Thinking of Leaving?

It is not unusual for students who have come straight from School or College to feel pressured to go straight on to University, so they end up at University without necessarily having given their choice of course or University much consideration. Students have reported that they feel they are on a 'treadmill of education' and that they themselves have had little input on their fate. If this is the case you may wish to take a year out from education, to establish what it is you really want to do.

If you are considering temporarily suspending or withdrawing from University completely, we again recommend you speak to a member of staff such as your Personal Tutor, another appropriate member of the School staff and one of the Student Advisers in the Student Support Team to discuss your concerns and options. Once you have discussed your situation with your Personal Tutor and the Student Support team, undergraduate applications for either suspension or withdrawal from study must be made via the appropriate form on the MyBangor Request Centre ie

• Temporary Suspension of Study UG
• Notification of Withdrawal UG

This should be done as soon as possible after your decision has been made to reduce any student finance overpayments. Failure to formalise your temporary suspension or permanent withdrawal from the University could result in a full year’s tuition fees being charged.

Once the on-line form has been submitted:

• relevant staff within the university will be informed as appropriate to your circumstances and our records updated accordingly.
• Student Finance organisations will be informed where relevant.
• you will be able to download a letter of confirmation should you need it.
• if suspending your studies, you will be contacted about 2 months before your expected return with necessary information for you to resume your studies.

Although we confirm with Student Finance of your decision to withdraw from or suspend your studies it is your responsibility to keep them informed. We suggest if you don’t hear from them within a month of withdrawing or suspending that you contact them yourself.  This helps minimise or avoid complications with your Student Finance such as reclaims of overpayment and problems with future applications.

This may be possible at the beginning of the academic year.

This very much depends on how quickly you make your decision and the availability of places at the University you wish to attend. However, a sudden change of University when you’ve only just arrived here can be very stressful so you are advised to discuss this with a Student Adviser in the Student Support Team who can advise and ensure the appropriate procedures are followed.

If you are transferring to another university, you should delay contacting Student Finance until you have successfully transferred and then inform them which institution you have transferred to.

If you want to change to another course at Bangor University you need to approach the Director of the course you wish to transfer to, whether it is within your current School or another one. This is to see if there are places on that course and whether they are prepared to accept you. This done, you will need to complete a Change of Degree Request via the Request Centre on MyBangor.

Changing course is not normally permitted once 4 weeks of semester one has elapsed.

Student Finance

As a general rule undergraduate students are allocated student funding for the duration of their course (usually 3 or 4 years) plus one additional year. If you suspend or withdraw from study part way through a year you will have received funding for that year. When you return the following year to recommence your studies you will probably be using your ‘additional year’. If needed, students would be expected to self-fund any additional years needed to complete their degree and would only be eligible for a maintenance loan for this period.

Once a student has suspended or withdrawn from study:

• the appropriate proportion of tuition loan will be calculated using your last attendance date and your tuition loan will be adjusted accordingly.
• no further student finance payments will be made - although in special circumstances an appeal against this might be considered for those suspending studies.
• the appropriate proportion of student finance will be calculated using your last attendance date and any overpayments will be reclaimed. Any overpaid funding not repaid will be deducted from your future funding entitlement.

Other financial considerations:

• once you are no longer a student you may be liable for Council Tax payments so check with your Local Authority.
• if you are in receipt of any welfare benefits you will need to inform them of your change of circumstances for any necessary adjustments to be made. 

You can find more information on the reclaim of overpayment of student finance via the links below.

REMEMBER, if you receive student finance from elsewhere, it’s important to check your provider’s website.

Applications for either suspension or withdrawal from study must be made via the appropriate form on the MyBangor Request Centre ie

• Temporary Suspension of Study UG
• Notification of Withdrawal UG

Although Student Support can advise on Student Finance funding, we are unable to advise on NHS Funding. Where you are funded via the NHS, you will find it useful to look at the terms and conditions relating to the NHS Bursary Scheme a copy of which can be found here.

Postgraduate students wishing to either permanently withdraw from or temporarily suspend their studies should discuss the matter with an appropriate member of staff within their academic School such as:

• Personal tutor
• Supervisor (Research students)
• Course Director (Masters programmes)
• Director of Postgraduate Studies.

Once you have discussed your intentions with your academic school you need to inform us of your decision to either suspend or withdraw by completing the appropriate form on the MyBangor Request Centre ie

• Temporary Suspension of Study PG
• Notification of Withdrawal PG

Contact details:

Email: student-admin@bangor.ac.uk

Tel: 01248 388484

The Student Support team operate a walk-in policy during office hours so you can pop in to see us on the 1st Floor of Neuadd Rathbone, Monday—Friday 9:00—16:30.
To make a face to face or online appointment, use the link Student Advisers.

Tel:                01248 382072
E-mail:          studentsupport@bangor.ac.uk 
Address:       Student Support Team, Student Services, 1st  Floor Neuadd Rathbone, College Road, Bangor, LL57 2DF.

Neuadd Rathbone, College Road

• Disability Service: Lower Ground Floor 01248 382032 | disabilityservices@bangor.ac.uk
• Student Wellbeing Service: Ground Floor 01248 388520 | wellbeingservices@bangor.ac.uk
• Money Support: 1st Floor 01248 38 3566 / 3637 | moneysupport@bangor.ac.uk
• Student Housing Office: 1st Floor 01248 382034 | studenthousing@bangor.ac.uk
• Skills and Employability Service: 2nd Floor 01248 382071 | employability@bangor.ac.uk
• International Student Support Centre: 01248 388430 | internationalsupport@bangor.ac.uk

Other Locations

• Student Administration: 1st Floor New Arts Building 01248 388484 | student-admin@bangor.ac.uk
• Academic Engagement / Immigration - academicengagement@bangor.ac.uk
• Award enquiries - awards@bangor.ac.uk
• Exams enquiries - examinations@bangor.ac.uk
• Registration queries - registration@bangor.ac.uk

You can find the above information in a downloadable Thinking of Leaving booklet.

The University ‘Procedures for Approving Interruption of Studies’ is available here.