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Interrupting your studies

An interruption of studies means taking a temporary break from your studies. The break is usually for the remainder of the academic year or a full calendar year and most often is needed for health-related, financial, personal, or work-related reasons. Use this page to understand what you need to think about and how to apply for an interruption.

If you decide to pause your studies your student status will change (you will still be registered but not enrolled). This may affect things like your funding, your right to remain in the UK, or services that depend on being a current student. It is important that you understand the implications so use the information here and speak to someone like your Senior Tutor, supervisor, or Programme Director to make sure you are well-informed. They will be able to advise you and support you along the process of taking a break from your studies.

This page provides guidance and information on how pausing your studies may affect your student status.

Taking a break from your studies

Things to consider before applying

Before you apply to take a break from your studies you should discuss your circumstances with a member of your programme team, ideally your Senior Tutor, supervisor, or Programme Director. They can provide you with the best possible guidance. You can discuss any impact on your future plans, including when you can re-join the programme, as it is not normally possible to interrupt and pick your studies back up in the same academic year. Please note that PhD students can interrupt and come back at any point during the year. Some of the things you need to consider will depend on the reason for your interruption:

Health reasons - you may be required to provide medical evidence, such as a medical certificate or letter from your doctor, hospital admission note or letter from your counsellor.
Financial reasons - you may need to provide evidence that you have financial difficulties.
Other personal or employment-related reasons – you may need to provide evidence about your personal circumstances to support your application to pause your studies. The information required will vary according to your situation.

Whatever reason you have for interrupting your studies, it is really important to think about what you will do during the interruption and what will be different or better about your situation when you return.

Students studying on a visa – a break in your studies may affect your student visa. For more information read our guidance below. Alternatively, you can contact the International Student Support team to discuss your options.

Students receiving funding - if you receive funding from the Student Loan Company or a sponsor you will also need to let them know your student status will temporarily change once you interrupt. For PhD students in receipt of a College or departmental scholarship please contact your department for more information.

Students who have outstanding tuition fees - if you still owe tuition fees when you take a break from your studies, a hold will be placed on your student record. If you haven't paid the full amount by the time you are supposed to return, you will be notified about the outstanding fees, and you may be forced to extend your interruption until the debt is fully paid. Your return date will then be adjusted based on the enforced break. It is important to know that the period of enforced interruption will count towards the maximum time allowed for you to complete your studies.

Submitting a request to pause your studies

If you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student, please discuss your intention to pause your studies with your Personal Tutor, Postgraduate Tutor, or Senior Tutor, or another member of department staff first.

Once you have done that you can submit a request to interrupt your studies via MyImperial by following the steps below:

Log into My Imperial using your username and password
Click on the “My Interruption of Studies” tile
Select your current programme of study and click on the “Submit a request to interrupt your studies” button
Fill in the application form and upload your supporting documents, if you have any
Submit and track the progress of your application

A step-by-step video tutorial of how to apply for an interruption is available here. Access it by loging in using your Imperial username and password.

Please note that you can only apply for an interruption lasting a maximum of two years (24 months) or less if you've already taken an interruption before.

You are not able to backdate an interruption request, it can only start from the date you are applying or a date in the near future. You are able to submit an interruption request in advance, but please be aware that your record will not be updated until the planned interruption start date is reached.

Student with a bike talking to another student outside the Natural History Museum

While you are taking a break from your studies

While you are taking a break from your studies you will still be a registered student at the College but not enrolled. This means that you will not pay fees during this time and your student access to some College services and the Students’ Union will be revoked. If you would like to continue engaging with a particular club or society during your interruption you can become an associate member on a temporary basis which would allow you to buy memberships.

Additionally, it is likely that you will need to pay for things that students are typically exempt from, like council tax, and you will not receive student discounts.

The Student Hub advisors can provide further advice about the implications of your change of status and support you in identifying things you need to consider whilst taking a break from your studies.

While you are waiting for a decision

Interruption requests will not be processed on your student record until the start date of the interruption. This means you may still get emails asking you to enrol or re-enrol.

If you have already applied to interrupt your studies and are waiting for a response, you do not need to do anything else. You can dismiss any enrolment reminders you receive and wait for the decision of your interruption request.

If your request is not approved, you will be notified via the Interruption of Studies portal in My Imperial, with details on what to do next.

You can also check the progress and status of your application anytime in My Imperial.

If you have questions or concerns in the meantime, please contact your departmental administrator.

Returning from your interruption of studies

Your student status will usually change to “eligible to re-enrol” 30 days before you are due to return, which means you can access My Imperial and complete your re-enrolment. Your department will normally get in touch in good time before you return but you may also need to contact your Senior Tutor, supervisor or Programme Director. You can also get in touch with them during your interruption at any time. They will be able to help guide you through the process of re-enrolling as a student and answer any questions you might have. For undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, as part of your return your department will also have a discussion with you about the modules you will be registered on (both core and elective) as well as how coursework may be carried forward.

If you have interrupted for health reasons you will need to provide medical evidence to show that you are fit to return to your studies. We normally require you to book a medical assessment at least four weeks before you are due to return. You will not be able to re-enrol until you have provided satisfactory evidence that you are fit to study.

If you have interrupted for financial or other personal reasons, you may need to show evidence that the situation has improved and that you can focus on your studies before you can enrol again. If you have outstanding fees when you intend to return from interruption, you may be placed on an enforced interruption until your debt is paid in full. The enforced interruption will count towards your maximum period of registration.

If you are studying on a visa and you paused your studies for more than 60 days, you may need to request a new CAS in order to make a new Tier 4 application to resume your studies. For more information, read our guidance on visa implications below.