Your Student visa responsibilities

Find out about your responsibilities as a student, and NTU's responsibilities as a your educational sponsor.

Your responsibilities

Your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) will be provided to you in accordance with the UK government regulations for universities recruiting international students. Further information is available from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) website.

By accepting your course offer you are accepting these terms and conditions.

If you use the CAS to apply for a Student visa, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) will be your immigration sponsor for the duration of that visa. Both NTU, as the sponsor, and you, as the student, have responsibilities to meet. These responsibilities can be found below.

Before enrolment

You must tell the University immediately if you decide that you no longer wish to study with us, if you want to change course, or if you want to defer your studies.
You must tell NTU immediately if your visa application is refused, for any reason, and you must provide the refusal notice.
You must tell NTU if you are going to be delayed and cannot start your course by the latest course start date as shown on your CAS.

If you need to contact us about any of these things, please email Admissions.

During enrolment

As part of enrolment, you must provide NTU with a copy of your current, valid passport and visa. Your visa will either be a sticker in your passport, a biometric residence permit (BRP) issued by UKVI, or a share code proving your immigration status (if you applied for a visa and used the UK Immigration: ID check app to scan your identity document on your phone), and must be valid for studies at NTU.
If you are in the process of making a visa application and are unable to provide copies of your immigration documents, you must provide documentation to show that an application has been made. This could be either a letter or email from the UKVI confirming receipt of the application, or a copy of the checklist from your online Student visa application. NTU will contact you at regular intervals to ask for updates on the progress of your application. You must respond to these emails.
If you need an academic technology approval scheme (ATAS) certificate for your course you must show it to NTU during enrolment so we can take a copy.
You must fully complete your enrolment within the published timeframes.

If you have made your visa application overseas and you have been informed that you will receive a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), you will be required to collect this after your arrival in the UK, from either a post office or the university dependent on where you asked for the visa to be sent.

If you have been issued with a BRP, you normally have ten days after landing in the UK to collect your visa and you cannot complete your enrolment without it. Please ensure that when you go to collect your visa, you bring your passport and the decision letter given to you by the Entry Clearance Office at the British Embassy or Consulate. Further information on this process can be found in the “Collecting your BRP from NTU” section of our Making Your Student Visa Application pages.

Throughout your studies

You should make all relevant tuition fee payments and / or provide NTU with details of any sponsorship you may be receiving.
You should keep your contact details up to date at all times, including your UK term-time address, out of term-time address (if different from your term-time address), personal email address, and personal UK telephone numbers. Once you have enrolled, you can check and update these details online using the 'Update your details' link.
You must meet the attendance requirements set out in NTU's Student Route Academic Engagement Policy. NTU is required by UK Visas and Immigration, a department of the UK government’s Home Office, to monitor the academic engagement of Student Route visa holders. Visa holders themselves are required to engage with their course and inform their school if there is any reason why they may not be able to. Failure to engage with the course as laid out in our Academic Engagement policy may lead to your withdrawal from the course. Find out more about the attendance monitoring process.
If your permission to stay in the UK is expiring during your studies at NTU, you must make an in-time, valid application to extend your visa. You will need to keep NTU updated on the progress of your application.
You must not breach the conditions of your visa. Generally, this means that you must register with the police (if required), you must adhere to any work restrictions under your current visa, you must study full-time, you must not claim public funds, and you must either leave the UK or make a valid visa application before the expiry date of your current visa.
You accept that NTU cannot be held responsible if you fail or need to repeat any part of your course due to starting the course late.
You accept that your studies are subject to the Student visa rules relating to academic progression and the UKVI’s three and five year study cap. NTU cannot be held responsible if you cannot complete your course within these time limits.
You must report any changes in your circumstances (including change of address) to UKVI. Further information how to do this is available on the UKVI website.
You must abide by all other NTU enrolment conditions.

Attendance monitoring for international students

As part of our sponsorship duties, NTU is required to monitor the attendance of students who have a Student Visa. Please read the following FAQs for common queries about this process. You can find the full policy on the StudentHub.

The University will email both your NTU and personal email address if there are problems with your attendance.

These emails will be sent from the email address 'StudentRouteLowEngagement@ntu.ac.uk' and the subject line will be ‘Important: Visa obligations – missed contact point’. It is therefore essential that you check your emails regularly and follow the instructions carefully.

Why does the university monitor attendance?

It is important for the University to monitor your attendance to ensure that you make the most of your studies and to help us identify when someone may require further support. Attendance is monitored for all students, and there is a specific process for those who have a student visa. For international students who have a student visa, the university is required by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to monitor attendance as part of its sponsorship duties.

