Temporary Withdrawal or Permanent Withdrawal?
- A temporary withdrawal is interrupting or suspending your course for a year or less. Your college must agree to your return date. You can’t usually temporarily withdraw for more than a year.
- A permanent withdrawal is leaving your course with no plans to return.
To withdraw, complete and submit a withdrawal form. The process is slightly different for each campus. You can find links to the form and where to send it below:
Once your Registrar signs the form, you’re officially withdrawn from the University.
If you’re seriously considering withdrawing, it’s important to understand how it will affect your finances, qualifications, and housing, so speak to the Student Finance team, your course team, and Registry team before you withdraw.
Student Finance:
Read the Terms and Conditions of withdrawal before you send in your withdrawal form.
Student Finance England:
If you get funding from Student Finance England (SFE) and leave part way through the semester, you might have to pay some money back right away. This is called an overpayment. You can find more information on the Student Finance England website.
It’s a good idea to talk to SFE before you withdraw, especially if you plan to go back to study later.
NHS:
If you’re getting NHS funding, like the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) you must tell them as soon as you leave your course to avoid overpayments and debt.
Contact Your Student Union Advice Service using our online enquiry form if you need help.
University Support for Withdrawals:
Your Course Team:
Talk to your personal tutor, course director or trusted lecturer about your withdrawal.
Your College Registry:
Your Registry team process your withdrawal form. You can find their contact details here if you are at Coventry University, here if you study at Coventry University London and here if you study at any CU Group campus.
Success Coaches:
All undergraduate students have a Success Coach automatically and postgraduate students can book a meeting on request. Success Coaches are there to help you make the most of your course and what University life offers. If you feel that you haven’t been able to integrate into the University community, they’re the best people to help!
Centre For Academic Writing (CAW):
Based in the Lanchester Library, they offer virtual and face-to-face drop-in sessions, one-to-one tutorials, dissertation writing groups, workshops, modules, and a lot of online resources.
Sigma:
Sigma give Mathematics and Statistics Support. You can get support via one-to-ones, appointments, workshops and online resources.
Employability Support:
The Talent Team are the University’s employability service and can support you with your career throughout your time as a student and after graduation. They can work with you to build your CV, help you write cover letters and job applications and identify potential job opportunities for you.
The University Visa Team:
The Visa Team can tell you what implications withdrawing or changing your course might have on your visa.
Emotional Support:
Withdrawing from your course can be stressful. While you are a Coventry University Group student, you can access Health and Wellbeing Support. Find links to your campus Health and Wellbeing support services below:
Togetherall have a 24/7 community to support your mental health. You can log in using your student details. You may also be able to get help from your GP and or use the Support Hub to search for external services best suited to support your specific needs.
If you need urgent help, get support from the Samaritans by calling 116 123.
How Can Your Advice Service Help You?
Your Students’ Union Advice Service can discuss with you the implications of a withdrawal (temporary or permanent) and the effect that it might have on your finance and housing.
Remember- you are not alone. Your Advice Service and the University have supported many students in similar situations, no matter how unusual your situation may feel.
To contact us please complete our online enquiry form. When doing so, please include as much information as possible regarding your decision to withdraw.
Frequently Asked Questions
Deferring means putting something off to a later date.
Before enrolling, you can ask to defer your start for an academic year. For example, if you are offered a place in September 2025, you might be able to defer until September 2026.
After enrolling, you can apply to defer an individual assessment or module due to health or personal issues This means taking an assessment at the next available opportunity, without teaching. It’s also known as a ECR (Extenuating Circumstance Request).
You can temporarily withdraw for up to 12 months or one calendar year.
Yes, but you can appeal the decision within 10 working days. Appeals can only be made if you have grounds to challenge a decision made by the University. You can find information on Academic Appeals here. Contact Your Advice Service if you wish to appeal.
Yes! Talk to as many teams as possible to get advice and support.
It depends on your situation. Your Students’ Union Advice Service can help you make a decision, just complete an enquiry form and we’ll get back to you!
You’ll still be charged tuition fees for teaching provided, and could be withdrawn for academic failure or non-attendance.
You might be able to, if the course is similar and you’re not already withdrawn. Speak to the visa team first if you have a visa as changing courses might affect it. For details about individual entry requirements for courses contact the admissions team. You can find more advice on changing courses here.
Blocking is losing access to services or re-enrolment because of unpaid fees. Exclusion means that you can’t attend university anymore. It could be temporary exclusion (suspension)or permanent exclusion (expulsion).
If you are transferring it may be possible for your details to be updated through Student Finance England. If you take a break and then decide to study a new course, you’ll probably have to reapply.
You can apply to continue receiving a maintenance loan for up to 60 days if you are temporarily withdrawing due to health problems. Your University needs to confirm this and you must supply evidence, such as a doctors’ note. Find out more here.
Student Finance England will loan you funding assuming that you are completing your academic year. Because of this, if you withdraw part way through the year, it may decide that it has paid you too much. This is an overpayment.
Student Finance England will contact you and may ask you to pay back the money, deduct it from your next year’s entitlement or add it to your debt after you graduate. If you cannot afford to make repayments, ask SFE for an affordable repayment plan, or to make a different decision about your debt. If you are struggling to work out a payment plan, Stepchange may be able to help.
Your entitlement may be reduced for a new course as SFE usually calculates entitlement as duration of course + 1 extra year – any previous study.
If you need to leave University or retake part of your course for personal reasons, such as illness, mental health difficulties, bereavement, caring or pregnancy, you could get an extra year of student finance if you have extenuating circumstances by applying for CPR (Compelling Personal Reasons).
If you withdraw from your course, your university should send SFE a change of circumstances to notify them of your withdrawal date. You update other information on your online portal, such as contact details or address.
Most students can’t receive benefits. Once your withdrawal is processed you are no longer a student and may be entitled to benefits like Universal Credit. Check what you are entitled to here.
Contact Your Advice Service by sending an Enquiry Form. You may also wish to contact the Student Finance Loans Team at the University if you are having issues with your Student Finance as they may be able to offer some alternative support. You can email them or give them a call on: 024 7765 9786.