Unless otherwise informed, your start date will be recorded as the date specified in your Offer Letter and as displayed in the Online Sign-Up process. Your start date will usually coincide with the start of term unless a different date has been agreed in advance with your department. In such cases, the start date should be recorded as the date of your first contact with Royal Holloway academics or facilities, whether that is the date of your Identity Check or the date of your first meeting (in-person or remotely) with your supervisor or other departmental academic staff, or accessing of online materials or resources made available either by College, your academic School or your department.

If you are unsure what your start date is, please contact us.

It may be possible request to have your start date changed if:

• You have not yet started the programme and wish to delay your start date to later in the academic year

Or

• If you have started your programme but realise that your start date on College records is incorrect.

You should only change your start date if you have discussed the implications and options open to you from an academic perspective, and gained the approval of your supervisor for a new start date.

If you do not yet have a student record then a change to start date may need to be processed by the Admissions team rather than the Doctoral School. Please contact us to check who should change your start date in this instance.

It is important to have the correct start date recorded because we calculate your upgrade and submission deadlines from the start date on your student record. Failure to submit by your official submission deadline may lead to the closure of your student record.

Changes to your start date, as registered on the Student Record System, must be requested within 6 months of completing your enrolment with the college. Changes to your start date will not be permitted after this time.

Your tuition fees will be adjusted to commence from your new start date, and this will be the case for your annual billing cycle. For further details of your tuition fee liability after a change to start date, please contact us.

If your studies are being funded by a Research Council, external agency, or College Scholarship, your start date may be set by the conditions of your funding. Please ensure that your College start date matches the start date agreed with the funding body and that any changes to your start date are agreed by the funding body prior to requesting the change with the college. If you wish to discuss the implications to any funding as a result of a change to start date, please contact us.

If you are funded by a Research Council, College Scholarship or external agency, please find further advice here.

If you are in receipt of a loan from Student Finance, it is important that you contact Student Finance to confirm your new start date and to check your entitlement to future payments.

You can contact them on 0300 100 0607.

If you are studying at Royal Holloway under a Student Route or Tier 4 sponsored visa, you are not permitted to change your start date once you have entered the UK. For further advice, please contact internationaladvice@royalholloway.ac.uk.

If you are studying on a Masters by Research programme, you may not be able to change your start date if there are taught components within the course. Please contact us to find out.

You need to contact the Student Services Centre for advice.

If your student record has already been created and you have decided that you definitely want to change your start date:

• You MUST read all sections above before completing the online change to start date form.
• You must contact your supervisor to arrange an appointment to discuss the details of your request to change your start date.
• Your supervisor must agree to the new start date.

If you are not sure if your student record has been created, please contact us. If it has not yet been created, you will need to contact the Admissions team to get the start date changed.

• You must complete sections A to C of the online form below and submit.
• You will be required to provide your College email address to commence this form.

Section A - Student details

This will require your basic details including your student ID number, programme of studies and supervisor details.

Section B - Details of your request

This will require details of the start date on your offer letter, and the new start date as agreed with your supervisor.

Section C - Student's confirmation

This will require your confirmation that you have read, understood and acted on the advice as set out in these guidelines.

Submit

By submitting your form you are confirming that you would like the Doctoral School to start processing your request, in line with the process guidance provided above, and all the information you have provided on the form is true and correct.

You will receive an automated confirmation email, along with a copy of the details of your form once your application has been successfully submitted.

Tips for completing the form

It is advisable that you follow the steps below in order to ensure you submit your request successfully:

• Use Google Chrome to access the form;
• Delete cached data and cookies before you start completing the form;
• When navigating through the form, use the ‘Previous’/ ‘Next’ buttons at the bottom of the page rather than the ‘Return’ arrow of the browser.

Your form will be sent to your Supervisor for academic approval

After your form has been processed and your record has been updated, you will receive an email confirmation from the Doctoral School confirming how this change of start date affects your:

• upgrade deadlines
• thesis submission deadline
• funding end date (if funded)