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International Students

Moving to a new country is exciting, and our International Student Support team is here to help you settle in. From visa advice and accommodation guidance to adjusting to UK life and making new friends — we’re here for you every step of the way. You’re now part of a diverse, welcoming community, and we look forward to supporting your journey.

Visa Advice and Support

Registration and Starting Your Studies
During Your Studies
After Your Studies

  • Registration and Starting your Studies

  • Step 1 – Online registration

    All new students are required to complete an online registration form. This will be sent to you via email approximately four weeks before your course start date. Please check our Online Registration page if you have any further queries on this process.

     

  • Step 2 – Attend your Induction event and Welcome Week

    Timetables are available to access here.

    If you are joining us on a student visa, you will be invited to attend a specific international induction event by email invitation. If you have any queries about your induction event, please contact our International Student Support team.

  • Step 3 – International Registration

    New student visa students are required to attend an in-person registration session, to allow our compliance team to check your status and documents. This should take no more than 20 minutes and will take place during your international induction event or on an appointment basis (you will receive an individual appointment if you miss your induction).

    What to bring with you?

    • Passport
    • Boarding pass
    • Original academic certificates and transcripts
    • UK contact address and UK phone number – your address must be within 1h travel time from your campus (door to door)

    Before you attend, you should ensure all your travel and arrival sections are fully complete within your CAS Shield profile – including accessing your UKVI Account and uploading your 9-digit share code.

  • Step 4 – Academic Expectations

    During your first few weeks, you will receive an academic induction detailing the varying teaching methods, systems, processes and learning methods you should expect and become familiar with during your studies.

    Alongside in-person support, we strongly encourage students to explore Skills@Cumbria for detailed guidance on skills support available, covering critical topics such as avoiding plagiarism and generative AI. You can also book a student support appointment if necessary here, and we encourage all students to become familiar with our Assessment Support page.

    In line with the principles of academic integrity and academic regulations, all work submitted for assessment must be your own work. Any suspected malpractice, including cheating, plagiarism, collusion, fabrication or falsification or inappropriate use of AI will be viewed as a very serious matter and be investigated in line with our academic regulations, procedures and processes.  

  • During Your Studies

  • Working while you study

    Your visa is individual to you and will dictate whether you have any limitations regarding working hours. It is important that you balance the workload of your course alongside any employment.

     

    Student visa work restrictions – what you cannot do:

    • Self-employed role or any business activity
    • Professional Sportsperson role
    • Professional Entertainer role
    • Doctor or dentist training
    • Permanent, full-time job – any job that does not have an end date in its contract and is not “part-time”
    • Work more than 20h per week during term-time – note that voluntary work counts towards your limit
    • Work more than full-time hours outside of term-time

    UKCISA is an excellent resource for further information on work limitations and allowance.

    Exceeding your limit is a serious breach of your visa conditions and may result in your visa being curtailed.

  • Top tips!

    Registering with a GP, opening a bank account, UK transportation services, shopping - we are here to support you in every way.

    Access our top tips for international students here.

  • How can I request letters to support my study?

    Letters can be requested here for the following purposes:

    • Confirmation of student status
    • Bank letter
    • Employment during term-time
    • Employment outside of term-time
    • Council Tax Exemption

  • Changes to your circumstances

    If you are a student visa holder, any changes during your course of study such as study breaks, transfers, withdrawals, deferrals, intercalation etc can have significant visa implications. You must seek advice from Programme Administration in the first instance, regardless of your immigration status.

    Any action that extends your course length, such as the premature termination of a placement or resubmissions/reassessments may leave you with insufficient time to complete your course within your allocated student visa duration – it is critical that you are fully aware of any visa implications. We advise that you review our Assessment and Awards page to become familiar with the different terminology and meanings. 

    If your immigration category has changed since your course began, you must tell us as soon as possible by contacting our UKVI Compliance team.

  • Leaving and re-entering the UK

    All students should be fully engaged with their studies - if you are a student visa holder, it is vital you attend all your lectures, seminars, submission deadlines, placements and exams. Where possible any travel outside of the UK must be done outside of term-time.

    Remember that a student visa is issued for the purpose of studying in the UK and this is what the Home Office and the University expect you to do. Long periods spent outside the UK may lead the Home Office to suspect you are not using your visa for its intended purpose.

    If you have an emergency that requires you to leave the UK during term-time, you must communicate immediately with both your course team and Programme Administration.

  • Your visa – your responsibility

    If you have a time limited visa that is due to expire mid-course it is your responsibility to ensure you make a new visa application before your current visa expires and provide our compliance team with evidence of this.

