Other PGR leave entitlements
Other PGR leave entitlements
PGR Compassionate Leave may be requested for personal reasons such as:
- dealing with a family emergency
- emergency time off for dependants
- attending a funeral
- a family bereavement
- extreme personal circumstances involving a family member or those for whom a student may have caring responsibilities.
Requests for PGR Compassionate Leave are assessed on a case-by-case basis, but in all cases, the IGS will follow the same guiding principles as applied to staff via the relevant University policies.
Emergency Time off for Dependants Leave Policy (ed.ac.uk)
Special Leave Policy (ed.ac.uk)
If you are not sure if your request will qualify for compassionate leave please contact the IGS team to discuss and seek clarity.
Compassionate leave is a short term (up to 5 days in any 12 month rolling period) which can be taken (with the appropriate permission) in the event of an eligible circumstance. If the mode of study is part-time, the entitlement is pro-rated (i.e. 2.5 days).
There is an additional entitlement for bereaved parents, who are entitled to up to 10 days paid PGR Compassionate leave in the event of the death of a child under 18 years of age.
NB: Taking part of a day to deal with an emergency, for example, will count as one of the 5 days that you are entitled to (or 2.5 days if part time).
To apply for compassionate leave please follow these instructions:
1. Complete the IGS PGR Compassionate Leave form (below).
2. Please write the exact dates you are requesting as PGR Compassionate Leave days (up to 5 working days in a rolling 12 month period) and the reason for the request.
- You may be asked to provide evidence to support your request.
3. Discuss the absence with your primary supervisor and if they agree to the absence, they will need to sign the form (NB: Students can also approach the Deputy Director of IGS or their CDT Director, instead of their primary supervisor).
- By signing the form, your principal supervisor (or appropriate other) is confirming that they do not consider that the short term absence will have a detrimental effect on the progress of PGR studies and that their student is still able to successfully complete their current programme of study within the remaining programme period.
4. Send the form, which must be signed by both student and supervisor, to IGS@inf.ed.ac.uk.
5. You will receive an email from the IGS admin team if any further information or evidence for your absence.
6. You will receive an email from the IGS admin team to confirm your absence has been approved (or refused).
- If the leave is approved, the IGS team will add a note into the Comments section of the EUCLID student record, which records the specific dates taken as PGR Compassionate Leave. If you receive a studentship via the University of Edinburgh, and are within your funded period, you will receive additional funding for the no. of approved compassionate leave days (up to a maximum of 5 days in any 12 month rolling period).
- If the leave is refused, the reason why will be provided at the time of notification.
Things to note
Please note that leave must be applied for at the time the compassionate leave is required; retrospective compassionate leave requests will not be accepted (unless there are very exceptional circumstances that meant the leave could not be applied for at the appropriate time).
If the absence is a medical absence, please refer to the PGR sick pay entitlements and policy.
If the absence is related to parental/maternity leave, please refer to the PGR parental leave entitlements and policy.