Get the answers to the most common questions asked by students
Being at university is a major step in your life, so it's natural that you'll have lots of questions about life on campus. Below we have compiled the most commonly asked questions, separated into different topics, so you can quickly and easily find solutions to any issues you may have.
Timetables for Welcome Week are all available via the Welcome Week pages on the website. If you are confused by the terminology or have forgotten your timetable or just need information or help with something you cannot find on the website please contact the Programme Administration department (PAd). We will be able to help and provide any further information you may need.
You will receive an email about pre-registering rather than a letter. This email will have been sent from our Admissions Department three weeks prior to the start of your course providing you with passwords and a link to follow for your pre-registration.
If you haven’t received this email please contact the Enquiries team who will be able to help with any questions or help you may need before starting your course.
Further information on pre-registration can be found here.
If you are a continuing student and haven’t received an e-mail giving you instructions on how to register for the next Academic Year, please contact your Programme Administration department (PAd) in the first instance.
If you are provisionally registered you will have been provided with information on this prior to and during the registration process. You will need to contact the Admissions Team for your course to resolve this.
You can also call in to see them on your campus. They will also hold Admissions follow up events after registration sessions in September. Information on the times and locations of these will be available through the main Welcome Week web pages.
You can change your contact details via the Student Hub if you need to change your name, you can advise of this via the Student Portal but will also have to provide original copies of legal documents to do this. Please contact the Programme Administration department (PAd) for further information.
If you have completed online registration or pre-registration and are fully registered on course you should have access to Blackboard. If, however, you are encountering problems, please call in to the Programme Administration department (PAd) and staff there will check your student record to see if there is any reason why you are having problems. If everything seems in order you will find details of who to contact here.
If you are over the age of 26 you will need to have the railcard form verified by your University tutor. Once they have approved the form, please contact the Programme Administration department (PAd) who will stamp both your photograph and the form.
If you are a full time student and fully registered, you will be e-mailed a Council Tax Exemption letter as soon as your registration is complete. This document should be sent or taken to the local Council Tax Office, with your Council Tax bill if you have received one. Your Council Tax Exemption form covers the duration of your course and is transferable between addresses.
Council Tax Exemption forms are only provided for those students who meet the eligibility requirements in terms of their attendance and hours of study. This form provides exemption under Regulation 5 of the Council Tax (Discount Disregards) Order 1992.
Apprenticeship students are not eligible for Council Tax exemption, support or reductions due to their employed status.
Ambleside students
Local Taxation Department (Council Tax)
Revenues and Benefits
South Lakeland House
Lowther Street
Kendal
LA9 4DQ
Email: counciltax@southlakeland.gov.uk
Phone: 01539 733733
Open Monday to Friday, 08.45am-5.00pm
Carlisle students
Council Tax Office
Civic Centre
Rickergate
Carlisle
CA3 8QG
Email customerservices@carlisle.gov.uk
Phone 01228 817200
Open 9.00am-5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 9.00am-4.00pm Friday
Lancaster students
Revenue Services
PO Box 4
Town Hall
Lancaster
LA1 1QR
Email: ctax@lancaster.gov.uk
Phone: 01524 582900
Open 9.00am-5.00on Monday to Friday.
London students
Local arrangements apply, please contact your Programme Administration office if unsure.
If you lose your certificate or need a further copy during your course, please contact your Programme Administration office by e-mail or phone and we will send you a copy by return.
Staff at your Programme Administration office (PAd) would be able to help you with this. Further information on requests for letters can be found on the PAd webpages. You will need to provide at least 48 hours notice for any letters you may require.
Further information on bank letters can be found here. If you are an international student information on this will also have been provided in your International Student Handbook.
Please visit our Finance webpages or email moneyadvice@cumbria.ac.uk.
You will need to make an appointment with the Disability and SpLD team in the first instance. Staff within the Disability and SpLD team will go through the form with you and offer you guidance and support. Once you have completed all the required sections please call into the Programme Administration office, who will confirm your credit rating or FTE study information and stamp the form for you.
Your assignment should be submitted by 4pm on the day of submission via the submission boxes, which are located in your Programme Administration office. You will not be given a receipt for your work, but if you have completed a coversheet, put your work in a secure folder and you put it straight into the submission box your work will be secure. Please do not put anything in the box that is loose, unnamed or without a cover sheet.
Further information on procedures relating to assignments can be found on the Assignments page.
Once your tutor has returned assignments to the Programme Administration office, the administrative staff responsible for your programme will notify you via Blackboard when your work is available for collection. This is usually 48 hours after assignments are returned from your tutor. Please bring your Cumbria card with you to prove your identity when collecting your work.
Yes, you can ask a friend to collect your work, but you must either email your relevant Programme Administration office to let us know this, or send a note with your friend giving authorisation that you are happy for them to collect your work. You would need to provide your own details in full together of those of your friend, who would need to verify their identity to correspond with your request.
