CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies)
Please click on the relevant section below to expand the guidance.
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CAS stands for Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.
A CAS is a virtual document, that confirms that your institution is willing to act as your educational sponsor.
You must have an unused CAS for each Student visa application you make.
When you put your CAS number on your Student visa application form, this allows a UKVI caseworker to access your information electronically.
Your CAS will provide the UKVI caseworker with your personal details, details about your proposed course of study and any course related fees.
If you are:
- An International Student from outside of Europe, or
- An EU, EEA or Swiss student (but not Irish), you have not lived in the UK before and are arriving in the UK for the first time after 11pm on 31 December 2020
AND
- You are coming to the UK to study for a course which is longer than 6 months
You will need a to make a Student visa application, if you do not already hold a visa for the UK that confers the Right to Study.
For information on how to request a CAS please see the relevant sections below for who is responsible for assigning your CAS for new students, continuing students and following a visa refusal.
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Your Admissions Team will issue your CAS if:
- You are starting a new course at Warwick, after you have accepted an unconditional offer and within 3-4 months of your course start date, including if you are a visiting research student, i.e., you are currently enrolled in your home institution on a research course such as a PhD,
- You are re-starting a course.
- You are an incoming student for a period of
- Study Abroad
- Visiting Student
- Research placement
- Exchange at Warwick for longer than 6 months
- i.e., you are currently enrolled in your home institution on an undergraduate or postgraduate taught course such as a Master's degree.
- You are starting a new course at Warwick and require a 2nd CAS because you received a visa refusal before your 'latest start date'
- You will need to complete a refusal notification form which forms part of the new CAS request.
- You are taking the 10-week or 6-week Pre-sessional English language course.
Student Immigration & Compliance Team will issue your CAS if:
- You are a enrolled current student who needs to make a new visa application because:
- You have been granted a period of Academic Extension
- You are transferring to a longer course, including if you are adding a Study Abroad or Intercalated (Work Placement) Year
- You are downgrading to a lower level course, are resitting or repeating modules, or are switching to a Student visa from a different visa category
- You started your PhD course at a partner University outside of the UK, for example, Monash University, and now require a Student visa for your period of study in the UK
- You are joining the Year-round Pre-sessional course, but not the 10-week or 6-week Pre-sessional course (i.e., Phase 4 & 5).
- You are returning to studies after a break from your course, for example, Temporary Withdrawal (TWD) or Resit Without Residence (RWR).
- You have gone through an 'Internal Upgrade' process from a Master's to a PhD course, i.e., you are not required to apply for your PhD separately, and will need a CAS for a new visa to complete the PhD course.
- You wish to apply for the Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES).
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Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in academic year 2021/21, most students will have the start of Term 2 (11 January 2021) as latest start date. Check the Arrivals page if unsure: https://warwick.ac.uk/coronavirus/students/arrival
The 'Latest Start Date' on a CAS indicates the last day you need to physically arrive in the UK and upload a scanned copy of evidence of travel (for example, a UK immigration entry stamp).
This means you must have completed:
- The Online course registration (Enrolment) - see above arrival page for deadline to enrol
AND
- Uploaded evidence of your immigration documents to meet the Right to Study Check requirement (including proof of entry to the UK)
Once you complete online enrolment, you will be able to start your course (either on-site, or remotely), regardless of your visa status and whether you are in the UK.
You must then make every effort to arrive in the UK on or before the 'Latest start date' as indicated on your CAS.
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It depends on whether you will make a visa application within the UK or outside of the UK.
If you confirmed on your 'CAS request webform' that you will apply for your Student visa from outside of the UK, the deadline for the University to assign a CAS is detailed below - dates to be back tracked from the 'latest start date':
- 5 working days + 2 days travelling
- If you confirmed that you will use Super Priority (1 day) visa application service
- 2 weeks + 2 days travelling
- If you confirmed that you will use Priority (5 working days) visa application service
- 4 weeks + 2 days travelling
- If you confirmed that you will use Standard (3 weeks) visa application service
If you are an offer-holder and have confirmed on your 'CAS request webform' that you will apply for your Student visa from within the UK, the deadline to assign a CAS is detailed below - dates to be back tracked from 'latest start date':
- We would expect most students to have requested a CAS before their 'Course start date'.
- If you requested a CAS after the course start date but before the online enrolment deadline (or latest start date, if sooner), Admissions will contact Student Immigration & Compliance and we will request that you submit a Meet an Adviser Request form and bring documents to demonstrate that you are in a position to make your visa application before your online enrolment deadline (or latest start date, if sooner)
- Once we are satisfied of this, we will ask Admissions to assign your CAS.
- 5 working days + 2 days travelling
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- CAS for Postgraduate Offer Holders
- CAS for Undergraduate Offer Holders
- CAS for Warwick International Foundation Programme Offer Holders
- CAS for Incoming Study Abroad/exchange Offer Holders
- CAS request following a visa refusal
- For offer holders and continuing students who have just received a Student visa refusal
- Year-round Pre-sessional course CAS request (Phase 1-3)
- For offer holders only
- CAS request for current students who have started their course and are
- Returning to their home country to make a visa application following an extension, upgrade or course transfer;
- Returning from a period of Temporary Withdrawal or Re-sit without Residence;
- currently enrolled on a collaborative PhD programme at the University of Monash (Australia) or other non-UK partner universities and are coming to the UK for the first time
- CAS request for students in the UK
- For current students who require a Student visa extension to cover the duration of their course, or apply for the Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES) - CAS should be requested as part of the appointment booking request form.
Quick links
For more information visit CAS FAQ