PGR sick pay entitlements
Information about sick pay entitlements for PGR students
This policy relates to the payment of studentship stipends during periods of sickness absence covered by medical certification and applies to students who are in receipt of funding from an eligible source.
- Eligible students may receive stipend payments at their current payment rate for a period of absence covered by a medical certificate, up to a maximum of 13 weeks (91 calendar days) in any rolling 12 month period.
- Eligibility applies from the point of initial matriculation on the relevant programme, until the end of the approved funding period.
- Students must be fully matriculated at the point of submitting their request.
- In addition to receiving stipend payments during a period of sickness absence, an extension to the current funding period matching the duration of the absence covered by medical certification will be applied. Sickness absences that are not covered by a medical certificate are not eligible for paid sick leave or a subsequent funded extension.
- The 12-month period is from the first day of the first absence during the studentship, and on the anniversary thereafter e.g. if the student is absent for four weeks from 1st November 2022, the next 12-month period starts on 1st November 2023. However, if more than 12 months have elapsed between the student’s current and last sickness absence, the new anniversary date will be taken as 12 months from the start of the current absence.
- Students who are registered on one of the CDT programmes below and whose stipends are funded by UKRI or EPSRC are entitled to receive sick pay in accordance with the UKRI terms and conditions of research training grants.
- Students who are registered on one of the CDT programmes below and whose stipends are funded by the School of Informatics (or other School or University funded scholarship), are entitled to receive sick pay in accordance with the UKRI terms and conditions of research training grants.
- Students who are registered on one of the CDT programmes below and whose stipends are funded by an industry sponsor (e.g. Huawei, ARM, IBM etc.) and administered by the School of Informatics’ are eligible to receive paid sick leave, however, they must follow the terms and conditions as stated in the contractual agreements of their external / industry funder. In the first instance, the Portfolio Manager responsible for the external / industry sponsor budget must determine whether the costs of the paid sick leave can be provided by the external / industry funder; paid sick leave will only be provided by the School where the external / industry funder has confirmed that are unable or unwilling to do so.
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Part-time or part-funded students should expect to receive any payments to which they are entitled on a pro-rata basis and in the case of part-funded students, they will only be entitled to funding for the part of the studentship provided or administered by the University.
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Students are only eligible to receive one type of paid leave at a time, e.g. a student who is in receipt of paid maternity leave is not eligible to also receive paid sick leave during that same period.
Students registered on these programmes are eligible to receive sick pay |
Programme Code |
Natural Language Processing (PhD with Integrated Study) (full time and part time) |
PRPHDNATLP1F and PRPHDNATLP1P |
Biomedical Artificial Intelligence MScR (full time and part time) |
PRMSCBIOAI1F and PRMSCBIOAI2F |
Biomedical Artificial Intelligence PhD (full time and part time) |
PRPHDBIOAI1F and PRPHDBIOAI1P |
Robotics and Autonomous Systems PhD (UoE led programme) (full time and part time) NB: RAS students on the HWU led PhD programme should make their paid sick leave claims via Heriot Watt University |
PRPHDROBAS3F and PRPHDROBAS5F PRPHDROBAS1F and PRPHDROBAS8P |
Data Science PhD (full time and part time) | PRPHDDATSC1F |
Pervasive Parallelism PhD (full time and part time) | PRPHDPERPA1F |
- Students who are registered on one of the Research Institute led PGR programmes (listed below) are eligible to receive sick pay where they are in receipt of a School-, College- or University-funded studentship, or an EPSRC funded PhD studentship. In all cases, paid sick leave will be managed under the UKRI terms and conditions of research training grants. Examples include: Informatics Graduate School funded studentships (including IGPS), School of Informatics Pump Priming Scholarships, Research Institute funded studentships, Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships (EDCS), EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) awards, EPSRC Industrial Case (iCASE) awards, EPSRC CASE Conversion awards.
- Students who are registered on one of the Research Institute led PGR programmes (listed below) and whose stipends are funded by an external / industry sponsor (e.g. Huawei, ARM, IBM etc.) but those stipends are administered by the School of Informatics’ are also entitled to paid sick leave, however, they must follow the terms and conditions as stated in the contractual agreements of their external / industry funder. In the first instance, the Portfolio Manager responsible for the external / industry sponsor budget must determine whether the costs of the paid sick leave can be provided by the external / industry funder; paid sick leave will only be provided by the School where the external / industry funder has confirmed that are unable or unwilling to do so.