How is my attendance monitored?

For undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, attendance is monitored using a combination of monthly in-person contact points, percentage attendance at all scheduled sessions , and longitudinal monitoring via a rolling record of contact point attendance across the year.

Examples of in-person contact points can include:

a compulsory taught session
an ‘on the day’ assessment such as a test, presentation or examination
a meeting with a personal tutor or supervisor
an in-person submission of a particular assessment.

Contact points are set up monthly by your academic school. However, the dates are not made available to you in order to maintain the integrity of the process. For students on Study abroad experience, contact points will be arranged with the partner university.

What should I do if I am unable to attend a lecture, seminar or meeting?

Your academic school is responsible for keeping a record if you miss an in-person contact point. If you know you are going to miss any lecture, seminar, meeting or assessment, please contact your school to let them know in advance of your absence in advance of this absence, and provide evidence if possible. We advise that you contact your subject or course administrator to check the process for notifying the school of an absence.

The school will decide if your absence can be excused based on the reason and the evidence you provide. If your school accepts your reason for the absence, your absence will be classed as authorised, so it will not be counted as a missed contact point.

It is important you inform your school of all absences, giving a reason and evidence if possible, in case the event you miss is used as a contact point for attendance monitoring purposes.

I am on placement / working as a Students’ Union sabbatical officer – how will my attendance be monitored?

If you’re on a placement of 6 - 36 weeks, NTU will monitor your academic engagement through six-weekly in person monitoring events. These could include:

a meeting with a personal tutor
an in-person event that sponsored students must attend.

The regular monitoring process for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students will be followed where a student misses contact points (See ‘I have missed a contact point, what will happen?’).

If you’re on a placement for longer than 36 weeks, NTU will monitor your academic engagement through confirmation from the employer that you are attending and engaging with your workplace. The Employability Team will monitor and maintain a record of all sandwich placement and Students’ Union Sabbatical Officer students’ engagement at their workplace using the monthly timesheets that you have to submit on the MyEmployability portal throughout your placement.

If low engagement is identified, you will receive an email from the Employability team to let you know your attendance is below expected levels. You will be asked to arrange a meeting with your Placement and Business Adviser to discuss your low engagement and complete a re-engagement form within 10 days of receipt of the email. This meeting can take place online if required. If your reasons for low engagement are accepted as valid, you will be expected to re-engage with your placement. If you do not attend the re-engagement meeting within 10 days, or your reasons for low engagement are not accepted by your school, you will be withdrawn from your course.

If your attendance falls below expected levels again at any stage in your placement, you will receive another email asking you to attend another re-engagement meeting with your Placement and Business Adviser.

If your attendance falls below expected levels for a third time at any stage in your placement, you will be withdrawn from your course.

Do you monitor attendance for Postgraduate students while they are working on their dissertation?

Yes, NTU will continue to monitor your attendance while you are writing your dissertation. The expectation is that you will be completing this work in the UK and will attend monthly in-person events / meetings during this time. If you decide to go home to complete your dissertation, your enrolment status will be changed and NTU will withdraw its sponsorship and your student visa will be liable to be curtailed. Students who have their sponsorship withdrawn will not be confirmed as eligible to apply for the Graduate visa when they complete their course.

How do you monitor attendance for PhD candidates?

PhD candidates are monitored through six-weekly in-person monitoring events. This includes periods when you are working on thesis amendments.

These could include:

a meeting with a supervisor or personal tutor
an in-person event that sponsored students must attend.

If a PhD candidate is temporarily based overseas for the purpose of research (this must be agreed in advance of leaving the UK with the doctoral school), attendance can be monitored via online meetings.

How do you monitor attendance for Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP) students?

The academic school monitors the attendance of PEAP students using registers at taught sessions. The school administration team will run an attendance report every month. The regular monitoring process for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students will be followed where there is less than 85% attendance across all sessions in the previous month (see ‘I have missed a contact point, what will happen?’). If a student’s attendance falls below 70% across a period of 3 consecutive months, they will be withdrawn.

What happens if I miss one or two contact points?

If you miss one contact point or two non-consecutive contact points, you will receive an email informing you that you have missed a contact point and the date/time of the contact point. The email will remind you of your enrolment conditions and the need to inform someone if you are going to be absent for any reason. Your student file will be updated to show you have missed a contact point.

If you miss two consecutive contact points, you will be required to attend a re-engagement meeting (see 'What happens if I miss two contact points in consecutive months, or miss a third contact point?)

What happens if I miss two contact points in consecutive months, or miss a third contact point?

