International Students

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.