The rules for undergraduate and postgraduate students are different, so it is important you understand the consequences of withdrawing from your course rather than intermitting, which is what we call suspending your studies or taking time out.
Tuition Fees
If you have enrolled as a new student on an award bearing course and you decide to withdraw within the first two weeks of the start of your academic year, the university allows you to withdraw without charge.
If you withdraw at some point during the academic year, you will be liable for tuition fees for all or part of that year. How much you are charged depends on when you leave the course: during term one would be 25% of the annual fee, during term two would be 50% of the annual fee and if you leave at any point during term three you will be charged the full 100% of the annual fee.
Please refer to the university’s tuition fee policy on the Student Contract page for exceptions and further details.
You need to formally agree an end date with your academic school.
If you are being funded through Student Finance, you should inform them of the change as they will need to cancel any further payments of your Tuition Fee Loan. The university Academic Registry department will also notify Student Finance of your withdrawal.
Maintenance Loan
As with the Tuition Fee Loan, once you withdraw from your course your Student Finance funding for living costs will also stop. You need to formally agree an end date with your academic school and inform Student Finance about your change in circumstances. If you leave at the end of the academic term and notify Student Finance immediately they will be able to suspend further payments until they receive formal notification from the university, however it is not always possible to process the withdrawal before your next instalment of Maintenance Loan is due.
Any overpayment of Maintenance Loan will be calculated from the day you withdraw from the course, but you will not be asked to repay any funding received for any period of study until you reach the relevant .
If you are looking to continue your studies in the future, please contact the Student Advice Service to find out how any previous study may affect your future funding. You can check the for all Student Finance products.
91Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Bursary
If you are eligible to receive bursary payments from the university, these payments will also stop when you withdraw. You may be asked to repay some or all of any bursary payments made to you in the current academic year. You should contact the Bursaries team by email bursaries@brighton.ac.uk or telephone 01273 643310 to discuss this.
Postgraduate Masters Loan
As with undergraduate courses, where a postgraduate student withdraws from their course, all future payments of Postgraduate Masters Loan will be cancelled. However, unlike the Maintenance Loan for undergraduates, any overpayment of PG Loan will be calculated by reassessing the maximum loan available to that student. You should therefore notify your academic school and Student Finance immediately to ensure that the next payment of PG Loan is not released and minimise any overpayment.
If you owe tuition fees, rent for university accommodation or any other sundry debts such as library fines, please contact our Income department by email income@brighton.ac.uk without delay.