Student Services Hub

Your Student Services Hub is the place for advice, support and the information you need. Your question matters and you’ll get answers from experts. .

Get help in an emergency and out-of-hours support.

Find advice and support information

Below are all the services provided by the Student Services Hub. If you can't find what you're looking for, try the search function in the Student Directory.

Registration and welcome

For new students you’ll first be contacted on your personal email to ask you to set up your new Essex IT account. You will then use your Essex login to register online.

All students must register with the University, including payment of fees, before you are able to access your online Welcome programme or attend teaching. 

Money, fees and funding

For students registering from 2022/23 onwards, details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by termly instalments. The first instalment for the term 1 is payable as part of online registration to enable you to register. Subsequent instalments for terms 2 and 3 are due on specific dates, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.

If you are receiving a student loan please refer to information on our webpages.

Documentation

Documents for UK immigration purposes

Our International Services team can produce the following documents for UK immigration purposes only:

  • CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) for sponsored students (student visa) continuing their course
  • An email for an employer detailing term and vacation dates for those with a student visa
  • A letter to apply for a new ATAS certificate to continue your course
  • A "highly likely" to pass letter for Postgraduate students with a student visa going to study at another institution
  • A letter for eligible sponsored students (student visa) to apply to the Skilled Worker route 3 months prior to completing their course.

Fill in our immigration enquiry form for current Essex students and let us know which of these documents you require. We’ll need your employers name, if it’s for employment purposes.

IT services

Find out about the range of IT services at the University and support available to you.

Quick links

Careers

The Careers Service provides support and advice to help you develop your skills, find opportunities and gain experiences throughout your time at university and beyond. We offer a range of events, workshops, webinars or 1-1 appointments and search a range of job opportunities, all bookable via CareerHub, whilst CareerHub+ provides 24/7 careers support online via a wide range of interactive resources.

Skills for success

Graduation

Contact the Student Services Hub

If you can't find the information you need on the Student Directory, contact our Student Services Hub team:

Opening hours 

Term time:

  • Monday to Thursday: 9.15am – 5pm
  • Friday: 9.15am – 4.45pm

Vacation:

  • Monday to Friday: 10am – 4pm

Contact us

Book an online appointment with an adviser – Appointments are via Zoom every Tuesday and Thursday 10am-11am – please use live chat or call us to book an appointment.

UK immigration advice and guidance

Immigration advice and guidance is regulated in the UK by the Office of the Immigration Services commissioner, this means only authorised University teams can provide you with guidance and advice about the UK’s Student Immigration Rules. We recommend you read the extensive information about Immigration and Visas contained within our International Student area and Student Directory.

After reading the online information, if you can’t find what you’re looking for or need further guidance, you’ll be able to contact the relevant team by following instructions and links within the pages.. You can also read the UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs) webpages and contact their student advice line if you have a question.

Support from your department

Your school, department or centre is available to help and provide you with information and guidance related to your studies, including:

  • course and modules
  • submission and deadlines
  • progress on your course
  • academic support hours
  • training and resources
  • timetable

We'll do our best to answer your question directly. Even if we cannot answer it, we will guide you to someone who can.

Your departmental contacts

Details of who to contact in your school or department can be found your Student Handbook or online.

Personal Tutor

You can also contact your Personal Tutor who is there to help you feel connected to your department, school or centre and is someone you can talk to if you have questions about your course or encounter any difficulties which affect your studies.

Mentoring

As part of your experience at Essex, we want you to benefit from the wisdom and experience of those students or alumni who have been down a similar path. Find out more about mentoring.

Making a complaint

We aim to give you the highest levels of service at the Student Services Hub. If you're unhappy with the service you've received, we will investigate what has happened and respond to you as quickly as possible, normally within 10 working days. If it takes longer to resolve your complaint, we'll send you an update and a revised timescale.

We'll confirm we've received your email, normally within three days of receipt. It may be necessary for us to contact you to ask further questions. If this is the case we will use your University email address (please indicate in your initial email if you'd like an alternative address to be used).

If you remain unhappy once we have looked into the matter then you can take things further by submitting a formal complaint.