Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) and Qualifications

New students: When you have met all the conditions of your offer, received an unconditional offer from Admissions, and firmly accepted your place at the University (including paying your deposit, if required), the CAS Team will send you a CAS Contract and Data Check email containing a link to a form that you will need to complete and return. This will happen automatically and you do not need to request a CAS. CAS issuing timeframes can be found in the section above.

Continuing students: If you need to extend your visa during your studies, International Student Advice are responsible for your new CAS and can also assist you with your visa application. Please contact visaadvice@exeter.ac.uk to request a new CAS.

You do not need to pay any tuition fees before your CAS is issued, unless you will be studying a taught Master's programme. Master's students must pay a £2500 tuition fee deposit unless in receipt of official sponsorship or a US federal loan. We cannot start the CAS process until your deposit payment has been processed, or until your sponsor letter (or US Loan) has been approved by the Finance team.

• Tuition fee deposit: Information on how to pay is here. Please note it can take up to 10 working days for your payment to be cleared and for confirmation of receipt to be sent by Amissions. We will be unable to start the CAS process until your tuition fee deposit has been processed by the Finance team and confirmed by the Postgraduate Admissions team.
• Sponsored students: Please send your financial guarantee letter to the Postgraduate Admissions team. We will be unable to start the CAS process until your deposit has been waived by Admissions following approval of your sponsor letter by the Finance team. Further details on the Finance team's requirements for a financial guarantee letter can be found here (see 'Sponsored students' section)

No, if your course requires ATAS clearance (which will be stated on your offer), the CAS cannot be issued until your ATAS clearance has been granted. This is a UK government requirement. Please see our ATAS page for further information. 

No, once you receive your results, please send them to Admissions. They will assess whether you have met all your offer conditions and update your offer accordingly. Please note, this can take a little longer during busy periods. Once you have received and firmly accepted an unconditional offer from Admissions, we will automatically contact you regarding your CAS, you do not need to contact us to request this. CAS issuing timeframes can be found at the top of this page.

Legally, we cannot issue a CAS before a student has met our academic and English requirements and received an unconditional offer. Where visa delays prevent a student from arriving on time, a slightly later registration/arrival date may sometimes be permitted (usually no more than 2 or 3 weeks after the course start date). If you experience visa delays and think you will arrive late, you should check when the latest registration/arrival date is for your course.

For security reasons, the link in the CAS Data Check email expires after one month. If you received your CAS Data Check email over a month ago, you will no longer be able to access the CAS Data Check form. If this is the case, please email the CAS Team with the email subject ‘CAS link expired’ and your student number.

Please correct these directly in the relevant fields on the CAS Data Check screens and we will ensure that these changes are made before your CAS is issued. You do not need to also email us.

If your CAS needs updating, please email the CAS Team. Please include your Exeter Student Reference number, details of the update, and attach any relevant evidence (e.g. a copy of your passport to update your passport number, or a payment confirmation to update fees payments). If you're unsure whether your CAS is correct, we would recommend that you read the FAQ sections below. We find that many of our students have similar queries about the CAS so hopefully the answer to your question will be below.

No, the version of the CAS statement we issue to students is just a summary of the full version of the CAS on the UKVI system. For simplicity, we always write the full name on the student version of the CAS in the following format: Given Name(s) FAMILY NAME e.g. Jane SMITH. However, on the full version of your CAS statement on the UKVI system, your given name and family name will appear in separate fields e.g. GIVEN NAME: JANE; FAMILY NAME: SMITH (all fields default to capitals). Your visa application will be assessed on the basis of this full CAS on the UKVI system, so will not be affected by the order your names appear on your passport or whether they are in upper or lower case.

If, however, your full name on your CAS is incorrect (e.g. if part of your name is missing), please note this on your CAS Data Check form, or email us if your CAS statement has already been issued. 

If your passport number is incorrect on your CAS Data Check, simply note your new passport number in the amendments field and upload a copy of your new passport with your CAS Data Check form. We will then ensure that your CAS statement is issued with your up-to-date passport details. Please ensure you upload a copy/photo of the ID page of your passport when you submit your CAS Data Check, as we cannot issue your CAS without this.

If you receive a new passport after receiving your CAS statement, please email us, ensuring that you attach a copy/photo of the ID page of your new passport. We will then add a sponsor note to your CAS confirming your new passport number.

