Interruption to studies

There is no exhaustive list of permitted reasons for interruption. In general, the School recommends that students consider submitting an interruption application if they are not fit to study due to health or personal difficulties, or if they have access to an exceptional opportunity.

The School’s regulations state that students aren’t normally allowed to apply for an interruption during their first year of study. After that, students are permitted to apply for an interruption at any time up to their final submission deadline. If, however, you have mitigating circumstances in your first year which prevent you from studying, please contact a member of our team to discuss your situation either by contacting us using our enquiry form, or arranging a meeting with us. Retrospective interruptions are not normally permitted. Accordingly, please ensure that you raise any issues that affect your ability to study with your supervisor and department in a timely manner. 

Regulation 20 states that you will not normally be allowed to interrupt your studies for more than a total of two years across the total period of your degree registration. The Research Degrees Sub-Committee Chair will not normally authorise more than a 12-month continuous period of interruption per application. 

The School is normally required to stop supporting the visas of students who interrupt their enrolment. Therefore, your visa will be cancelled if an interruption is granted. You must contact the Student Advice and Engagement Team to understand the visa implication of an interruption before you apply for an interruption. 

You are not required to pay fees during periods of interruption but the timing of the interruption (i.e. how far along in the term you interrupt and how long you are interrupting for) will impact how your fee is calculated. If you have any questions on this, please speak to the PhD Academy.

 Interrupting your studies can impact your Council Tax and whether you are eligible for an 18+ Oyster card. Please check with your Council and on Transport for London’s webpages to understand the implications. 

If you are in receipt of School administered funding: The terms and conditions for most sources of postgraduate research funding set out rules for interruptions. As studentships/scholarships are administered by the Financial Support Office, you will need  to contact the Financial Support Office before you submit your application to understand the full implications of any interruptions on your funding.

The length of your interruption in days is added onto your current submission deadline to calculate the new thesis submission deadline. 

The Student Wellbeing Service are available to support all students, and overall information on sources of support from the School can be found here. If you are applying to interrupt based on health and/or disability grounds, it is particularly important that you contact the Disability and Mental Health Service to see if you are eligible for a MyAdjustments Plan. 

The PhD Academy website also provides comprehensive information on sources of support and training available to PhD students, some of which may be relevant to the circumstances you are facing.

The form will ask you to provide/confirm the following:

1.    Your funding status.

2.    Your visa status, and whether you have contacted the Student Advice and Engagement Team for advice about this.

3.    Whether you have discussed your application with your supervisor or department contact, and if so, who you’ve discussed your application with.

4.    The start and end dates of your interruption

5.    The main reason for your request (from a drop-down list).

6.  A narrative section describing the main reason for your request, which should describe the factors which stop you from engaging with your studies

7. A work completion plan setting out how you will progress to the submission of your thesis for examination following your interruption period

8.Evidence to support your application

Your work plan should indicate how you will use the time between the point at which you submit your application and the new submission deadline once the interruption has been granted.

Your work completion plan must specifically include the following components.

1.    A description of the progress you have made to date in the production of your thesis.

2.    The remaining work which you will need to complete in order for you to be able to submit an examinable thesis.

 You should use clear and direct language when producing your completion plan. We also recommend including references to target chapter/paper lengths. Some examples of effective uses of language for work completion plans are included below.

“For the chapter entitled [INSERT}, I have completed [INSERT] in terms of fieldwork and data collection. I still have to complete [INSERT]. This will be completed between [INSERT] and [INSERT]. I will submit interim drafts to my supervisory team for feedback by [INSERT] and [INSERT].

“For the paper entitled [INSERT], I have written/drafted [INSERT]% of the paper, which will be approximately [INSERT] words, to an examinable standard. I still need to draft [INSERT]%. This will be completed between [INSERT] and [INSERT]. I will submit an interim draft to my supervisory team for feedback by [INSERT].

3.    A timetable setting out when you will complete each aspect of the remaining work described in your plan. Your work completion plan should be structured on a chapter-by-chapter/paper-by-paper basis and include both (i) deadlines agreed with your supervisors for submission of interim drafts and (ii) deadlines for agreement that each chapter/paper is complete for the purposes of submission. This is the most straightforward way to ensure that your supervisors, programme director and the Research Degrees Sub-Committee Chair are able to assess the viability of your work completion plan.

4. A description of the supervisory arrangements which will be implemented to support you during the period of the requested extension and any other School or non-School support you will access. This section will ideally set out a schedule of supervisory and other support meetings which will occur during the period of your requested extension. This does not necessarily need to provide specific dates but should provide sufficient detail to assure the Research Degrees Sub-Committee Chair that you will be appropriately supported during the period of your requested extension.

The following can be used to frame the “Support and Supervision” section. Please adjust as necessary.

 Support and Supervision

 Supervisory Arrangements

I will have regular supervisory meetings every scheduled every x month/ I will meet my supervisors x times per term

Support

I am accessing supporting services from LSE Wellbeing Service/outside the LSE

I have access to /research workshops/PhD Seminars/external conferences/writing support services.

The interruption application form is an online portal that can be accessed here.