Failure to Register Policy for Postgraduate Research Students
This policy relates to all St Andrews Postgraduate Research students (including part-time and co-tutelle students) who fail to complete the registration process in any given academic year in which they are actively engaged with their studies, or who fail to obtain permission from the University to interrupt their studies within a prescribed time.
With effect from 2012/13 postgraduate research students must register within 6 weeks of their emailed notification to complete online matriculation. (This is normally 2 weeks from the opening of online matriculation, and 4 weeks from the course start date). Entrant postgraduate research students who fail to matriculate within those 6 weeks will be classed as “No show” and will be required to re-apply through the normal Admissions route. Returning postgraduate research students failing to matriculate within the 6 week timeframe will have their studies terminated. These strict time frames have become necessary for the University to comply with external requirements and will be applied to all postgraduate research students.
All students must complete the matriculation (registration) process each academic year to maintain their University of St Andrews student status. Please note:
- If you fail to complete the registration process at the start of your next new academic year of study, or if you fail to obtain official permission from the University to interrupt your study within the prescribed time, you will not be a fully matriculated student of the University of St Andrews and will have your studies terminated.
- You will not have any right of appeal to the University against termination of study on these grounds.
Students who fail to register and who require a visa to remain in the UK must by law be reported to the UK Border Agency by the University. Failure to register could therefore result in you having to leave the UK.
The University will at all times seek to ensure that the circumstances of individual students are taken into account fairly and supportively, but it is the student’s responsibility to provide evidence to University Officers of any circumstances that may prevent them from completing the registration process. Full details about matriculation can be found at: Advising and matriculation
If a student is unable to contact the University themselves, they should nominate a relative or a friend to do this on their behalf. University Officers should be informed at the earliest possible point and certainly by the start date of the year of study. University Officers can be contacted by emailing registry-pg@st-andrews.ac.uk
Students who have problems or issues with their studies can also ask for support from the University’s Student Services Team. They can be contacted by emailing: studentservices@st-andrews.ac.uk
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their contact information is complete and up to date. The University will at all times use the student’s University email address as the primary point of contact, but will supplement this as appropriate with a letter sent to the student’s term-time and out of term correspondence addresses.
Definition of “Failed to complete the registration process”
A student is deemed to have “failed to complete registration” when one or more of the following mandatory elements of matriculation have not been completed successfully:
- Personal Details
- Payment of fees (tuition and accommodation) and any outstanding debt or obtaining University approval for payment arrangements of fees (accommodation, tuition, outstanding debt)
- Signing up to the “University’s Code of Honour”.
- Conditions for Visa
- Medical students only – completion of the “St Andrews Agreement for Medical Students”
Termination of Study Process
Students are provided with full information and access to complete the registration process online for 6 weeks. During this time students will receive the following reminders to complete the process including information on how and where to get help:
- Routine checks will identify students who have, as yet, failed to register. After notification of online matriculation being open the student will be sent two reminder emails regarding non-registration and the consequences.
- 7 days before the 6 week deadline – notification containing a final warning (third and final reminder) will be dispatched to the student’s email address and a letter will be sent to the term-time and out of term contact addresses.
- Registry will put students forward to the Proctor for termination of studies under the Failure to Register Policy. These terminations of studies will be acknowledged by the Proctor as a matter of routine. This decision will be final and without a right to appeal.
- On the first working day after the 6 week deadline date, a Termination of Studies Letter will be dispatched to the student’s email address and to the out of term and term-time contact addresses.
- A Tier 4 student will be reported to the UK Border Agency within 10 days of that date.
All above communication will be copied to the relevant Schools, Supervisors, Student Services, Finance, Pro Deans and Proctor. Where a student is on a collaborative programme, the University will notify the partner institution. This may affect the student’s registration at the partner institution, and therefore their ability to continue on their programme. In cases where the student is in receipt of a scholarship or other funding award of which the University is aware, the awarding institution will also be informed of the termination.
It is important to note that students will have no right to appeal to the University against a termination that is initiated as a result of a failure to matriculate fully within the prescribed time.