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Part-time or part-funded students should expect to receive any payments to which they are entitled on a pro-rata basis and in the case of part-funded students, they will only be entitled to funding for the part of the studentship provided or administered by the University.
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Students are only eligible to receive one type of paid leave at a time, e.g. a student who is in receipt of paid maternity leave is not eligible to also receive paid sick leave during that same period.
Research Institute |
Eligible programmes | Programme Codes |
Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation (IANC) |
PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFAN1F, PRMSCINFAN1P PRMPHINFMT3F, PRMPHINFMT2P PRPHDINFMT1F, PRPHDINFMTAP |
Institute for Computing Systems Architecture (ICSA) | PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFIC1F, PRMSCINFIC1P PRMPHINFMT6F, PRMPHINFMT5P PRPHDINFMT6F, PRPHDINFMT6P |
Artificial Intelligence and its Applications Institute (AIAI) | PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFCI2F, PRMSCINFCI2P PRMPHINFM10F, PRMPHINFM10P PRPHDINFM10F, PRPHDINFMT8P |
Institute for Perception, Action and Behaviour (IPAB) | PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFIP1F, PRMSCINFIP1P PRMPHINFMTBF , PRMPHINFMTAP PRPHDINFMTBF, PRPHDINFMT2P |
Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC) | PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFIL1F, PRMSCINFIL1P PRMPHLNGCC1F, PRMPHLNGCC1P PRPHDLNGCC1F, PRPHDLNGCC1P |
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science (LFCS) | PhD, MPhil, MScR (full and part time) |
PRMSCINFLF1F, PRMSCINFLF1P PRMPHINFMT7F, PRMPHINFMT6P PRPHDINFMT7F, PRPHDINFMTBP |
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) | PhD (full and part time) |
PRPHDINFMTFF, PRPHDINFMTDP |
EIT Cyber Security Privacy and Trust | PhD (full time and part time) |
PRPHDCYSPT1F, PRPHDCYSPT1P PRPHDCYSPT2F |
- Students who are not fully matriculated at the point of submitting their request are not eligible to receive paid sick leave.
- Students who remain fully matriculated but are beyond their funded periods of study are not eligible to receive paid sick leave.
- Students who are on an Authorised Interruption of Study (AIS) and whose stipends have been temporarily suspended during the period of AIS, are not eligible to receive paid sick leave during this period.
- Students who do not provide the required medical certificate/documentation are not be eligible to receive paid sick leave; any approved AIS period would be unfunded and the funded period would not be extended.
- Students whose stipends are self-funded are not eligible to receive paid sick leave.
- Students who are funded by an external scholarship (i.e. not administered by the University) are not eligible to receive paid sick leave; students should contact their external funder with any enquiries about the provision of paid leave.
- Students who are paid their studentship as a salary, e.g. those with a Marie Curie Fellowship are only eligible for paid leave through the relevant staff policy. They are not eligible for paid leave under the Research Student Sick Leave Policy. Students with a staff contract should contact their relevant School HR team to discuss their entitlement under HR policies.
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Visiting Research Students in receipt of funding contributions from the School which were paid to help support living costs are not eligible to receive paid sick leave.
- Eligible students who wish to continue to receive stipend payments during a period of sick leave must follow the process as described in Section 6: Paid Sick Leave Process.
- In the case of minor ailments and short-term, infrequent self-limiting illnesses that are not covered by a medical certificate (for example; colds, coughs, flu, headaches, stomach bugs, sore throats, short term periods of fatigue etc.) the stipend will continue to be paid as normal but no funded extension or programme extension will be provided.
- Medical certification must be signed (electronic signatures are accepted), in English, cover the entire duration of the period of sick leave (less the first week, where self-certification will be accepted). Accepted medical certification can be:
- A fully completed and signed NHS Fit Note Med 3 form; or
- A signed and dated letter on letter headed paper from a relevant certified medical professional.
In either case, the evidence submitted must explicitly state that:
- the student, in the opinion of the medical profession, is not medically fit to study, and
- the start date and end date of the sickness absence being medically certified.
Where this information is not stated, or the wording of the supporting letter is unclear or ambiguous, it will not be accepted.
