Guide
Resits, resubmissions and repeats
Updated on 27 July 2023
Find out how resits, resubmissions and repeats can have implications on your student visa status.
Resits and repeats
If you have to repeat any element of your course your Student visa may be impacted, especially if the resit dates fall out with the standard exam board timelines. Student visa rules state that if the University does not require your continued participation in studies for 60 days we have to inform the Home Office and withdraw sponsorship of your Student visa.
If in most cases if you are resubmitting or repeating an element of your course you should still be able to complete it within your current Student visa period. Due to marking and moderation timelines eligibility for the Graduate Route may be impacted, though the Immigration Compliance team works with schools to ensure as many students are reported within their Student visa expiry as possible
If your course end date needs to be extended beyond your visa expiry date you are not guaranteed a visa extension and may be expected to complete your studies from home. Eligibility for a visa extension will depend on several factors, such as how long the extension is for, how many credits you are completing if there are any on-campus requirements, and when the student last actively studied.
Additional time
The University expects you to complete your course according to the date provided in your CAS. If you are approved to have more time to complete your studies, you should be aware of the following implications for your visa:
PhD students
If you have been approved to have more time to complete your studies and your current visa does not cover this additional period, you can apply to extend your visa within the UK, you need to ensure you submit your application prior to your current visa’s expiration date. You can contact the International Advice Service for support in making your new application, please note you must contact the International Advice Service at least 28 days before your current Student visa expires to enable an in-country visa extension
Repeat Years and EDP “Extended Due Performance”
If you do not pass enough modules to progress into the next year you may be offered the chance to either repeat the year or be placed on a status called EDP (extended due performance) if there is no attendance requirement.
You need to be taking at least 80 credits with on-campus attendance to be considered full-time for a repeat year in order to maintain a Student visa, this may have fee implications. If you do repeat a year you are likely to need a visa extension. You should contact the International Advice Service (internationalsupport@dundee.ac.uk) in the last three months of your current Student visa for support.
If you require multiple repeat years due to mitigating circumstances the cap on how many years students can be in the UK to study at the Undergraduate level may impact your ability to complete your studies as intended. If a repeat year will take you beyond 5 years of study you may need to consider alternatives such as exiting with a lesser award for example: not taking an honours year.
Some Schools offer EDP which allows you to resit individual failed elements from home before re-joining your course the following academic year. Students on EDP do not meet the requirements for a Student visa but time spent on EDP should not count towards the 5-year cap due to visa cancellation. Support will be offered when you are informed of your visa withdrawal on how to apply for a new visa to return to your studies.
For some changes you must inform the Home Office - for instance, a change of address. Other changes must be reported to the Home Office by the University as your visa sponsor and may affect your Student visa.
The Immigration Compliance Team are responsible for submitting reports to the Home Office on behalf of the University. The Immigration Compliance Team will notify you by e-mail of any reports to the Home Office that may affect your immigration status.