are withdrawing our sponsorship of your student visa.  If you are outside the UK when we submit this report you will not be able to return to the UK. 

Please read the section below, ‘What happens when the University has withdrawn sponsorship for a Student visa?'.

As a Student Visa holder, your permission to remain in the UK is dependent on your continued engagement with your course. This means that attending all scheduled classes, lectures, and workshops during term time is mandatory and closely monitored.

If you miss classes without prior approval from the University, we may be required to withdraw our sponsorship of your Student Visa. In such cases, the Visa Compliance team will attempt to contact you via email and may invite you to a meeting to discuss your attendance.

Failure to respond or engage with the Visa Compliance team regarding your absences could result in the University notifying UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) that your sponsorship has been withdrawn. This may lead to the curtailment of your visa.

Please ensure you read the section titled ‘What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a Student visa?’ for further information.

The University may terminate your enrolment if your course fees remain unpaid. Before this happens, you will usually have been given deadlines to settle your fees.

If your enrolment is terminated, the Visa Compliance Team is immediately notified and will report to UKVI that the University is withdrawing sponsorship of your student visa. This process happens quickly.
If you pay your outstanding fees after termination, you may contact your Registry via the Student Centre to request reinstatement of your enrolment. However, reversing a withdrawal and the subsequent report to UKVI can be challenging.

If you are able to re-enrol promptly after payment, it is essential that you contact the Visa Compliance Team to discuss the status of your visa sponsorship. For more details, please refer to: “What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a Student visa?”

You will be required to re-enrol at the start of every academic year of your course, even if you are a module retriever and will not be attending classes.  

If you do not re-enrol then the University may presume that you have withdrawn yourself from the course. 
You will receive an email telling you that we have informed the UKVI that we have withdrawn our sponsorship of your student visa unless your visa is expiring very soon. 

Please read the section ‘What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a Student Visa?’

If you decide to withdraw or you must withdraw from a higher-level course and accept an intermediate award, then this may impact your student visa and your eligibility for a Graduate Route Visa. Whether you keep your student visa or not will depend on when this change of course occurs. Please read the section ‘What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a Student visa?

If you are excluded from your course this means that the University has terminated your enrolment. In most cases exclusions are for academic reasons if you have not performed well enough to progress on your course. 

The Student Centre will send you an email explaining that you have been excluded. The Visa Compliance Team will also be informed, and will send you an email telling you that the University has withdrawn its sponsorship for your student visa. Please read the section ‘What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a student Visa?’

If you are appealing against your exclusion, this will not affect the withdrawal of sponsorship for your student visa. The UKVI will continue the process of cancelling your student visa and you may have to return home whilst you wait for a decision on your academic appeal. If your academic appeal is eventually accepted, you should immediately contact your Registry, Student Advice Service and the Visa Compliance team via the Student Centre to discuss your return.  

Please read the section ‘What happens when the University reports a withdrawal of sponsorship for a Student visa?’

Once the Visa Compliance team are notified that you are not continuing your course they will report to the UKVI that we are withdrawing our sponsorship of your student visa. This will all happen very quickly. 

You will receive an email from the visa compliance team to your personal email account to inform you that the report has been made. If you do not receive this email, then check your junk mail, and then ask the Visa Compliance team for an update.

You may not be able to return to the UK using your University of Westminster Student Visa once the University has reported that our sponsorship for your student visa has been withdrawn. You can discuss your visa options for returning to your studies with Student Advice.

You can remain legally in the UK until your Student Visa is cancelled by the UKVI.  The UKVI will normally send a cancellation notice/letter to the email address on your UKVI account. Your cancellation notice will tell you that your student visa will be cancelled and that you have 60 days to leave the UK or apply for another visa. Though the cancellation notice refers to the possibility of a further visa application, you can only apply for another visa in the UK if eligible to do so. Most students will have to return home. 

In rare cases the UKVI will cancel a Student Visa with immediate effect. This may happen if they are concerned that you are breaching or have breached immigration rules or if you have failed to enrol at the start of the course.  

If you intend to leave the UK, you should leave within a reasonable timeframe to avoid overstaying. If you intend to stay in the UK for another purpose, you must apply for another visa. Immigration specialists may be able to help you with advice about other visas, see www.ilpa.org.uk In all cases, you must either leave or legalise your stay in the UK by the deadline. 

Please note that in most cases you won’t be able to apply for another Student visa for another course whilst you are in the UK because you have not finished the previous course. 

If you have received confirmation that your Student Visa will be cancelled and you would like advice on your options, please contact Student Advice.

If you remain in the UK longer than you are legally allowed to stay, you will be ‘overstaying’. This can happen sometimes by accident if you miss your Student Visa cancellation notice and have not legalised your stay in the UK or left by the time your visa is cancelled.  

If you remain in the UK when you have no legal right to stay, then you can be deported and/or can be banned from returning to the UK for a set period, depending on how long you have overstayed. 

In addition, your accommodation may be at risk as landlords must perform ‘right to rent’ checks. If you overstay, you  will lose your right to work.

If you are unable to leave the UK, you should get legal advice: www.ilpa.org.uk.

For further information on the implications of overstaying, please see UKCISA website.

When you withdraw from your course, you are no longer a student, so you are not able to obtain a Council Tax Exemption letter from the University. If you would like further advice on your Council Tax liability following a change to your course, contact Student Advice. 

Please note that withdrawing from a course or being withdrawn from the course may lead to a cancellation of your Student Visa which will affect your entitlement to NHS treatment. The UK Council for International Affairs describes the UK NHS system, what treatments are free to everybody and who can be charged for NHS treatment. 

You are entitled to work in the UK under the conditions attached to your current student permission until your student visa expires or is cancelled. This is explained in the Right to Work check for employers guide.

Private landlords and letting agents are required to check that any new tenant has the right to be in the UK. Landlords and agents will either do a manual check or an online visa check. Please note these regulations do not apply to student Halls of Residence. If your visa is cancelled and you are given 60 days until its new expiry date, you will usually be able to remain in your accommodation until the new visa end date. 

In September 2024, Sasha began a course at the University of Westminster. Due to a personal reason, she decided to withdraw from the university. She officially withdrew by completing the withdrawal from studies request via her online student account before the end of the cooling-off period, ensuring she was not charged any fees and could apply for a refund for any fees paid above her deposit. The University withdrew its sponsorship for her student visa, leading to its eventual cancellation.

Sasha will receive an email from the visa compliance team telling her that the University has withdrawn sponsorship for her student visa, and she should expect to receive a notice telling her that her visa will be cancelled.  Sasha leaves the UK shortly after she withdraws and she cannot return to the UK using her University of Westminster Visa.