If you miss two consecutive contact points or three contact points (consecutive or non-consecutive), the email you receive will depend on your overall attendance across the previous 4 teaching weeks:

If your overall is 80% or above – you will receive another email informing you that you have missed a contact point and the date/time of the contact point. The email will remind you of your enrolment conditions and the need to inform someone if you are going to be absent for any reason. Your student file will be updated to show you have missed a contact point.

If your overall attendance is BELOW 80% - you will receive an email asking you to attend a re-engagement meeting with your course leader (or a nominee) to discuss your low engagement and complete a re-engagement form. The meeting must take place in person within 10 days of the date of the email. The re-engagement meeting is an opportunity for you to provide reasons and evidence to explain your low engagement and discuss any further support you may need. If your reasons for low engagement are accepted as valid, you will be expected to re-engage with your studies. If you do not attend the re-engagement meeting within 10 days, or your reasons for low engagement are not accepted by your school, you will be withdrawn from your studies.

If you are on placement, the employability team is responsible for contacting you if your engagement is insufficient. The re-engagement meeting will be with the Placement and Business Adviser and can take place online.

What happens if I miss a fourth contact point?

If you miss a fourth contact point in the same academic year, you will be withdrawn from your course.

Will I be withdrawn from my studies?

You will be withdrawn from your studies if:

You miss four contact points (either consecutively or non-consecutively) throughout a single year of study; or
You do not attend a required re-engagement meeting for a previous missed contact point; or
You do attend a required re-engagement meeting, but the school do not accept your reasons for absence and recommend that you are withdrawn.

In all the above circumstances you will receive an email to advise that you have been withdrawn from your course and that a report will be made to UKVI within ten working days.

I have been informed I will be withdrawn, can I appeal this decision?

Yes, there is an appeal process which you can follow if you have been told you are due to be withdrawn due to low engagement.

You will need to submit the appeal form within 5 working days, and attach any evidence you have in support of your case.

Appeals can only be submitted on the following grounds:

a. You believe there has been a material error or irregularity by the University in the Student Route Academic Engagement Monitoring process; or

b. You have additional material information which could not have been made previously available for consideration.

You only have one chance to appeal so make sure you are submitting a strong case and acceptable evidence (see part 8 of the student route academic engagement monitoring policy).

If you need further advice on submitting an appeal, contact the Information and Advice Service at the Students’ Union.

I have been withdrawn due to low engagement, what will happen to my visa?

The university is required to inform UKVI within 10 working days when students are withdrawn from their course, and this will normally result a visa curtailment. Please visit the StudentHub for more details about the impact of a withdrawal on your visa.

If I am withdrawn due to low engagement, can I come back to study at NTU next year?

You can reapply for a course at NTU. If you are accepted, you will have to apply for a new visa from overseas. You will not be able to use the visa you had previously as this will be curtailed following your withdrawal.

I have just received an email informing me I have been withdrawn due to low engagement but was not aware of previous emails, is there anything I can do?

If you have been withdrawn as part of this process, you can speak to your school if you think there has been a mistake. Your school will need to contact the Academic Office if they think your case needs to be reconsidered.

Nottingham Trent University's responsibilities

As your educational sponsor, we are legally obliged to fulfil a number of duties that include, as previously mentioned, keeping a record of your contact details, recording your attendance, and keeping copies of your visa documents.

We also have a requirement to report information to UKVI for all students who have been issued a CAS by NTU. Please note that we will tell the UKVI about students who:

defer, postpone or take a break from their studies
do not start their course and have not agreed a deferred start date with NTU
do not complete enrolment
do not meet the University attendance requirements
change to a shorter course, change to a part-time course, or finish their studies early
leave NTU without completing their course
breach the conditions of their visa.

UKVI can bring your permission to stay in the UK to an end early if it is notified of any of these things.

It is important that you keep in contact with NTU throughout the application and enrolment process. If you are having any difficulties that will affect your ability to arrive at the University in time for your course start date, please inform Admissions immediately.

Issuing a CAS and reporting information to UKVI is at the discretion of Nottingham Trent University. All decisions made will be made in accordance with the UKVI Student Sponsor Guidance and the Immigration Rules.

While the University will provide advice and assistance, students are directly responsible for ensuring that they comply with their Student visa conditions.

Changes to your course

If you are studying at NTU with a Student visa, changes to your course or individual circumstances could have an impact on your status at the University and on your visa. Please read the information below for guidance on how changes to your circumstances can affect your Student visa. If you are not sure if your situation is going to have an impact on your current visa, please contact us for advice.

