The University of Oxford will grant all postgraduate research (PGR) students a four-week grace period before assessing whether they are liable to University Continuation Charges (UCC) in Hilary term.
This will allow students to submit their thesis by Friday of 4th week (12 February 2021) instead of the normal deadline of 0th week (15th January 2021) without incurring the UCC for Hilary. This could save PGR students up to £508 each.
The decision was made after a stretch of targeted lobbying by SU VP Graduates, Lauren Bolz, who urged the University’s Fees and Funding team to consider implementing the grace period.
Lauren Bolz stated, ‘I am really pleased to see that the University has listened to post graduate research students’ concerns, and has recognised the impact that Covid-19 has had on students’ studies.’ She added ‘this change should go a long way to give students the extra time they need to submit their dissertations.’
This grace period will automatically be provided to you if you submit your thesis by 12 February 2021, and you will not need to apply for an academic extension to cover late submission of your thesis if it is submitted during the grace period.
While this grace period applies to UCC, it has not necessarily been extended to colleges’ continuation period. Oxford SU and Lauren Bolz have both pledged to continue to lobby colleges to support and match the University’s grace period.
