Academic leave

Academic leave on personal request can be applied for any personal reasons, such as financial hardship, family issues, working abroad, etc. You have the right to apply for academic leave on personal request once per level of study for up to one calendar year. The minimum period of academic leave is six months and can be used a maximum of two times.

Please note!

• The academic leave period must be continuous, which means you cannot, for example, apply for 6 months of academic leave, then study for one semester, and then apply for another 6 months of academic leave.

   

• Students may take academic leave on personal request starting from the second semester of the first academic year.

   

• Students studying in the extension period cannot apply for academic leave on personal request.

   

• While on academic leave taken on personal request, students do not have health insurance associated with student status. 

For health reasons, students, except for doctoral students, are entitled to an additional academic leave of maximum two years at each academic level. The student shall submit an application for an academic leave with the medical certificate including the doctor’s recommendation for the necessity of academic leave and its length.

Students, except for doctoral students, undergoing compulsory military service or alternative service are entitled to additional academic leave of maximum one year granted on the basis of the respective notice from the Defence Resources Agency.

Students have the right to apply for academic leave for childcare based on a medical certificate from two months before the expected due date until one month after the due date

After the birth of a child, both parents (based on a copy of the child's birth registration certificate) have the right to apply for academic leave until the child reaches 3 years of age. 

To apply for academic leave, a formal application must be submitted.

To terminate academic leave before its end date, you must write an application and submit it to the study specialist of the institute no later than the day before the termination of academic leave.

Participation in studies is allowed during academic leave. The University automatically cancels course registrations for students going on academic leave. To prevent this, the student must attach to their academic leave application a list of courses they have registered for at the time of taking academic leave and wish to continue during the academic leave. By maintaining the registration, the student commits to completing the exam/assessment in that course during the same semester.

Please note! A Student studying for a tuition fee can participate in studies during academic leave only if they have paid the tuition fee for the respective semester.

When a student applies for academic leave for own reasons, the student has to take into account that his/her medical insurance is paused during the time of academic leave. 

Where a student takes academic leave for different reasons (health reasons, service in defence forces, parental leave), the medical insurance shall be valid on other grounds.

Note that this applies only to students covered by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund during the studies. Bachelor's and Master's level international students are not covered by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. If you have health insurance from your home country, please check what the terms and conditions are there. 

Please be aware that your Temporary Residence Permit will be terminated when you go on academic leave.

International degree students who have the Temporary Residence Permit for the purpose of studies and who wish to go on academic leave should contact the International Relations Office of the Department of the Accademic Affairs to discuss their options.