Planning to take a year out in industry between my 3rd and 4th year doing an MEng degree (at Warwick), however not sure if I am elegible for doing so under my current visa.

My visa was issued for a 4-year MEng course only, and as far as I know, if I went for the "year in industry" scheme I will be retaining "student status" and pay a small amount of fees while doing the year out, but will not do any actual studying. I was thinking I have these options but not sure if valid/possible or not:

1. Do the year out while having my current visa, and when I am done I renew it for another year (my final year).

2. Revoke my Tier 4 visa and apply for a work visa (whatever tier that is), and then re-apply for a Tier 4 once I am done with the year out (or during).

I would appreciate any input from someone who has done a year out successfully (or failed to do so). Also I heard about changes to the visa application process that makes it impossible to re-apply/renew while in the UK, did those go into effect?

Thanks