    If you are a student visa student you must adhere to your visa responsibilities, or risk your sponsorship being withdrawn:

    • Attend your in-person registration event
    • Live within 1h travel time of your campus (this will be checked)
    • Keep us up to date on your contact details and any changes to your immigration status
    • Fully engage with your studies throughout your course - unreported or unexplained absences will be recorded. Continued absence may result in disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedure.
    • Ensure any employment does not breach your work limitations
    • Adhere to your visa expiry date

    Reach out for support as early as possible if you are struggling to adjust or struggling academically – reassessments or resubmissions towards the end of your programme can have implications to your visa status and may prevent you from being eligible for the graduate visa. The earlier you seek support, the better.

  • Your visa – our responsibility

    You should adhere to the conditions attached to your individual visa. For student visa holders your attendance and adherence to your responsibilities is closely monitored, we are required to inform the Home Office if a student visa student:

    • Fails to arrive as expected
    • If there is a change of circumstances with your studies
    • If we believe you are breaching your visa conditions

  • Visa extensions

    Your student visa should cover the full duration of your programme and an additional four months at the end. To minimise the possibility of having resubmissions or reassessments that take you beyond the expiry date of your visa (removing eligibility for graduate visa), ensure you fully understand the expected adherence to academic regulations, make full use of our Skills@Cumbria and reach out for support early on to minimise any potential impact to your progression.

    You must email UKVICompliance@cumbria.ac.uk at least 6 weeks before your expiry date if you believe you may need a visa extension – noting that this can only be supported in very limited circumstances:

    • Progression from one course to another – progressing from an undergraduate programme to a postgraduate programme within 28 days of your visa expiry date.
    • Resits or repeats in person – If you need to re-sit a placement/s or repeat numerous modules or a full year of study. This will only be considered if your attendance on-campus is required.

    We cannot consider extension requests in the following situations:

    -To remain eligible for the Graduate route visa.
    -Reassessments (dissertation or resubmission) that do not require attendance.
    -Reassessment for an exam only.
    -Extensions solely to receive the outcome of reassessments at the end of a programme.
    -Exceeding the 5-year study CAP on taught degree level study.
    -Attendance at graduation.

  • University of Cumbria Students’ Union

    The Students’ Union will also be able to provide information about living and travelling within the UK.

    They offer an international ‘buddy’ scheme, connecting international students with current students before you arrive. This allows you to ask questions and receive advice from someone who knows the campus you’ll be attending. When you arrive, you’ll meet your buddy in person, and they’ll show you around the campus and local area.

    All students, regardless of their campus, are members of the Students’ Union. The Union also has an International Students Representative to ensure that your views and comments are heard.

    There are many clubs, activities, and sports teams run by the Students’ Union that you’re welcome to join. Don’t hesitate to visit the SU if you need help with anything—whether it’s about living in the UK, studying at the University, or participating in sports and social activities.

    For more information, visit the Students’ Union website.

  • After Your Studies

  • Whether you are looking to travel, start work, return home or find your next UK visa we can guide you through the process.

  • Travel outside the UK

    Student visas allow you to travel to and from the UK once your academic requirements have been fulfilled – as long as you have a valid reason for doing so. An exception to this is if you have completed your course significantly earlier than expected or if you have submitted a new visa application from inside the UK.

    You should be aware that a UK Border Officer is entitled to ask you questions about your reasons for travelling and reasons for coming back when you return.

    UK student visas are not valid in the Schengen Area (mainland Europe and Iceland) and you may need to apply for a visa before travelling to these countries.

  • Working on a student visa after completing your course

    Student visa students are only allowed to work more than 20h per week after the course end date has passed (this can be found on your CAS). You will still not be allowed to fulfil a permanent role, although you will be able to work up to full-time hours on a temporary or rolling contract. The type of work limitations remain in place.

    Exception – the only exception to this is once you have handed in all your work and any exams are finished. You can request a letter confirming your work allowance outside of term-time here.

  • Post-study work visa options

    We can provide an overview of some of the visa options available after your studies, should you want to stay in the UK to work or pursue a business, however we cannot give you advice. You should contact an Immigration advisor for support if required.

    • Graduate visa

      You must have completed and been awarded the course as listed on your CAS and have a valid student visa on the day of the application. You should not apply for this visa until we have confirmed your eligibility to do so via email. Full eligibility criteria can be found here.
    • Skilled Worker visa

      Your job must not start before your course completion date, and you cannot apply earlier than 3 months before the date of issue on the CoS. If you are considering switching to this visa type we strongly recommend contacting our UKVI Compliance team to ensure you apply at the correct time. An incorrectly timed application may result in a visa refusal.
    • Global Talent visa

      This route is for leaders or potential leaders in one of the following fields: academia or research, arts and culture, digital technology.
    • Innovator Founder visa

      This route is designed for entrepreneurs looking to establish an innovative business in the UK.

