Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

A CAS is a very important electronic document that you will need to request after you have firmly accepted an unconditional offer of a place from us.

Before you can apply for your Tier 4 student visa you will need a CAS number to support your Tier 4 (General) student visa application form. You must request your CAS before you start to complete your visa application form as you will need to include key information as stated  on your CAS statement, such as the unique CAS number that confirms Kingston University will become your Tier 4 sponsor. This is not the same as financial sponsor.

Key steps to receive your CAS

1. Request your CAS using our Online Student Information System (OSIS).

2. Postgraduate deposit

Kingston University requires all postgraduate taught (masters) applicants*, from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), who pay international fees to pay a deposit in order to receive their CAS. Although you are able to request your CAS before you pay this deposit, your request won't be processed until your deposit has been received.

Undergraduate students aren't required to pay a deposit.

3. Pre-payments

You may want to pay some of your tuition fees in advance and in addition to any other payments you are required to make, if you do so, you must pay this before you request your CAS. We will then show the amount you have paid on your CAS statement so that you only have to show the remaining balance of your fees and your maintenance funds in your bank account. You must not make any further payments after you have requested your CAS and before receiving your student visa. We cannot guarantee that any payments made later will be confirmed when you apply for your Tier 4 visa.

If you are going to live in university halls of residence you do have to pay a £300 deposit. You can pay more if you choose but in total only £1,265 of the accommodation fee payment is allowed to be offset against the full amount that is due.

4. Academic qualification documents

Your existing academic qualifications must be confirmed on your CAS and the documents must be submitted with your visa application, you will need to have all the original documents proving your academic qualifications that were used to get your unconditional offer from Kingston.

5. Sponsorship and scholarships

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. Loan letters must state that the loan is provided by: "the national government, the state or regional government, or a government sponsored student loan company; or is part of an academic or educational loans scheme."

* exclusions apply.

Requesting a CAS

As soon as you have firmly accepted an unconditional offer at Kingston University, you will be sent by email details of how to request a CAS, including your username and password.

This is done through the University's Online Student Information System (OSIS). Once you have requested your CAS and paid your deposit (this is only required if you are a postgraduate student), we will continue to process your CAS request.

To be eligible for a CAS an applicant will need:

• To be holding a unconditional offer for a full-time course* from Kingston University that has been formally accepted
• To have completed the fee status task in OSIS and have been assessed as "Overseas" for fee purposes
• To request a CAS via OSIS
• To have paid the required £3000.00 deposit if applicable Postgraduate deposits for international students
• To have provided all  supporting documents as requested by the SM-Pre-CAS team,  all these documents must meet  the UKVI requirements
• To provide information about any previous studies on a Tier 4 Visa/student visa in the UK (if applicable)
• To declare if they have had any previous refusals or have any other pending applications with the UKVI (if applicable)

*Exceptions apply for pre-sessional English courses

The issuing of a CAS is at the University's discretion and the University reserves the right not to issue a CAS, examples of this include:

• insufficient time to make a successful Tier 4 visa application,
• if the student does not have the required funds,
• student is unlikely to arrive before the latest course start date
• if a student has submitted documents or made statements that are deemed to be fraudulent.

Deadline for CAS request

If you are overseas

A CAS request should not be made if there will be less than 15 working days between the date of application and the latest start date for the course.  The only exceptions to this will be if a student is able to use a priority fast track service and can provide evidence of this or if the student has been granted a faculty extension to the latest start date for the course.

If you are applying from within the UK

A CAS request should only be made if you meet the Tier 4 visa requirements and can submit your visa application prior to enrolling on your course.

The University will not issue a CAS to an applicant who:

• has exceeded or will exceed by the end of their course the length of time allowed on a Tier 4 student visa.
• does not meet the academic progression requirement (if applicable) to study in the UK.

About the CAS statement

Once we have processed your request for a CAS we will email you a draft copy to check. All the information contained in the CAS is extremely important, so you must check it is all correct and up to date. If any of the information is incorrect then you must inform us by email to cas@kingston.ac.uk immediately.

Once you have confirmed that your draft CAS is correct this information will be provided to the Home Office so that we can generate your CAS number. We will also email you a copy of your final CAS statement, which will state your CAS number. Although this is a very important statement, please note that it is not an official document, so you won't receive a paper copy.

Your final CAS statement will include:

• a 14-digit reference number (known as your CAS number) containing a mixture of letters and numbers;
• the Kingston Sponsor Licence Number (SLN);  
• the start and end dates of your course;
• the title of your course;
• the tuition fees for the first year of your course, or the entire course if it is less than a year long. If your CAS is issued for an extension to the same course, the "first year of study" means the first year of this new period of study;
• any tuition fees or postgraduate deposit that you have already paid to Kingston University;
• any accommodation fees that you have already paid;
• any qualifications that we have used to make you an offer to study the course;
• an assessment of your English language ability, including any formal qualifications considered;  and
• any previous study that you have completed in the UK with student immigration permission, will confirm that the new course demonstrates academic progression from your previous course of study.

Using your CAS

We advise that you include a copy of your CAS statement with your Tier 4 visa application and use the information contained in the statement to complete the entry clearance application form. The following information will be detailed on your CAS statement and is needed for your visa application:

• all the information about your course and sponsor;
• all the qualifications you must include (original copies required)
• your unique CAS number; and
• information about course fees payable for the first year and any amounts that have already been paid.

Refer to your CAS statement when you complete your Tier 4 visa application, the information you provide on your visa application form will be checked against the electronic record on the Home Office system.

Important notice

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

Issuing a CAS does not guarantee that a student will be successful in securing a Tier 4 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.