Repeating

If you have not passed part or all of an academic year of study, your Exam Board letter will confirm whether you will have the opportunity to repeat or resit the elements that were not passed. If you have been offered that opportunity, it will either be with attendance or without attendance – this will depend on the number of credits points you will be repeating and whether or not you are repeating a sufficient number of credit points to be considered to be in full-time attendance.

Repeating with attendance:

If you are repeating with attendance, you will be able to stay in the UK, or return to the UK, for the period of study that you are repeating.

You may be repeating studies in one of the following ways:

Repeating the full year with attendance
Repeating Semester One (first half-year) with attendance and Semester Two (second half-year) without attendance
Repeating Semester One (first half-year) without attendance and Semester Two (second half-year) with attendance.

If you are repeating the full year with attendance, you can continue to use your current visa to repeat the year if your visa is long enough – you will eventually need to apply for a visa extension to cover the additional year of study.

If you are repeating Semester One (first half-year) with attendance and Semester Two (second half-year) without attendance, you can stay in the UK for the first part of the year but will have to leave once this has ended. If you successfully complete your repeat modules and you need to return to the UK the following year to resume your studies following a period of repeating without attendance, you will have to apply for a new visa before travelling back to the UK as your visa will have been curtailed.

If you are required to repeat Semester One without attendance, and Semester Two with attendance, you will have to return home during Semester One as your visa will be curtailed. Before you return to the UK for Semester Two, you will have to make a new visa application from overseas.

Please note you will be required to get a new CAS and you will have to ensure you are able to meet the requirements for your Student visa application, including showing enough funds to meet the maintenance requirement.

Information on how to apply for your Student visa can be found on our webpages, or you can contact us.

Repeating without attendance

If you are repeating the full year without attendance, you will have to leave the UK during this time.

As part of its educational sponsor responsibilities, the University is required to notify UKVI of students who are completing part of their studies overseas, i.e. not required to be in the UK.

This notification will result in your visa being curtailed (cancelled) so you will have to leave the UK and apply for a new visa if you need to return to the UK to complete the rest of your course.

Please note you will be required to get a new CAS number and you will have to ensure you are able to meet the requirements for your Student visa application, including showing enough funds to meet the maintenance requirement.

For more information about making a visa application overseas, please check our webpages, or you can contact us.

Suspending or deferring your studies, or taking a leave of absence

At some point during your studies, you may need to take a break, e.g. for health or family reasons.

If you agree a suspension of studies with your school (also known as deferring or taking a leave of absence) the University will be required to notify UKVI of this as part of its educational sponsor responsibilities.

This will result in your visa being curtailed (cancelled) so you will have to leave the UK and apply for a new visa from overseas to return to the UK to complete the rest of your course.

If you are thinking of suspending your studies, please contact your subject administrator who will be able to advise you on the process for deferring or suspending your studies.

For more information about making a visa application overseas, please check our web pages. Please note you will be required to get a new CAS number and you will have to ensure you are able to meet the requirements for your Student visa application, including showing enough funds to meet the maintenance requirements.

Withdrawing from your course

If you withdraw from the University before completing your course (or you are withdrawn from your course by the University), the University will be required to notify UKVI of this as part of its sponsor responsibilities.

This will result in your visa being curtailed (cancelled) to 60 days, and you will usually have to leave the UK unless you are eligible to apply for a different visa due to your individual circumstances.

If you are thinking of withdrawing from your studies, please contact your subject administrator who will be able to advise you on the withdrawal process and contact us if you have any further questions about the implications on your student visa.

Completing your studies early

If your course finishes earlier than expected, i.e. before the end date shown on your CAS, the University will be required to report this to UKVI as part of its sponsor responsibilities.

This will result in your Student visa being curtailed (the expiry date of your visa will be brought forward and your visa will expire earlier) to 4 months after your completion date (if you completed your course successfully and your course was more than 12 months long) or 2 months after your completion date (if you completed your course successfully and your course was less than 12 months long).

You must ensure you make arrangements to either leave the UK or make another visa application (for example if you are going to pursue another course), before this new expiry date.

Once your visa has been curtailed, it will lapse (expire) with immediate effect if you leave the UK (or if you are outside of the UK at the time of the curtailment), and you will not be able to use it to re-enter the UK even if the expiry date is in the future.

If you complete your studies early and have been reported to UKVI, you can stay in the UK until the date your visa has been curtailed to, but you will have to apply for a new visa (eg standard visitor visa, if you plan to come back to the UK for your graduation following a visit overseas) if you leave the UK and wish to travel back to the UK at a later date.

Please contact us if you have completed your course early and are planning to travel outside the UK after the completion of your course so that we can advise you further.

