Students on some courses can start the 2021/22 autumn term online.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to campus and we are excited about providing academic and social activities in person. You should travel to Lancaster for the start of term or soon after if you are able to do so, however, we understand that for some students living overseas this won't be possible due to travel restrictions, visa considerations and delays in receiving qualification results.
We aim to be as flexible as possible to support our students' arrival plans. For some subjects, we are able to offer online learning options during the first term and up to the start of the Spring Term (4th October-13th January). We encourage all students to arrive as soon as possible so that they can enjoy the full campus experience.
The option to start online is not available for all courses. Those students to whom we can offer this flexibility should have been contacted, however a list of courses can be found below.
What you need to know
Frequently asked questions accordion. accordion
Students who are unable to travel and are taking an eligible course, can start their studies online.
Under these special arrangements, course materials will be made available for you so that you can start the course online. The precise details will vary between courses, however materials may include pre-recorded lectures, or you may be asked to join your lectures and watch them live. Your course may also have seminars live online which you will be expected to participate in.
Live events may be scheduled for a UK working day, so occasionally you may have to join an event in the early morning or late evening depending on your time zone. The provision of elements of your course online will be a temporary arrangement and we can’t guarantee that all elements of the in-person course would be available remotely. But we will do everything we can to ensure you have a positive experience until you are able to join us in person.
Flexible arrival is available to students living overseas who will be studying at Lancaster in 2021/22 and unable to travel due to government travel restrictions, visa considerations or delays in receiving qualification results. Students will need to register and pay their fees to Lancaster University by the deadlines provided and you will be notified about these. Flexible arrival can only be offered for the first term (4th October-13th January) to students studying the following courses:
Lancaster University Management School: all undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees.
Linguistics Department: MA Discourse Studies, MA Intercultural Communication, MA Language and Linguistics, MA Language and Literary Studies, and MA TESOL and Applied Linguistics.
Sociology Department: BA/MA Media and Cultural Studies, and BA Sociology.
Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA): MA Arts Management.
Department of Languages and Cultures: MA Translation.
If you are unsure about your eligibility, please get in touch:
Welcome Week for new students begins on the 4th October and the academic year starts on the 8th October for most students. You should arrive at Lancaster by these dates or soon after if possible.
However, if you are unable to arrive before the end of October due to government travel restrictions, visa considerations, or delays in receiving qualification results, and are taking one of the courses listed in the section above, we can provide the flexibility for you to start your first term studies online.
We are able to offer this flexible arrival throughout the first term for students, but you should arrive at Lancaster as soon as you are able.
All students need to register with the University before the start of the autumn term and we will send information about how to do this in due course. We encourage you to register as soon as we provide this information so that you can access online information and prepare for the start of your degree.
When you register, you will be asked to indicate your planned arrival date. If you are unable to arrive for the start of the autumn term and you are eligible for flexible arrival, we will arrange for you to start your course online until you can travel to Lancaster. Anyone who is not eligible and is unable to arrive by 31st October will be contacted to discuss their options.
For those able to arrive by 31st October 2021, we are able to offer a Travel and Test Support Package to help them arrive and settle at Lancaster.
Some aspects of this package have been extended until the start of the Spring Term to support flexible arrival. This includes:
A free transfer from Manchester Airport and Lancaster train station.
The cost of one UK coronavirus PCR test (up to £125).
For more information about what you need to do when travelling to England, visit our Coronavirus (Covid-19) pages.
You do not need a visa to start your course online. But you will need a visa before travelling to the UK.
If you already have a Tier 4 student visa and meet our eligibility criteria for flexible arrival, you will be able to start your first term studies online before transitioning to face-to-face learning.
Continuing students who intend to apply for a Graduate visa will need to arrive in the UK before the 27th September 2021. For new students, your tier 4 student visa will permit you to begin your studies online before transitioning to face-to-face studies and still be eligible for the Graduate Immigration Route. Please note these temporary concessions are liable to change so please be sure to check UK Government guidance before making plans.
You should check our international pages for information about how and when to apply for the Graduate Immigration Route.
For more information about what you need to do when travelling to England, visit our Coronavirus (Covid-19) pages.
To support your studies in China, the Alibaba Cloud Accelerator will be available during the first term to help you access your studies online.
The system provides faster and more reliable secure access to key Lancaster University learning resources than you might have experienced due to bandwidth restrictions. Information about accessing Alibaba Cloud Accelerator will be made available closer to the start of term.
We are aware that UK-China scheduled passenger flights are currently suspended. Working with a number of UK universities, we are able to offer places on chartered flights from mainland China to Manchester airport in September and October 2021.
We are monitoring UK Government advice and will review our support for overseas students periodically in the weeks and months ahead. We contact students and prospective students regularly by email, however we also advise you to check for updates on this page and other relevant pages using the links below.
What to expect at Lancaster
Visit our Promise pages to find out about our flexible approach, the campus experience, the support available, and the additional safety measures we're taking.
COVID-19 update
Our thoughts are with all who are affected by the Coronavirus. We are working hard to ensure we keep you up-to-date with news from Lancaster University.
