At Cambridge, you can suspend your studies owing to medical reasons or other serious causes. This is called ‘intermission’ or ‘disregarding terms’. It is often more common than people think; I definitely did not realise how many people intermit until I did myself! People take time away from their studies for many different reasons: physical health, mental health, bereavement, etc. Intermission is just one of the options available to students who need support, and in my case it was exactly what I needed to get back on track at university.
My first term at Cambridge did not go exactly as planned. I experienced a massive flare up of my inflammatory bowel disease and I ended up in hospital just over two weeks after having arrived at university. My disease was aggressive and unfortunately did not respond to medical therapy; I had emergency surgery to remove my large intestine at the start of November. I had a long recovery ahead!
While in hospital, I was in contact with my college nurse and tutor to keep them informed about how I was doing. My tutor sent me an email a few days after surgery to say that she had spoken with my Director and Studies and the college nurse and they had all agreed that intermission would be best for my recovery. I had not really considered intermission before, so it came as a bit of a shock, but in hindsight it was definitely the right decision to take the year off to recover. I had only done two out of the nine essays I was supposed to do in Michaelmas term, and I hadn’t attended any seminars. I would have really struggled to catch up.
In order to intermit, I had to provide medical evidence to my tutor, who then put together an application to the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee (EAMC). In order to return the next year, I had to provide a letter from my GP which detailed how I was fit to return to study. It may be quite stressful having to collate all these letters and evidence for the right deadline, so I would recommend keeping in regular contact with your tutor. Intermission can also just be very confusing and isolating for those who go through it, but the Disabled Students’ Campaign has lots of information and support available.
I am now going into my second year at Cambridge very glad I was able to take time off to get better!
See our advice on taking time out from university here.