Changing your course or study method

Changing your course

Your Student visa only permits you to change course if you all of the following apply:

• The new course is at the same or higher SCQF level as the course for which your visa was granted.
• The new course can be completed within the existing validity of your current visa
• The new course is related to the previous course e.g. same subject group, deeper specialisation, or genuine career aspirations.

If the University approves your change of course this will be reported to the Home Office. 

If your new course is at a lower level, or longer than your current Student visa, you will need to apply for a new Student visa outside the UK. You will not be able to start your new course on your current Student visa. 

If your new course is not clearly related to your previous course then both courses together must support your genuine career aspirations. You will need to complete a form providing a justification. This will be assessed for approval by an academic and the Immigration Compliance team. If your request is not approved you will either need to:

• remain on your current course with your current visa
• apply for a new visa from outside the UK to before starting the new course

Visa time limits 

Undergraduate students are subject to a 5-year limit on study in the UK. There are exceptions for medicine, dentistry and architecture. This may prevent you from having enough time to change course and complete a degree. This will be considered by the Immigration Compliance team when reviewing course changes.

Changes to your research 

If you are studying a research degree your topic may vary slightly over time. This is unlikely to impact your Student visa unless you change School or you change from a 3-year PhD to a 4-year PhD. 

Certain science and technology subjects require an ATAS certificate. Changes to topics within these subjects may require you to apply for a new ATAS. You would need to provide your new ATAS certificate to the University before you could start the new topic.

Changing your mode of study

As an institution, we only issue a CAS for courses that require full-time study. If you want to change to part-time study you need to contact the Immigration Compliance Team to discuss the impact on your visa.

Additional time

The University expects you will be able to complete your course within the dates provided in your CAS. If you receive an extension to complete your studies, you should check how this affects your visa. Please refer to the resits, resubmissions, and repeats guide.