Application process

• Fill out the application in the my.itmo app or on my.itmo.ru / Requests and queues (Заявки и очереди) / Requests (Заявки) / Academic leave (Академический отпуск) / Academic leave due to exceptional circumstances (Предоставление академического отпуска в связи с исключительными обстоятельствами);
• Attach scanned copies of documents relevant to your request (if applicable), such as certificate of income, a medical document/assessment concerning a relative's illness (along with documents confirming kinship), a job offer, etc.;
• Submit your request for approval to the Student Services Office; 
• Once the Student Services Office has approved the request, you’ll be invited to the office to apply in person. 

The decision on granting academic leave due to exceptional circumstances is made by the Committee on Academic Leave within seven days after you sign the original copy of the application. If the decision is positive, the corresponding order will be issued within five days after the decision is made. 

The decisions on academic leave due to exceptional circumstances are published on the Student Services Office website and will remain online for a month after their publication date. 

You will need to move out of your dorm room within three days after the order is approved. Students in fee-based positions do not pay for their education during academic leave.

Extension of academic leave

Academic leave due to exceptional circumstances cannot exceed 12 months; therefore, an extension of the leave is not possible.

Returning to your studies

Students have the chance to end their academic leave ahead of time¹. For this, they need to file a request to return to their studies: 

• Fill out the application in the my.itmo app or on my.itmo.ru / Requests and queues (Заявки и очереди) / Requests (Заявки) / Academic leave (Академический отпуск) / Return to studies after academic leave due to exceptional circumstances (Допуск к обучению после академического отпуска в связи с исключительными обстоятельствами);
• Submit your request for approval to the Student Services Office; 
• Once the Student Services Office approves the request, you’ll be invited to the office to apply in person. 
• If you don’t apply for return to your studies, the Student Services Office will issue an order approving your return to studies once the period of your leave has ended.

Students continue their studies on the same conditions (tuition-free or fee-based) as before their leave.

NB! You can return from academic leave only to the same year of studies that you left from.

¹ If a student started their academic leave in the spring semester, they can choose to resume their studies at the start of the academic year. If the leave started in the fall semester, it is not possible to return in the spring semester; resumption of studies is only possible at the start of an academic year.