Your CAS needs to be issued for the exact course you will be studying, so if you are requesting a change of programme (before starting your course or applying for your visa), or if you think the course you have been offered is not correct, please contact Admissions who will be able to consider your change of programme request. We cannot issue your CAS until Admissions have made a decision on your change of course request. If you are granted a change of programme, we will then send you a new CAS Contract and Data Check containing the correct details of your new course.

Please note, if you change course after registering on your programme and/or after applying for your visa, the process is different, please see our website for further details.

The start date in your offer email is the start of teaching. However, for courses starting at the beginning of the academic year in September, the CAS start date is 9 days earlier as it includes the arrivals weekend and Fresher’s Week. This is the standard CAS start dates for all students starting in September. You should include the CAS programme start date on your visa application rather than the start date listed in your offer email. This does not mean that you have to arrive for Fresher’s Week/arrivals weekend, it just means you can if you wish to.

Courses which don’t start in September will have a CAS start date which matches the offer email, as there won’t be a Fresher’s Week or arrivals weekend.

The standard PhD submission deadline is after 4 years, which is the end date in your offer email. However, your viva and any required amendments (usually 3-6 months) will take place after your submission deadline. CAS are therefore issued for 4.5 years to ensure these can take place. This means that the end date on your CAS will be 6 months later than the end date listed in your offer email. You should input the CAS end date on your visa application rather than the end date in your offer email.

If you wish your CAS end date to be shortened to 4 years, you can request this by emailing us. We strongly advise against this due to the risk of not being able to complete within 4 years and potentially needing to submit a costly visa extension application, so you will need to confirm in writing that you understand and accept these risks.

The ‘sponsor’ in ‘Sponsor Notes’ is referring to the University as a Student visa sponsor, it does not refer to financial sponsorship. This section is used only to update students’ CAS statements on the UKVI system if an amendment is required after the CAS is issued, such as if a student gets a new passport and we need to note the new passport number. If you are receiving financial sponsorship from an external source (i.e. not from the University of Exeter), we will not list this on your CAS, and you will instead need a sponsor letter as evidence that you meet the Student visa financial requirements. 

Funding provided by the University of Exeter will not be listed in the ‘Sponsor notes’ section either, it will instead be listed under ‘Section 3: Documentation used as Evidence…’ (see below for further details).

In most cases, no. The CAS needs to list the qualifications that the University has used to assess that you are qualified to study your course. We therefore only list the main qualifications Admissions have based your offer on, e.g. 3 A Level subjects or, if you have more than one degree, the main degree that your offer was based on. Many students will therefore find that some of their current or previous qualifications are not included on the CAS, this is not a problem as the key qualifications used to make the offer will be listed.

We do not list academic grades on the CAS statement as we are not required to do this, your CAS will list the title/subject of your academic qualification(s) but not the grade(s) achieved. We will only ever include your English Language grade on the CAS, as we are required to include this.

If you will be studying a course that is at degree-level or above (including Undergraduate, Masters and Doctorate level qualifications), you do not need to provide evidence of your qualifications (such as certificates or transcripts) with your Student visa application. The University must have seen and checked these documents before issuing your CAS, but it is no longer a requirement that you then submit them to UK Visas and Immigration.

If you are applying to study a degree level programme at the University of Exeter (rather than INTO Exeter), you will not require a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as a UKVI approved IELTS test. As a recognised Higher Education Institution (HEI), we are permitted by UKVI to make our own assessment of a student’s English Language ability, meaning that we can accept a variety of Non-SELTs for entry onto our degree programmes. The full version of your CAS statement on the UKVI system will always confirm that a SELT is not required, and will list the reason as ‘The Higher Education Institution (HEI) sponsor has made assessment’ (unless you are exempt from English due to being a national of a majority English speaking country, or holding a UK degree).

No, this is a generic statement which we are required to include on all CAS (except where students are exempt from English) to confirm that applicants have met the minimum B2 level for degree level study required by UKVI, it is not specific to each student’s individual English test scores, therefore we would not need to amend this.

If we are aware that you are receiving a partial scholarship or full studentship from the University of Exeter, we will note this in the ‘Documentation used as evidence…’ section of your CAS, under your qualifications. For further details on how this is calculated on your CAS, please see ‘Section 4: Fees’ below.

If you are receiving financial sponsorship from an external source (i.e. not from the University of Exeter), we will not list this on your CAS, and you will instead need a sponsor letter as evidence that you meet the Student visa financial requirements. 

