Student Notices

The Office of Graduate Studies and Research wishes to advise that the Leave of Absence (LOA) online portal for Semester 2 2025-2026 has been opened and closes on February 6, 2026. For information on how to access, please click here.

Please note the following:

Who is eligible for LOA

- The Leave of Absence (LOA) option only applies to students who have registered, been financially cleared and have completed at least one (1) semester of their graduate programme. LOA is not available to new Postgraduate Students who are commencing programmes for the first time in January 2026.

- New students who have received a degree offer letter to commence their degree programme with effect from January 2026 are required to contact their respective Faculty/Programme Representative or Customer Service Personnel at the Graduate Studies Office to learn of the options available should they not be commencing their degree programme in January 2026.

LOA Approval Process

Once a student submits an online Leave of Absence request, the student should check their online student academic record/transcript located in the student portal within two weeks of the online submission to check on the decision on the LOA request i.e. approved or denied. Please do not enter more than 50 characters (approx. 20 words or less) in the optional box. Should you exceed the word limit, your LOA request will not be received in the portal.

LOA Approval Process for Postgraduate Students in:

(a) Institute for Gender and Development Studies

(b) Faculty of Law

(c) The UWI Seismic Research Centre

Postgraduate students in categories (a-c) above are required to submit a letter (via email to: STA-pg@sta.uwi.edu) and addressed to the Assistant Registrar, Graduate Studies and Research on or before February 6, 2026 deadline date. The letter should clearly state the name of the student, the student ID number, degree programme and reasons for the request. Also, in the event the LOA request is for medical reasons, please refer to the section entitled: “LOA for Medical Reasons Process” (below).

LOA for Medical Reasons Process

Only Leave of absence requests for medical reasons e.g. pregnancy are accepted throughout the semester. Since the online LOA portal closes on February 6, 2026, students are asked to submit the Leave of Absence for medical reasons via email to STA-pg@sta.uwi.edu(i.e. letter addressed to the Assistant Registrar, Graduate Studies and Research) to the Graduate Studies and Research office. An official medical letter from the student’s doctor must accompany this type of LOA request otherwise your request will not be accepted/considered. Kindly scan and email both documents to the email address indicated above. Graduate Students: Do not submit your medicals for Leave of Absence to the Health Service Unit.

Online LOA Portal - Technical Difficulties

For technical difficulties, students are asked to send an email clearly explaining with screenshots the technical issue to servicedesk@sta.uwi.edu

For any additional information regarding Leave of Absence, the following link refers: https://sta.uwi.edu/resources/documents/postgrad/Postgraduate-Leave-of-absence.pdf