  • Attend your graduation ceremony

    Each course has only one graduation slot and you will be contacted by our Ceremonies team with an invitation to attend your designated event if you are eligible.

    If your graduation event is after your current visa expires you may need to request a standard visitor visa letter to support a visit visa application, allowing you to return to the UK for the ceremony. Please visit our dedicated Ceremonies page for a full breakdown of information.

  • Pursue further study

    Should you wish to stay in contact with us and your fellow graduates you can join our Cumbria Alumni Network. We would also encourage you to receive dedicated guidance from our Careers and Employability Service for up to three years after course completion – for free!

    Eligible graduates could receive up to a 20% discount on taught courses with our Alumni Exclusives.

International students need to take note of the sections below as well as generic information which applies to all students. 

All International Students

International Students on a Student Visa Route

 

All International Students

Applying to study at the University of Cumbria

Information on applying to study at the University can be found on the International Office pages.

Pre-registration (before you arrive) information

Once you have applied to the University of Cumbria and confirmed your place with our Admissions department you will be sent an e-mail informing you how to pre-register.

Pre-arrival information can be found on our welcome pages.

We would recommend that you read the International Student Welcome Guide as it provides a whole range of information which will be useful to you before and after your arrive to study.Passports, Passport with country stamps in

All students (UK and International) are required to complete online pre-registration. You will be sent an email no earlier than three weeks before your start date asking you to pre-register online. This email will contain a link to the form and your username and password. 

Those studying on a Home Office Tier 4 visa or from certain countries will be asked to provide passport and visa information during this process.

Please complete the pre-registration process as soon as you are able.

You will be able to exit and return to the same point of the process. If you do not know some of the information, such as your term time address, you can login again and return to the same section of the process to update this later.

Admissions will contact you separately if you have any outstanding admissions requirements. This will not prevent you from completing pre-registration, but you will need to provide this information before you are fully registered. Please print off the confirmation page or email to bring with you to your registration session when you arrive at the University.

If you do not complete your pre-registration before your start date there will be delays to your funding (student loan, bursary, etc if applicable) and you will not be able to access IT accounts and learning resources such as Blackboard straight away.

Full-time students and international students will also be required to attend a registration session in person. You will be sent details of this separately. 

If are blind or partially sighted or have special needs the University will provide support to help you to register. Please contact Programme Administration to arrange this.

Registration of International students (when you are continuing into a second academic year of study)

All continuing students will be required to register on an annual basis prior to the start of the next Academic Year. This ensures that we hold your correct details and maintain accurate data for statutory reporting purposes. 

Further information on registration can be found here.

If you are a Tier 4 Visa student you will also be required to comply with the additional requirements for registration as detailed here.

Module registration

If you are studying on a standard full-time or part-time course the modules you take, or any module choices you may have, will be same as for any other student registered on that course.

If you are studying under an Erasmus, Study Abroad or Exchange programme and are able to choose from a selection of modules. Information on your choices will be provided for you during your application process.

Further information on modules and how you register is provided here.

Teaching and learning

We are aware that studying at a new university may be different to your previous experiences. As part of your induction, some of these differences will be covered and you will be signposted to support and information available to help you to adjust to learning and teaching methods, systems and processes used in the UK.  

Students’ Union

The Students’ Union will also be able to provide information about living and travelling within the UK. 

The Students’ StudentsSatOnBench, A Student sat smiling on a bench Union run an international ‘buddy’ scheme, where international students are linked up with a current student before they arrive. This enables you to ask any questions from a current student at the campus you will be attending. Your buddy will do their best to help you with advice and information. You will then meet them in person when you arrive and be shown around the campus and local area.

All students, regardless of the campus they are at, have access to and are members of the Students’ Union. There is also an International Students Representative to make sure that your views and comments, as international students, are recognised.

There are many different clubs, activities and sports teams run by the Students’ Union which you are welcome to join. Please do not hesitate to call in to the SU if there is anything you need help with either about living in the UK, studying at the University or sports and social activities.

Students’ Union website.

Contacts – Where to go for help

Staff who are based at the Programme Administration office at each campus can provide help and advice about your academic studies. They can also provide letters for to enable you to open bank accounts whilst in the UK. You should also visit Programme Administration if you have any documents you require stamping or signing for your home university or for the government of your home country to prove you are studying at the University of Cumbria.

Staff within the Library are also able to provide advice and support across a range of areas from academic skills and learning resources to managing your money and your health and wellbeing.

