Dear all,

I am looking for some advice from people who have taken a leave of absence on their PhD.

I am in my 3rd year and final year of funding, due to submit this November. I am completely stressed out, nowhere finished etc and feel completely depressed. I know I wont be finished this year. I want to take some time of and have some me time over the summer and get my health back on track and get the will to love back again.

Main questions are:

Is it a problem to take a leave of absence on you final year?

When I take the break can I come back and resume the length of time that has already been paid?

I also get a bursary which comes in on July, if i take my leave of absence before this am I still entitled to it? I couldn't work through my gap as i am totally depressed and in need of some time off.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated

It shouldn't be a problem to take a leave in the final year. But check that you are actually allowed. If you are funded by a funding council they may only permit breaks in very limited circumstances. I took a 5 month break, but it had to be on medical grounds. That was easy in my case. It sounds as though it would be easy for you too if so stressed and depressed. If I hadn't taken the leave of absence I would have quit :p

When I took my break my studies were put on hold, and when I returned the relevant deadlines were pushed back 5 months by Registry, to account for my time out.

Oh and you won't be entitled to any maintenance funding for the period of your break. So consider that. I was a part-time funded student and got no maintenance grant until near the end of my PhD when the rules for part-timers changed. So that wasn't a factor in my decision.