All marks are provisional until they have been presented firstly at a Module Assessment Board (MAB) and then the University Assessment Board (UAB). Once your marks have been confirmed by the UAB you will be sent an email to all the email addresses we hold for you (please make sure these are up to date, by checking them on the Student Portal) advising you that your marks are now able to be viewed by the Student Portal.
If you have submitted your work in hard copy then your marks will be available on your feedback sheet. However, if you have submitted your work online then you will receive your marks via the University’s Grade Centre. You will be notified of this via your Blackboard site.
If you are unhappy with your mark or grade or the feedback you have been given, please contact your tutor to discuss this. Staff within the PAd are not able to comment on feedback given to you by your tutor.
The Extenuating Circumstances Procedure and what you need to do to apply for consideration of these is available through the Extenuating Circumstances section.
You must make an appeal in writing via an Appeal Form identifying the grounds for appeal and you must provide relevant dated documentary independent evidence to the Secretary to the Appeals Panel via the Assessment Office within ten working days of the publication of your results. Forms submitted outside of this timeline will be deemed to be invalid and will not be progressed.
All students now have access to the Student Hub and will be able to view their profiles. However, marks for modules taken during the year will remain blank until they have been processed through the relevant Module Assessment Board (MAB) and University Assessment Board (UAB). They will not be able to be viewed through the Student Portal until they have been formally confirmed through a UAB.
You will have been provided with details about how placements are organised within your Course or Programme Handbook. Information and links to the Placements Unit for your course will also be available via your Blackboard or Pebblepad sites.
Further information on the Placement Learning Unit for students within the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing can also be found on their webpages.
You will need to contact your Placement Unit for all issues related to your placement, staff within the Programme Administration department (PAd) will not be able to help with placement related issues.
Please read the information on Absence Reporting and follow the instructions relating to your course.
If you are registered on a course for which you needed to undertake a DBS (formerly CRB) check, the University will have received electronic notification of your result around the same time that you received your copy of the Disclosure certificate. Please note that, in the vast majority of cases, we do not receive a copy of the DBS certificate and, even in the few cases where we do, we are not allowed to retain this or provide a copy for you.
If it is within 3 months of the date of issue of your certificate and your certificate was lost in the post, you can request a reprint of the certificate from the DBS by phoning 0870 90 90 811. The DBS will not issue reprints for lost Disclosures.
If you need confirmation for a placement that you completed a DBS check for registration on your course, please email the DBS Team from your student account with the placement’s email address and a contact name and we can action this for you.
If you have registered on an Initial Teacher Training course, that is leading to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) you will be provided with a TRN by the Teaching Regulation Agency. The Teaching Regulation Agency send this through electronically and it is uploaded onto your student record and you can view this via your student portal home page.
Please see information under the Certificates and Transcripts section for further information on this.
All programmes have individual requirements. If you are unsure what to do, please contact your Programme Leader in the first instance.
You should complete a Leave of Absence Form, which you can collect from the Programme Administration office. This form needs to be completed in full by both yourself and the relevant tutors for the sessions which you will miss. Once the form is complete, please return it to your local PAd. Failure to return your form will result in your record showing an unauthorised absence.
Please see the information provided under Absence Reporting and follow the procedures detailed which relate to the course on which you are registered.
You can notify us via the Student Portal if you wish to make changes to your modules.
You can also collect a ‘Change of Module form’ from the Programme Administration office. Further information on the procedures for changing your modules is available within the Your Modules section.
Students on prescribed courses are not able to make changes to their modules as they must follow a fixed programme of modules on their course.
If you have personal circumstances (e.g. due to health or family reasons) which mean that you need to take time away from your course, you will need to collect an Intercalation Form from the Programme Administration office.
Further information on intercalation and what you need to do to apply to intercalate is available in the Taking a Break, Transfers and Withdrawals section.
You must also contact the Money Advice Service to discuss the financial implications of intercalation.
You must follow through the intercalation procedure and return a completed form to the Programme Administration department (PAd) before your intercalation can be authorised.
You must first of all collect a Withdrawal Form from the Programme Administration office and you must also contact the Money Advice Service to discuss the financial implications of withdrawal. Further information on the next steps you need to follow to withdraw from your course can be found within the Your Course section.
It is not always possible to transfer directly from one course to another, whether or not you are able to transfer courses depends on a number of factors. Information on transferring course is available here.
If it is possible for you to transfer you will need to collect a Transfer Form from the Programme Administration office. You must also contact the Money Advice Service to discuss the financial implications of your transfer.
Your completed and approved form must be returned to the PAd before it can be processed and you officially change courses at the University.
It may also be that you wish to transfer campus to continue on the same course or to change your attendance i.e. full time to part time; further information on these types of transfer is also available through the link provided above.
