Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

A CAS is a very important electronic document that you will need to request before you can apply for your Tier 4 (General) student visa.  The CAS is not automatically issued - you must request your CAS via the Online Student Information System (OSIS) and follow several steps before the CAS can be issued.

When to request a CAS

You can request your CAS via OSIS within 90 days of your course start date if you have already:

• Accepted an Unconditional offer for a full-time course at Kingston University
• Completed the fee assessment task via OSIS
• Paid the £3,000 Postgraduate deposit (if applicable)

How to request a CAS

Step 1:  Log into OSIS to request your CAS

As part of the CAS request process in OSIS, we will ask you for details on the following:

• If you are studying or have previously studied on a Tier 4 student visa in the UK
• If you have had any previous UK visa refusals*
• If you have any other pending applications with UKVI
• If your studies are either partially or fully funded by a scholarship, organisation or government

*You must tell us about any previous visa refusals, and email scanned copies of the refusal notice (or other confirmation) to CAS@kingston.ac.uk.

Step 2: Email supporting documents to CAS team

You will receive an email with instructions about sending your supporting documents to our CAS team, so they can check your documents to ensure they meet UKVI requirements. After you send us your documents, our CAS team may email you for further clarification about some of your documents, so check your email regularly. What you'll need to send us:  

Low-Risk Nationals

Students from one of these countries are classified as a 'low risk national' (LRN) and will not be required to submit supporting documents with their Tier 4 student visa application. However, UKVI may still request to see your supporting documents after you submit your application, so low risk nationals will need to email the following supporting documents to our CAS team for checking:  

Step 3: Approve draft CAS

We will email a 'draft CAS' to you for checking. Please reply by email to confirm that the information is correct or to let us know if anything is incorrect, such as course title or name spelling.

Step 4: CAS is issued

After you have requested your CAS, confirmed your draft CAS, and our CAS team have checked all of your supporting documents, we will email you a copy of your final CAS statement (the CAS statement is an 'e-document', so you will not receive a paper copy).

Deadline to request a CAS

• Applying from overseas: CAS requests can be accepted until 15 working days of the latest course start date. Exceptions: (a) you are able to use a priority fast track visa service and can provide evidence of this, or (b) you have been granted a faculty extension to the latest start date for the course
• Applying from within the UK: CAS requests can only be accepted if you (a) meet the Tier 4 visa requirements and (b) can submit your Tier 4 student visa application before 'stage two' enrolment for your course

Scholarships and government loans

• If your studies are being funded (partially or fully) by a scholarship, international organisation or government, you will need to inform us when you request your CAS (this will be a question on the CAS request form in OSIS)
• Loan letters must state that the loan is provided by: the national government, the state or regional government, a government-sponsored student loan company, or is part of an academic or educational loans scheme

Pre-payments

You may want to pay some of your tuition fees or halls of residence fees in advance. We can confirm the following pre-payments on your CAS:

• Up to 100% of your tuition fees
• Up to £1,265 of your Halls of Residence fees (you can pay more, but this is the maximum we can confirm on your CAS)
• We can only include details of your pre-payments on your CAS statement if you make the payment before requesting your CAS (so the prepaid amount will be deducted from the overall financial requirement you need to show in your financial documents)
• If you make a payment after you request your CAS, we cannot guarantee that those payments will be received and confirmed in time to include in your CAS statement

Using your CAS

You should include a copy of your CAS statement with your Tier 4 visa application. You should also refer to your CAS statement when completing your Tier 4 student visa application, as the information you provide on your visa application form will be checked against the information listed on your CAS statement:

• 14-digit reference number (known as your CAS number) containing a mixture of letters and numbers
• Kingston Sponsor Licence Number (SLN)  
• Start and end dates of your course
• Title of your course
• Tuition fees for first year of your course (if your CAS has been issued for an extension at Kingston, the "first year of study" means the first year of this new period)
• Tuition fees you have already paid to Kingston
• Accommodation fees you have already paid to Kingston (up to £1,265)
• Academic qualifications we used to make you an offer to study at Kingston
• Assessment of your English language ability, including any formal qualifications
• Confirmation of any previous study in the UK on a student visa and how the new course demonstrates academic progression.

Important notice

Issuing a CAS does not guarantee that a student will be successful in securing a Tier 4 student visa.  Kingston University is not responsible for any decisions made by the Home Office and will not accept liability for any student failing to obtain a visa and/or for any losses incurred. Points to help you avoid a visa refusal include:

• A CAS is only valid for six months from the date it is issued
• When you make your Tier 4 visa application you must include all original documents stated on your CAS, where required (e.g. Low Risk Nationals do not need to submit original documents). Failure to do so could result in a visa refusal
• If you are applying for your Tier 4 visa from inside the UK your course must start within 28 days of your current visa expiry date

• If your current visa is due to expire soon or has expired then you should contact the CAS team urgently

The issuing of a CAS is at the University's discretion and Kingston University reserves the right not to issue a CAS under certain circumstances. Examples include:

• insufficient time to make a successful Tier 4 visa application
• student does not have the required maintenance funds
• student is unlikely to arrive before the latest course start date

• student has submitted documents or made statements that are deemed to be fraudulent
• Student is studying on a part-time course
• CAS request is submitted after the deadline
• CAS request is submitted more than 90 days before a course starts
• student has exceeded (or will exceed by the end of their course) the maximum time allowed on a Tier 4 student visa
• student does not meet UKVI Academic Progression requirement, which states that an applicant who has studied in the UK previously should be progressing academically to the next level of study (exceptions can be made if the new course is either related to the previous course, or the previous course and the new course combined support the student's career goals).