CAS stands for Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. A CAS letter UK is issued after you have accepted an admission offer from a university and paid a deposit to secure your seat in the UK.
You only get the letter after you have met all the set academic and financial criteria. Hence, if you only have a conditional offer, you won’t get a CAS letter till the conditions have been met.
This article will give you all the information you need about CAS letter UK. We will cover:
- What your CAS letter should have
- How you can get a CAS letter
- The documents you need
- CAS letter UK sample
- CAS letter processing time
- Combined CAS number
- Legal bindings of CAS letter
What is in a CAS letter UK
A CAS letter will have information regarding your personal details, chosen program, duration of the program and a unique CAS number. The CAS number confirms that your chosen university has offered you an unconditional offer of a place to study with them, and that you have accepted this.
The letter should explicitly mention:
- 14-digit reference number for the CAS.
- Sponsor name and Sponsor License Number (SLN) of the university where you intend to study.
- Sponsor License Address.
- Your personal details.
- Qualifications which helped you secure a place in the university.
- Start and end dates of your course and other details of the course including title of the course and course ID.
- Tuition fees for the first year or the entire course or any tuition fees that you have already paid to the university.
- Any accommodation fees that you have already paid.
- Assessment of your English language ability i.e. IELTS or TOEFL scores.
Why do you need a CAS letter UK?
You need a CAS number to apply for a visa that allows you to study in the UK.
You might have received multiple offers from different universities in the UK. To apply for a tier 4 student visa you must decide which university you intend to study and use the CAS from that university in your application. This falls in step 2 of the student visa checklist.
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Once you do that, any other CAS you have been issued will become ‘obsolete’. This means that you will not be able to use them for the visa application.
When your student visa has been granted and you enter the UK, you must study at the university/college that issued your CAS.
CAS letter processing time and procedure
Step 1
You have to accept an unconditional offer and pay a deposit.
Step 2
You have to activate your CAS Application via the Pre-Registration system. The university will send an email giving you access to the Pre-Registration system to the email address you used in your application to study at the University.
The CAS Application task will appear when:
- It is less than four months before your course starts
- When you have accepted an unconditional offer of a study place at the university, and
- When you have paid any fee deposit that the university has requested.
You have to open the CAS Application task that appears in your Pre-Registration menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
Step 3
Check and confirm your information by following the on-screen instructions in the CAS Application task. If any of the information is missing or incorrect, enter the correct information.
The information is a summary of your personal information, your course details and your qualifications – information that you will use when applying for your visa.
You have to confirm the information at least three weeks before the start date of your course.
Step 4
After this, the university will apply to the UK government’s UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) for your CAS number.
This confirms that the university has made you an unconditional offer of a study place, and that you have accepted this. UKVI will then issue a CAS number for you. They will send this to the University, and your university will tell you your CAS number.
Step 5
After you have received your CAS number, you can make your visa application.
You will only be able to apply for your visa a maximum of three months before the date your course is due to start.
It can take 10-20 working days between the confirmation of your CAS Application Information and the email with your CAS number.
This is the type of email that you should be expecting.
CAS letter UK sample
Here is a CAS letter UK sample
Supporting documents needed for CAS letter UK
You will be asked to upload supporting documents to your CAS pre-registration portal. The university will assess the documents you upload to ensure they meet UKVI requirements. If they require any additional documents or information, the university will contact you directly, so check your email regularly.
Financial documents
You have to prove that you have enough money to pay your course fees and living costs while you study in the UK. Your supporting documents must show the full amount needed to cover the first year’s expenses.
Your bank statement should:
- be printed on the 29th day.
- show the closing balance on the account – the date on the statement should be no more than 31 days before the date you submit your student visa application.
You can show you have enough money using:
- An official financial or government sponsorship or grant;
- a student loan from a government, government-sponsored loan company, or a regulated student loans scheme;
- your own money;
- your parents’ money (if they provide a letter confirming they agree to you using it this way);
- your partner’s money if your partner is present in the UK or applying at the same time.
ATAS certificate
For certain science or engineering degrees, you might need to apply for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) Certificate.
How to find funding?
Your financial statement should show that you can cover the first year course + additional university expenses held for a consecutive 28-day period. At no time can the funds dip below the total amount required.
For Indians, this amount can range between 30-50 lakhs. Unless you have savings of such a large amount or scholarships, you will need to look for a loan.
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Combined CAS number in CAS letter UK
A combined CAS number will be issued to you, if you are pursuing more than one course together at the same university.
Through a combined CAS number, you can apply for one visa which will permit you to stay in the UK till both your courses are complete.
However, sometimes universities may ask you to apply for a separate CAS number for each course.
Eligibility for combined CAS letter UK
To get a combined CAS number, you must meet the following conditions:
- You enrolled in a pre-sessional course before beginning a postgraduate degree programme or a Study Abroad exchange programme at your chosen university.
- You have completed your degree program or exchange program’s English language proficiency requirements.
- You’ve fulfilled the academic requirements for your degree programme or exchange programme.
- Less than a month separates the start date of your degree programme from the end date of your English Language Training Course.
Eligibility criteria may differ depending on universities. Usually, combined CAS numbers are not issued to Undergraduate students.
Note – It is not compulsory to apply for a Combined CAS number, you can get a separate CAS number for each course.
Legal implications of CAS letter UK
If you violate the requirements of your visa after receiving a CAS number, the University is compelled to notify UKVI. You are expected to meet the following conditions:
- Enrol for each academic year. You must notify the University if you are unable to enrol so that they are aware of your whereabouts.
- Attendance is important for all classroom sessions.
- You must enrol in full-time classes if you are in the UK on a student visa.
- Stay focused on your studies and don’t take a break until it’s definitely required.
- Don’t work longer than is allowed. Your visa will tell you what hours you can work if any.
You might be reported if:
- You don’t sign up.
- You are absent from class without permission.
- You stop taking the course.
- You go on an authorised vacation
- You alter your academic programme.
- You have violated the conditions of your visa.
We have told you everything you need to know about CAS letter UK. If you haven’t got an offer yet, use this time to start preparing for when you get the offer. Read how you can apply for the visa and keep your documents ready. And if you are looking for funding, we have that covered at FundRight.
