Change your plan – transferring, absence or withdrawal

There are many occasions when personal circumstances may make it necessary for you to change aspects of your course. However, the decision to make changes to your course should not be taken lightly and it is essential that you understand the implications that any changes may have. You should discuss any proposed changes with your personal supervisor in the first instance, along with your Practice Assessor/line manager. Your personal supervisor will discuss this with the apprenticeship coordinator and a meeting may then need to be arranged with your line manager and employer representative to discuss options. Support can also be provided by the Department’s Student Services team. 

Transferring to another field of practice

Your field of practice relates to your employment and place of work. In exceptional circumstances, if a transfer of field is deemed necessary, then discussions will need to take place between you, the programme team and your employer. A meeting will be arranged with all parties to discuss this. It is only possible to change FOP up to the end of Stage 1 of the programme and your chosen FOP must relate to your employment. 

Change of employment

If you are on an apprenticeship route and wish to change provider, you may be able to do so but you must discuss this with your employer and Programme Lead. In terms of the apprenticeship programme, your new provider will need to ensure that an initial assessment is undertaken; any recognition of prior learning is considered and that no parts of your current programme are repeated and the new employment is in line with the field of practice. The new provider must be part of the partnership agreement and have completed an NMC form to register as a partner and they must meet the placement requirements to support you on the apprenticeship. 

Break in learning

A learner may take a break in learning where they plan to return to the same apprenticeship programme and this is agreed with the employer. This could include for medical treatment, parental leave or leave for other personal 

reasons. Annual leave, public holidays and short-term absences (up to 4 weeks) must not be recorded as breaks in learning. Any breaks in learning must be recorded on the Individual Learning Record (ILR) and include re-planning of the delivery of any remaining training and/or assessment following a break, if required. This may result in changes to the apprenticeship agreement between the University and employer. 

If you are enrolled on a course of study, but are unable to undertake any academic work for a period of four weeks or more, then you may be able to temporarily withdraw from your course for up to a year. The University refers to this as a break in learning. All requests for temporary withdrawal must be made to the University through your workplace line manager and personal supervisor as soon as it becomes apparent that you will be/ are unable to continue with your academic work. Your case for temporary withdrawal should be supported by evidence indicating why this is necessary, e.g. medical certificates. If your temporary withdrawal is granted on medical grounds, you will be asked to provide the University with adequate medical certification of your fitness to return to your course of study six weeks before you are due to restart. This will be forwarded confidentially for approval of certification by the University’s Occupational Health Physician. 

If you expect to reach the end of your enrolment period without having completed the course, you may be able to request an extension of up to six months. All extension requests must be made to the University via your personal supervisor following discussions with your line manager and should be supported by evidence indicating why you 

are unable to complete on time. Where reasons include medical problems, a doctor’s certificate is normally required. 

Withdrawal

Withdrawing from the programme may have implications to your contract of employment and any future study and should therefore be discussed with your line manager initially and then the Programme Lead. A meeting will be arranged between you, your line manager, the programme team and your employer apprenticeship coordinator to discuss your withdrawal and make sure you are aware of all the options and a plan of action formulated before any withdrawal is actioned. You will be contacted by the Trained Leaver Contact (TLC) for the Department as a learner who has been flagged as making a withdrawal request through Evision and you will be asked if you would like to meet to discuss all of the options and/or their decision.