Documentary supporting information

It is your responsibility to provide up-to-date objective documentary supporting information for requests for authorised absence, suspensions or extensions of study, within the time frame given by your school.

It is unlikely that your request will be considered until appropriate documentary supporting information is received.  Documentary supporting information should be emailed to your Graduate School and not uploaded to GRAD. The Graduate School will not obtain documentary supporting information on your behalf. 

Documentary supporting information normally takes the form of an original letter-headed document, signed by an appropriate third party, giving details of the circumstances, dates and/or duration and, where possible, its impact. An appropriate third party would be one who knows you in a professional capacity, or one who can verify the circumstances and provide objective and impartial advice. Documentary supporting information will only be accepted from verifiable addresses. All documentary supporting information must be provided in English. It is your responsibility to provide translations of any non-English documentation, and any documents not in English or without translation will not be accepted as documentary supporting information. The translation must be certified as accurate by a Public Notary or translated by an accredited translator. Originals can be returned to you if requested. 

If you do not produce appropriate documentation, you may be asked to provide further evidence to support your request.  

It is a serious University disciplinary offence to make a false declaration, and action will be taken under the General University Disciplinary Regulations if a fraudulent statement is made, or fabricated documents provided.  

Health/wellbeing  

You are required to provide independent documentary documentary supporting information to support requests for periods of suspension or extension relating to your health and wellbeing.  

The medical documentation might take the form of a “fit to study” note, letter or report from a medical practitioner (eg GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist) and would normally be an original, printed or digital letter-headed document signed by an appropriate medically qualified healthcare professional, preferably the treating clinician. The documentary supporting information should help the school understand how your medical situation is affecting your ability to study. Your documentary supporting information should include the dates and duration of any period when your health has/will completely prevent you from studying. 

We are not able to accept a prescription or the box cover of medication or confirmation of medical appointments as this gives no professional opinion of your capacity to study. 

If you provide documentary supporting information from a counsellor outside of the NHS, they must be accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).  The documentation must include details of the circumstances and the dates and/or duration of any period when your health has completely prevented you from studying.

In some circumstances, such as to support the arrangement of sick pay, your school may ask you to provide additional documentary supporting information from a medical practitioner (eg GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, or physiotherapist). 

In support of short-term absences on the grounds of ill-health 

You are required to provide independent medical documentations (eg GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, or physiotherapist) to support requests for periods of authorised absence relating to your health and wellbeing of more than five working days. For periods of illness up to five working days, you can self-certify by submitting your authorised absence request in GRAD or emailing the Graduate School. If you receive funding where you may be eligible for sick pay (eg stipend full or partially funded by UKRI or University of Leeds), you will need to provide evidence for any period of sickness. Where the illness relates to a disability or chronic condition the Summary Support Sheet provided by Disability Services may be used as documentary supporting information. However, in some circumstances, additional medical documentation may be required. Please see the UKRI sick leave and compassionate leave page on the For Students website. 

Health/wellbeing of a third party 

If you are seeking a suspension or extension due to circumstances connected with someone close to you, we need to know what impact this is having on you and your research project. If possible, please provide independent documentary supporting information to demonstrate the impact on you (preferably from an independent third party, eg GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, or physiotherapist).  You will need to be clear about how and why your ability to progress is/was affected. 

Personal information or documentary supporting information about third parties is unlikely to be requested by the school. If third party information is provided or deemed essential by the school to the consideration of the case, it must be accompanied by consent for the University to process the data. 

Bereavement  

Documentary supporting information for bereavement is not routinely requested.  Please speak to your Graduate School for advice on short term absence (if you expect the absence to be less than a month).  

Disability 

Disabled PGRs registered with the University’s Disability Services can use their Summary Support Sheet provided by Disability Services as documentary supporting information, where the grounds for the request are related to the disability or requested as part of a reasonable adjustment. 

If you are UKRI funded and seeking sick pay for a period when your health/wellbeing has been negatively impacted by your disability, please refer to the health/wellbeing section above. 

Other unexpected/unplanned domestic disruption (eg house fire, burglary, flood, etc)  

Documentary supporting information must include dates and how/why your progress was disrupted; for instance, a corroborating statement from a landlord, counsellor, or University staff member. 

Maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave 

For a suspension or authorised absence related to maternity leave, documentary supporting information can be in the form of a MATB1, issued by a registered midwife. 

For paternity/parental leave, partners are entitled to up to two weeks paid Ordinary Paternity Leave.  If you wish to take a longer period of leave you must suspend your studies. For paternity/parental leave; evidence can be a MATB1 form, issued by a registered midwife, or a birth certificate. 

For adoption leave, documentary supporting information can be a letter from your adoption agency or the matching certificate.  

Jury Service 

Acceptable documentary supporting information would be official correspondence from HM Courts and Tribunals Service. 

Victim of crime 

Please submit your Crime reference number (these are usually provided by the police where a crime has been reported). 

For crimes of a personal nature, where you find it difficult to report the matter to the police, appropriate documentary supporting information can be provided by a medical professional, counsellor, or relevant person.