Emergency Leave
You are entitled to take five days of emergency leave each year to deal with separate emergency situations involving family, dependents, or unexpected domestic circumstances. You don’t need to formally apply via CamSIS self-service, but you should inform your supervisor.
Examples of emergency situations:
- Providing or arranging care for a dependent with a long-term care need
- An unexpected change in the health or wellbeing of a dependent
- An incident or emergency involving your child while they’re at nursery, school or college
- A fire, flood or burglary at your home
In the following circumstances, you’re entitled to up to 10 days of emergency leave:
- The death of a close relative
- Pregnancy loss before 24 weeks (experienced by yourself or your partner)
- Loss of a baby via surrogacy
If you are funded by UKRI, your stipend will continue as normal during emergency leave, and your studentship may be extended to account for the time take. If you are funded by other sources, please check with your funding administrator.
If you need to take more than 5 days leave and you want your submission deadline extended by the equivalent period, you should apply via 'Change my student status' in your CamSIS self-service for
- A 'short break in study' (for absences between 5 and 9 working days inclusive)
- An intermission (for periods longer than two weeks)
Note that if your time is greater than five days but less than two weeks, you may be asked to use some of your annual leave.
Additional Leave
In the following circumstances, you are entitled to up to four weeks’ leave:
- If you are unable to study for over five study days as the result of a delay in putting in place reasonable adjustments for your disability.
- If health and safety concerns mean that you have been unable to continue with their studies despite all reasonable efforts to mitigate the issue
- Jury service - compulsory jury service for a trial
In these circumstances, you should apply via 'Change my student status' in your CamSIS self-service for a 'short break in study' or for a non-medical intermission, depending on if the length of the absence is between 5 and 9 study days, or over two weeks, respectively. Your deadline will be extended automatically if your application is approved.
If you are funded by UKRI, you will continue to receive your stipend for periods of additional leave and your studentship may be extended to account for these periods. If you are funded by other sources, you should check with your funding administrator. For the visa implications of additional leave, please see the guidance on the intermission page.
Sources of Support
If you are experiencing difficulties which are impacting on your well-being there are a number of sources of support available. Information about some of these can be found here:
https://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/selfhelp/other
You might also find the Student Wellbeing and Equality & Diversity websites helpful.