 

Tier 4 International students

Tier 4 Visas for non EEA (European Economic Area) students

The UK Home Office is responsible for securing the UK border, controlling migration in the UK, enforcing immigration and customs regulations.

'Tier 4' is one part of the points-based system for immigration and is for adult migrants who want to study in the UK for more than 6 months and who require immigration permission in order to enter and or to remain in the UK. Tier 4 visas usually apply to non-EEA (European Economic Area) nationals. Information on those countries included within the European Economic Area can be found here. Swiss nationals are normally considered within the regulations relating to citizens of The European Economic Area.

Under The Immigration Act 1971, The University of Cumbria is legally bound to comply with the Home Office in respect of our Tier 4 students. We are known as a 'Tier 4 Sponsor'.

As your Tier 4 Sponsor we must maintain up-to-date records in the following areas:

  • A copy of the all the data pages in your passport, including immigration stamps
  • A copy of your current UK Tier 4 visa
  • A copy of your Biometric Residence Permit, if applicable
  • All contact details in the UK
  • A record of registration for each year of your course
  • A record of your attendance on course

Additional registration requirements for Tier 4 students

You will be asked to attend a registration session in person on the first day of the course so that we can check your identity.

You will need to bring with you:

  • Your passport
  • Your Tier 4 visa
  • Original qualification certificates (new students only)

We then check these details against the information you provided online and take photocopies of them. Copies of your documents are kept on your student file.

You will also be asked to sign a declaration confirming your understanding of your responsibilities as a Tier 4 student in relation to:

  • Keeping your contact details up-to-date
  • Compliance with attendance and absence reporting.

Once you have fully completed all elements of pre-registration, including your admissions clearances, and have attended a registration event you will receive a Confirmation of Registration letter via email. This document can be used to verify your status as a student at the University of Cumbria.

If you are a new full-time student who is eligible for Council Tax Exemption you will also receive a Council Tax Exemption Certificate by email which is valid for the duration of your course.

Your attendance

As your Tier 4 sponsor, the University of Cumbria is responsible for checking your regular and continuous attendance on our course and for reporting to the Home Office any unexplained absence.

We will be checking for example:

  • Attendance at lectures, seminars and PAT (Personal Academic Tutor) meetings
  • Assignment submission and module completion
  • Exam attendance
  • Requests to attend other agreed meetings.

Your non-attendance

Any unreported or unexplained absence will be recorded, and if continued, will be subject to the Student Code of Conduct and Adjudication Procedure, ultimately leading to deregistration from the university and our report to the Home Office that we have withdrawn our sponsorship for your study. 

Changes during your course

If you are studying on a Tier 4 visa and wish to make a change to your course of study, you must ensure that any changes comply with the conditions of your visa in terms of the your length of study. You will need to seek advice both from the university and also from the Home Office prior to making any changes to your course. Please contact Programme Administration Office who will be able to arrange for you to speak to a specialist person within the university about this.

There is also a section on the Home Office website detailing your responsibilities to both the Home Office and your sponsor during your study. We strongly recommend that your read this and familiarise yourself with the types of change which you must notify the Home Office of if they happen to you.

Visa extensions

Your Tier 4 student visa will have been issued to cover the expected duration of your course and anticipates that you will complete the course and graduate within this period.

If you have any reassessments during your course it is possible, however, that your visa may expire before you complete these. We will normally support your application for a Tier 4 visa extension and continue our sponsorship if your completion remains possible over an extended period and is within the university’s Academic Regulations. Your responsibilities to attend your course, to report any absence and to advise us of changes to your contact details still apply.

Please note: if attendance on your course is not required for your reassessment (e.g. dissertation) then we will be unable to support a visa extension application.

You are asked to contact Programme Administration Office as soon as you have any concern about your visa expiry date and certainly no later than 6 weeks before its expiry date.

Please note:
If you are moving from one course to another in the UK and your current Tier 4 visa expires more than one month before the start of your new course, you will be expected to return home and make a new Tier 4 entry clearance application from your home country.

How to renew your visa from in the UK

If you wish to apply for a Tier 4 visa extension, you will require a CAS number (Certificate of Acceptance for Studies) from the university and confirmation that you are a registered student who is eligible to continue on your current course of study. Our International Office will arrange an advisory meeting with you on receipt of the visa extension form.

You can apply to renew your visa in person at a Home Office Public Enquiry Office (PEO). The nearest offices are Glasgow or Sheffield. You will need to make an appointment well in advance of your visa expiry date. Please see the Home Office website for telephone numbers.

You will need to prepare and post your application to the Home Office yourself and to send this by special delivery. Special delivery will ensure that you are able to track the progress of your documents electronically and that your documents are signed for at the delivery address.

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