Changing courses at NTU

If you decide to change course, it may not be possible to use your current Student visa, even if you will be remaining at NTU. This depends on factors such as when your visa was granted and the time you will need to complete your new course.

As a guideline, if your Student visa was granted on or after 6 April 2016, you can use your visa to study a different course only if the two courses are related and if you have enough time on your current visa to complete the new course, i.e. the new and old courses are the same length.

If you need more time to complete your new course, you will have to make a visa application before you start the new course. This visa application will have to be made overseas – it will not be possible for you to apply in the UK due to the academic progression requirement.

If you are switching to a new course which is not related to your original course, you will have to return overseas to apply for a new Student visa. The visa application will have to be made at the point when you decide to switch courses – you will need to ensure that if you are switching courses, you do this at a time when you will be able to return overseas to make your visa application, for example during a University vacation.

If you are thinking of changing courses, please contact your Subject Administrator, who will be able to advise you on the process you need to follow.

If your Student visa was granted before 6 April 2016 and you're planning to change courses, please contact us to discuss your situation as it may differ from the advice given above.

Switching from a full-time to a sandwich course

If you want to switch from a full-time course to a sandwich course (within the same course subject), you will need to apply for a new visa to get the extra year required to complete your course.

You must make your visa application before your current visa expires, but you are not required to make your visa application at the point when you switch to the sandwich course.

If you have a visa which has been issued for three years, you can use this visa to complete your placement year, and apply for a new visa just before you return to the university for your final year.

You will be eligible to make your visa application in the UK. Please note you will be required to get a new CAS number and you will have to ensure you are able to meet the requirements for your Student visa application, including showing enough funds to meet the maintenance requirement.

If you switch to a shorter version of your current course (from sandwich to full-time), you will not have to get a new visa. The University will report this change of course to UKVI – this will not have any immediate effect on your visa once you have made the switch.

Once you have completed the course, the University will make another report to UKVI for early completion of your studies and at this point, your visa will usually be curtailed (see the 'Completing your studies early' section above).

If your Student visa was granted before 6 April 2016 and you're planning to change courses, please contact us as your situation as it may differ from the advice given above.

Frequently asked questions

How will I know if the University has reported a change of circumstances to UKVI about me?

When the University reports a change of circumstances (withdrawal, suspension, change of course etc.), you will receive an email from Academic Registry to inform you that this action has been taken.

Do I need to contact UKVI regarding a change to my course?

No, you do not need to contact UKVI if there are changes to your course. This is the University’s responsibility.

I have withdrawn or am taking time off from my course – how quickly do I have to leave the UK?

If you withdraw or time take off from your course, the University will send a report to UKVI to notify them of this. You will receive an email from Academic Registry to inform you that the report has been made to UKVI. As your visa will usually be curtailed to 60 days by UKVI, we advise that you leave the UK within 60 days of receiving the email from the Academic Registry confirming they have sent a report to UKVI.

How will I know if my visa has been curtailed?

UKVI will normally try to contact you by post or email to inform you that they have curtailed your visa and to confirm what date your visa has been curtailed to. However, please be aware that if you have changed your contact details since your last application and have not informed UKVI of your new contact details, you may not receive this notification.

You can ensure UKVI have your up to date contact details by completing the MCC application form and sending it to them by post. The International Student Support Service can also contact UKVI on your behalf to get confirmation of whether or not your visa has been curtailed – please email us confirming you would like us to check the status of your visa, and giving UKVI your consent to share this information with the University.

I deferred my studies – when can I apply for my visa to come back to the UK?

If you have taken a break from your course, you will first need to request a new CAS number and we advise you to do this about three months before you are due to resume your studies at NTU.

Please also keep in touch with your School so they’re aware that you will be returning.

To request a CAS to continue your studies, please complete our CAS request form. Once your CAS has been issued, you will be able to make your visa application.

We advise you to check the information on our website and to contact us if you have any questions about your visa application.

I am repeating parts of my course without attendance but I need to come back to the UK to resit my exams – what visa can I apply for?

If you are repeating parts of your course without attendance but are required to return to the UK to resit your exams, you will have to leave the UK when you are notified of this decision, as the University will be reporting this to UKVI and your visa will be curtailed.

Provided your school allows you to retake your exams in the UK, you may be able to use the standard visitor route to return to the UK for your exams. Please contact your subject administrator first to check if your school will allow you to sit your exams in the UK, or if they expect you to make arrangements to take your exams from overseas.

If your school allows you to sit your exams in the UK, please check our web pages for more information on how and where to apply for a visitor visa, and what documents you need to prepare.