It is the responsibility of the student to submit the correct supporting evidence; the IGS will not communicate with GP practices / medical professionals on a student's behalf. Please take a copy of this support letter with you to your GP / medical professional appointment so that they can provide you with the necessary information to support your sick pay request. Any costs charged for the provision of medical certification are the responsibility of the student.
- If an eligible student on a current period of sick leave requires that period of sick leave to be extended, additional medical certification covering the additional period of sickness absence is required.
- Where a sickness absence specifically relates to a disability that is formally disclosed to the University via a Schedule of Adjustment, additional medical certification is not required to be provided. Requests for paid sick leave that relate to a disclosed disability will be considered in conjunction with any Reasonable Adjustments already in place through Disability Services. Absences that are unrelated to a disclosed disability will require medical certification as described.
- Sickness payments will be made up to a maximum of 13 weeks (91 calendar days) in a rolling 12 month period. Day 1 of the 12 month period starts on the first date of the first reported sickness absence.
- The period of sick pay may be approved to include a retrospective period of up to maximum of 7 calendar days, which covers a permitted period of self-certified sickness absence.
- Periods of sick leave beyond 13 weeks (91 days) in the 12 month period will be unfunded and students studies are expected to remain interrupted during this period.
- Single occurrences of sick leave that last less than 28 calendar days (four weeks) do not require a formal Authorised Interruption to Study (AIS).
- If a period of sick leave is 29 calendar days (four weeks) or longer, students must also apply for an AIS. This is in addition to submitting the Sick Pay Form and the supporting medical evidence covering the entire absence period (less the first 7 days, where self-certification will be accepted).
- If an AIS is not submitted, the funded extension period will be capped at 28 days (4 weeks) and subsequent stipend payments may cease or be recalled.
- Students who request an AIS without submitting a completed Sick Pay Form and who do not provide the required medical evidence, will have stipend payments stopped during the period of AIS.
- In all cases, students who are sponsored on a UKVI student visa and who are in need of a period of sickness absence, should seek advice from the University’s Student Immigration Service as early as possible to ensure compliance with the student visa is maintained.
- Where a PGR student sponsored on a UKVI student visa requires a period of sick leave and an AIS, the University may need to withdraw sponsorship. In this instance, the student may return to their home country for the duration of the AIS. In such cases, the student will thereafter need to apply to the University for a new CAS number in order to apply for a new visa to resume their studies.
- The request for the AIS must be made at the earliest opportunity to permit time for approval of the request and to ensure travel home can be made following the report of the suspension of the visa to the UKVI.
- Following a period of AIS and suspension of a student visa, students who require ATAS clearance to support their new visa application will also need to reapply for ATAS clearance before resuming study.
Duration of sickness absence | Required documentation | Action |
Up to 7 days (1 week) | None - self-certification of minor ailments and short-term, infrequent self-limiting illness is permitted. |
a) Student notifies their academic supervisor of their intended absence. b) Student completes the PGR Sick Pay Form and submits it to IGS, stating they are self-certifying a sickness absence of up to 7 days. c) Student continues to receive their stipend payment for the (up to) 7 days covered by the Sick Pay Form. d) No funded extension is added to the end of the current funded period. e) No amendment is made to the current maximum programme period. e) Student notifies their academic supervisor that they have resumed their studies. |
8 to 28 calendar days (1 to 4 weeks) | Medical certification must be provided |
a) Student notifies their academic supervisor of their intended absence. b) Student completes the PGR Sick Pay Form and submits it to IGS, along with their medical certification. c) Student continues to receive their stipend payments for the period covered by the Sick Pay Form and medical certification. d) A funded extension of the same duration is added to the end of the current funded period. e) No AIS is processed and no amendment is made to the current maximum programme period in EUCLID. e) Student notifies their academic supervisor and the IGS that they have resumed their studies. |
29 to 91 days (4 to 13 weeks) | Medical certification must be provided |
a) Student notifies their academic supervisor of their intended absence. b) Student completes the PGR Sick Pay Form and submits it to IGS, along with their medical certification. c) Student also requests an Authorised Interruption to Study (AIS) via the normal IGS process. d) Student continues to receive their stipend payments for the period covered by the Sick Pay Form and medical certification. e) A funded extension of the same duration is added to the end of the current funded period. f) A programme extension of the same duration is added to the end of the maximum programme period in EUCLID. g) Student notifies their academic supervisor and the IGS that they have resumed their studies (NB: In some cases, it may be appropriate to request evidence confirming fitness to return to study). |
Beyond 92 days (+13 weeks) |
Medical evidence covering the period beyond 92 days (13 weeks) is not required as this period of absence is unfunded.
