Covid-19 FAQs

In the first instance please contact the datalibrary@lse.ac.uk, who can advise you on the most appropriate access route currently available and any additional steps you will need to take. Negotiations with data providers and the necessary approval checks may take some time, so please get in touch with us as early as possible so that we can assist you.

In 2020 the School put in a place a scheme to offer financial support to students who were registered on their MRes/MPhil/PhD programme in the 2019/20 academic year and whose research plans had been significantly disrupted by the pandemic. The scheme is now broadened to include students who started their registration in August/September 2020 (on either an MPhil or an MRes or on an ESRC funded MSc) and to students who have already received a COVID extension under the original scheme.

The way the scheme will work depends on a number of different factors, which are explained in detail here.  Please read this document carefully to determine which version of the scheme you are eligible to apply for.

UKRI have issued updated guidance to advise that research council funded COVID extension schemes will close at the end of the 2024/25 academic year. In practice, this means that the ESRC COVID extension scheme closes for applications on 01 August 2025 and must be fully resolved and recorded with ESRC no later than 01 October 2025. For non-ESRC funded students, the deadline to submit a COVID-19 extension request is 19 June 2026.

Any student will still be able to request a standard interruption or extension using the standard forms that can be found in the A-Z of guidance.

To contact the team, please use the service desk.

You can book an appointment to speak with us, here. Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a confirmation email, which will provide details on how to re-schedule and cancel your appointment.

NB: This system will assume that you want to book an online appointment. If you’d like to speak to us in person in the PhD Academy, please contact us directly using our enquiry form. Please include your name and ID number, availability and brief outline of your query so an appropriate member of the team will be available for your appointment.