• Absent Without Leave (AWOL) - failure to re-enrol or a prolonged period of non-engagement with teaching
• Approved Absence - a maximum of three weeks. Find out more here. 
• Continuing student - a student who is expected to re-enrol at the School for further studies e.g. an Undergraduate student going from Year One into Year Two
• Unauthorised absence - not engaging with teaching as expected. 
• Absent with reason - if you are ill you should ensure you inform your department so that the register is correctly marked as absent with reason.  If you are absent with reason for more than three weeks you should consider an interruption of studies.
• Interruption of studies: 'Break Personal' - if you request an interruption of studies your student record will be amended to show that you are on a personal break.
• Interruption of studies: 'Break Unauthorised' - if you fail to re-enrol or respond to the AWOL process, your student record will be amended to show that you are on an unauthorised break.  You will remain on this status for an academic year.
• Permanent withdrawal - If you are placed on an unauthorised break and do not apply for an interruption of studies/respond to communications from the School, you will be permanently withdrawn after an academic year as per paragraph 28.11 of the Conditions of Registration and Enrolment.

If you are a continuing student you are expected to re-enrol every year. This will be online if you are progressing as expected with no changes or in-person if you have been on interruption, a study abroad year or work placement year.

If you fail to re-enrol as expected at the start of Autumn Term or Winter Term if you have had a Winter Term interruption, the following steps will take place:

• Your status will be changed to 'Break Unauthorised' by the Student Records team
• The Student Advice and Engagement Team will contact your department to advise them that you have failed to re-enrol, that your status has been changed to 'Break Unauthorised' and that they have started the AWOL process.
• You will be contacted by the Student Advice and Engagement Team to say that your status has been changed to break unauthorised due to your failure to re-enrol.

FAQ: I have not been permitted to re-enrol due to a tuition fee debt with the School. What happens if I am considered to be AWOL?

If you have a tuition fee debt with the School and are not able to clear this before the next academic year, you should seek to interrupt your studies before the start of the year. If you fail to do this and do not re-enrol, you will be placed on an unauthorised break and therefore AWOL.  You should seek advice from Fees, Income and Credit Control on your payment options and speak to the Student Advice and Engagement Team about your options.

If your status remains as being on an unauthorised break for an academic year, you will be permanently withdrawn by the School.

LSE expects students to engage with their studies as outlined in the Conditions of Registration and Enrolment, which you agree to as part of the online enrolment process:

"You are expected to attend all your compulsory teaching.  If you need to be absent from the School during term time, for reasons other than illness, you will first consult your Academic Mentor / supervisor. If you are to be absent for more than two weeks, you agree to inform your academic department in writing and obtain approval before you go. Email notification is acceptable. You agree that if you are absent from the School through illness, you will inform your Academic Mentor / supervisor. If you are absent for more than two weeks, you will send a medical certificate to the Student Services Centre. Absences of longer than three weeks will not be approved and you should consider interrupting your studies.  Sickness reporting and management processes for research degree students are set out in regulation 17 of the regulations for research degrees."

Non-engagement with teaching may be flagged to the Student Advice and Engagement Team in two ways:

• Through the Engagement Monitoring process;
• By your department requesting that the Student Advice and Engagement Team start the AWOL process.

In both circumstances, the decision to start the AWOL process is always decided by your department based on your engagement with your studies. Once this is confirmed, the following process will happen:

1. The Student Advice and Engagement Team will contact you by email to your LSE email address advising that if you do not make contact either by replying to the email or contacting your department, the AWOL process will start. You will be given two weeks to respond to the initial email.
2. If you do not respond to the initial email within the deadline, you will be sent a second email by the Student Advice and Engagement Team to confirm that the AWOL process has started.  Again you will be given two weeks to respond to this email.
3. If you fail to respond to the second email, your student status will be changed to being on an unauthorised break. You will be informed by email by the Student Advice and Engagement Team when this happens.  They will also inform your department of this change.
   
   You should apply for an interruption of studies as soon as possible.  If you do not apply for an interruption of studies and remain on an unuthorised break for an academic year, you will be permanently withdrawn from the School as per paragraph 28.11 of the Conditions of Registration and Enrolment.

As a Student visa holder, you are expected to engage with your studies both as part of your Conditions of Registration and Enrolment at LSE and as part of your compliance requirements for protecting your visa:

Student Visa Compliance

If your status is changed to being on an unauthorised break, LSE will be required to report to the UKVI that sponsorship of your visa is being withdrawn due to non-engagement.  You would be informed by email to your LSE and personal address when the report has been submitted. 

We advise that once the report has been submitted, because you will not know when your visa is curtailed:

• if you are working, you should inform you employer of your change in circumstances so they are able to assess your right to continue working;

• you no longer have the right to access the NHS once your visa is in the process of being curtailed;

• anyone who is dependant on your visa will also lose the conditions of their visa and will need to return home with you;

• your reason for being in the UK (studies) no longer exists - we advise that you should plan to leave the UK within 60 days of receiving the email from the Student Services Centre or the expiry date of your visa, whichever is sooner. This is because some students did not receive the notification from the UKVI and overstayed their new expiry date;

• you should not plan to travel out of the UK and attempt to return on your current visa. Once you leave the UK,  the UKVI advise that you should consider your visa as cancelled. Cancellations can as little as three weeks to be processed, so you plan to travel and re-enter on the same visa at your own risk.

• If the Student Services Centre have emailed you to say that they have informed the UKVI that we are no longer sponsoring your studies, you no longer have the right to study in the UK.  Even if you are allowed to enter the UK by a Border Force Officer or you have not been informed of your curtailment date by the UKVI, you do not have the right to study so will be unable to attend teaching or take exams on your old visa.  You must contact Student Advice and Engagement for advice in these circumstances and do not expect to be able to undertake studies once you are reported.

• You will not receive a refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge that you have paid.

The Home Office will contact you either by letter or by email advising you of the new expiry date of your visa.  This is usually 60 days from the date of the letter or email. This information can sometimes be delayed, so we advise it is best to plan to leave the UK as soon as possible, ideally within 60 days of the Student Services Centre confirming you have been reported to the UKVI.

FAQ: Can I be sponsored on a Student visa by LSE in the future, if my sponsorship was withdrawn due to being AWOL?

Each case will be considered individually based on your reasons for being AWOL. For example, if a student is initially placed on an unauthorised break due to serious illness and is then successfully granted an interruption of studies, the School is likely to sponsor them in the future.  The Student Advice and Engagement Team will provide them with a supporting letter for future visa applications to explain the exceptional circumstances.

If you failed to engage with your studies and are not granted an interruption of studies, the School will need to consider your individual case for future CASs given the risk that the UKVI may not consider you to be a genuine student due to previous non-engagement and withdrawal.

The School recognises that in some circumstances, a student may not be fit to request an interruption of studies due to ill health. Unfortunately, as you are still not engaging with your studies, the School may still need to place you on an unauthorised absence until you are able to make a decision about interrupting your studies.

In these instances, the School will do its best to find a solution to enable the student to return when possible.  If the student is also a Student visa holder and are in the UK, we will reach out to the UKVI with regards to the exceptional circumstances and seek guidance on options if the student is too unwell to travel e.g. because they have been detained in hospital.

Further information can be found in the Fitness to Study policy.

If you are facing difficulties with engaging with your studies, you should always reach out for advice before getting to the point where you are placed on an unauthorised absence or have a tuiton fee debt. 

More information on sources of support can be found here.

The LSE Students' Union may be able to provide you with free, independent and confidential support and guidance if you are having difficulty paying your tuition fees or have been contacted about being absent from your programme.