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a) Student notifies their academic supervisor that they intend to extend their period of sickness absence beyond 91 days (13 weeks). b) Student requests an extension to their current Authorised Interruption to Study (AIS) via the normal IGS process. c) Stipend payments are suspended (Note: Stipend payments are paid in advance and not arrears, so if the notification of an extended absence beyond 91 days is not received in sufficient time to stop a pre-scheduled stipend payment, the student will be required to return/pay back those funds to the School). d) Student notifies their academic supervisor and the IGS that they have resumed their studies. e) Stipend payments restart upon student resuming active study. (NB: In some cases, it may be appropriate to request evidence confirming fitness to return to study). |
The IGS Sick Pay form is here:
A student who is in receipt of both a salary from the University and a studentship stipend is entitled to paid sick leave pay through both routes. This includes where a student is employed on a guaranteed hours contract.
The relevant section of the current HR absence management policy should be referred to: https://www.ed.ac.uk/human-resources/policiesguidance/leave-absence/absence
Students should contact the School HR office for advice on claiming sick pay via a staff contract.
Submission of signed medical evidence to support a sick pay request due to COVID-19, as described in the above sections, continues to be preferable. However, we understand that guidance may advise not to visit the GP if you have COVID, and so it may not be possible to obtain a Fit Note. In these circumstances, we will not require you to provide a Fit Note for the period of self-isolation but we will request to see the confirmation of isolation note, as offered by NHS following a positive test result.
You can get the confirmation of isolation note from https://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note/
As there is the potential that you may not feel well enough to return to your studies immediately after the period of self-isolation ends, we will treat the period beyond 10 days and up to 28 days as a continuous COVID sickness absence. As per the process in Section 6 (8-28 days) you will need to submit the Sick Pay form and the Confirmation of Isolation note as soon as you can (and no later than the end of noted isolation period).
You must get in touch with the IGS on the date you return to study (e.g. day 14 since the first day of isolation) OR on the 28th day of absence, whichever is sooner.
Thereafter, your absence from study beyond 28 days will be treated as normal sick leave and you will be required to follow the process as described in Section 6 (29 days - 91 Days), which includes providing the IGS with the sick pay form, the AIS request and the required medical evidence (i.e. a fully completed and signed NHS Fit Note Med 3 form; or a signed letter on headed paper from a relevant certified medical professional, which meets the necessary requirements).
NOTE: As it is possible to test positive with COVID but be asymptomatic, if you are able to work from home during the period of self isolation, then you should do so and you should not claim sick pay. Sick pay should only be claimed where COVID is causing illness and this illness is preventing full engagement and progress with studies.
Other than these specific COVID related exceptions, all other terms as listed in the information above apply.
Important things to note
Sick pay is to support periods of medically certified sickness only; PGR students have an annual leave entitlement of 8 weeks per year and annual leave should be used to provide periods of rest and recuperation whenever this required.
Stipend payments covering a period of sickness absence will not normally be applied retrospectively. Sick pay must be applied for at the time the sickness is occurring, and the medical certificate/evidence provided at the correct time. Regardless of the date of issue of the medical certificate, if the dates of sickness are in the past, this would be considered a retrospective request. Only in very exceptional circumstances (e.g. inability to submit a request due to physical incapacitation) will a retrospective request be considered.
Sick leave cannot be provided where a student is not sick themselves and needs to be absent to care for a sick dependent. In this situation, you can request an unpaid interruption of studies through the usual process.
Sick leave also cannot be provided where a student has suffered from a bereavement, except where the bereavement has had a detrimental impact on the student’s health, as evidenced by an appropriate medical certificate.
Students who are in receipt of stipend payments are expected to return at the end of their approved absence period and complete their programme of study (and submit thesis) within their funded period. The University is required to recover the value of maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption funding from students who decide not to return to study at the end of an approved paid absence period.
Process approved by IGS Management Exec 28 April 2021, University policy approved with effect from 01 Aug 2022
Research Student Sick Leave Policy approved by University, 14 July 2022