If you take time out from your studies, we call this ‘interrupting’ your studies. It is important to seek guidance from your Academic Department to see what support they may be able to offer.
Please be aware the information listed on this page is for current continuing students and new students with a enrolment status of Fully or Temporarily enrolled.
If you would like to:
*Please note that it is not always possible for us to comply with your request.
You need to contact your Admissions team directly by contacting us through your applicant portal, or by email and include:
Please ensure you email your request using the email account you applied from. If somebody is emailing on your behalf, they must be listed as a nominated person on your UCAS application you must have provided us consent by email.
Permission to interrupt from your studies on the grounds of illness or another good cause may be granted by your academic school or institute. You may only interrupt for a maximum of two years in total; longer interruptions will be granted only in highly exceptional circumstances with the express permission of the Academic Registrar.
Interrupting your studies means that, although you remain registered as a student, you cease to be an enrolled student of Queen Mary University of London; this has consequences for your student status, funding and right to remain in the UK (if you are an international student).
It is important you speak to your Academic School to see what effects your interruption may have upon your studies and circumstances, they can be contacted using the link at the top of this webpage. Changes include:
If you do interrupt your studies the Academic Regulations in place at the time of your initial registration remain in effect. You are advised to contact your tutor and read the relevant Advice and Counselling Service webpages before interrupting. You can view the Queen Mary University Interruption of Study Policy [PDF 81KB].
Please be aware that most programmes will now have two assessment periods – one in January following Semester A teaching and one in May following Semester B teaching. The deadline for submission of an interruption request for most programmes is the day before the start of these assessment periods.
If you choose to interrupt from your degree programme before the January deadline, and you have completed the teaching for your first semester modules, you can chose to sit those examinations whilst you have interrupted. Please note that the Academic Regulations state that you must elect to either attempt all of the assessments for the modules you have completed the teaching for or attempt none of them. You may also choose to first sit or re-sit examinations from previous academic years in January and May. If you are uncertain of your options please discuss them with your academic department. Students who interrupt before the May deadline may also choose to first sit or re-sit examinations from the previous academic year in May.
Until you have formally interrupted from your studies you will officially remain a student of Queen Mary and you will be responsible for payment of part of or the full year's tuition fee and where appropriate, residence fees. As funding regulations change frequently it is important that you understand how your decision might affect your entitlements in the future. If you have any concerns regarding this, the Advice and Counselling Service have some useful webpages to help you and their Welfare Advisors can provide you with up to date advice on your eligibility for student finance.
From Monday 16th September 2024 you will be able to submit a interruption request via your MySIS account. You will need to use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to log in to your account, support regarding MFA can be found at: Multi-Factor Authentication.
Once logged into MySIS you should see a menu item along the top labelled 'Change of Circumstances' should this option not show, please try clicking the 'More Options...' tab to reveal it. Once on the 'Change of Circumstance' page you will see support and guidance as well the 'Interruption' button to start your request. Once submitted you will also be able to view the progress of your interruption by using the 'Change of Circumstance page'.
Email communications regarding your request will be sent to both your personal and Queen Mary University of London email address.
The above information on submitting an interruption request relates to both Undergraduate & Postgraduate students requesting an interruption from the 16th September 2024 and onwards. Forms submitted prior to this date using the the previous word document will still be processed and students will not need to submit a new request.
Associate students only should continue to use the below interruption form. This will need to be signed by your department, to find contact details please see our student support contacts page.
Please note, if you are resitting out of attendance you cannot interrupt your studies, as you are not enrolled.
For guidance on wider implications of Interruption.