The FAQ sections below give detailed information on how fees amounts are calculated and updated on your CAS. Please read these sections carefully and also see our Student visa - Money page for detailed guidance on the Student visa financial requirements. You may also find it helpful to read the CAS fee calculation examples at the end of this section.

Partial scholarships: The ‘tuition fee amount’ field on your CAS lists the first year course fee (as stated in your offer email) minus any partial scholarships you are receiving from the University. If we have listed a partial scholarship in the ‘Documentation used as Evidence…’ section of your CAS, this amount will have been deducted from the ‘tuition fee amount’.

Studentships: If you are receiving a full studentship, this will not be deducted from the ‘tuition fee amount’, it will instead be added to the ‘tuition fees paid’ total (see below).

Payments: Any payments you have made will not be deducted from the ‘tuition fee amount’, these will instead be added to the ‘tuition fees paid’ total (see below).

Payments: The ‘tuition fees paid’ section lists any tuition fee payments you have already made to the University, including any tuition fee deposits. It sometimes takes a few days for payments to appear on your CAS Data Check form, so if you have made any payments which do not appear on your CAS Data Check, you do not need to email us, please simply note any payments in the amendments field on your CAS form. We will then ensure that we issue your CAS with the correct payment amounts, once we have confirmation from the Finance team (please allow at least 5 working days for payments to be processed.)

Studentships: If you are receiving a studentship from the University which covers your full tuition fees, this should be added to the ‘tuition fees paid’ total.

University owned accommodation: All advance accommodation payments made to the University will be reflected on the CAS, but please bear in mind that you can deduct a maximum of £1,334 from the total you need to show for your visa application, please see our Student visa - Money page for more information. Please note that the £1,334 figure will be rising to £1,483 for applications submitted on or after 2^nd January 2025.

Private accommodation: We cannot include payments made to private accommodation providers on the CAS, only payments made to the University for University owned accommodation can be included.

If you pay any tuition or accommodation fees after your CAS is issued, your CAS can be updated once we have confirmation from our Student Finance Team that the payment has been received. This can take at least 5 working days. We will send you a new CAS statement to confirm. If you have made a payment more than 5 working days ago and your CAS has not been updated, please contact casteam@exeter.ac.uk with confirmation of the payment.

Please be aware – if you make additional tuition fee or accommodation payments in the 5 working days before a visa appointment these may not appear on your CAS by the time of your appointment. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have sufficient funds for your visa application – the University accepts no responsibility if your CAS is not updated in time for your visa application.

Example 1: Partial scholarship, no tuition fees paid, private accommodation

My offer lists my tuition fees as £22,000 and I have a £5,000 scholarship. I haven’t paid any tuition fees yet, but I’ve paid £250 accommodation fees for private accommodation, how will this be shown on my CAS?

Tuition fee amount: £17,000 (£22,000 fee - £5,000 scholarship)
Tuition fees paid: £0 (£0 tuition fees paid)
Accommodation fees paid: £0 (private accommodation fees are not listed on the CAS)

Example 2: Partial scholarship, some tuition fees paid, Exeter accommodation

My offer lists my tuition fees as £19,000. I have two scholarships totalling £3000. I have paid a £1,500 tuition fee deposit and have paid £7,000 for University of Exeter accommodation, how will this be shown on my CAS?

Tuition fee amount: £16,000 (£19,000 fee - £3,000 scholarships)
Tuition fees paid: £1,500(£1,500 tuition fee deposit)
Accommodation fees paid: £7,000(£7,000 paid for University of Exeter accommodation)

Example 3: University of Exeter studentship covering full fees and a living stipend

My offer lists my tuition fees as £25,000. I am receiving a University of Exeter studentship which covers my full tuition fees and also an annual living stipend of £15,000 per year. I haven’t paid for any accommodation. How will this be shown on my CAS?

Tuition fee amount: £25,000 (full fee amount as listed on the offer email)
Tuition fees paid: £25,000 (full fee amount as listed on the studentship letter)
Accommodation fees paid: £0 (we cannot list the maintenance stipend amount here, it will instead be included in the studentship note in the ‘Documentation used as Evidence…’ section of your CAS)

Example 4: Sponsorship from an external financial sponsor

My offer lists my tuition fees as £24,500. I am receiving external sponsorship from a recognised financial sponsor to cover my full tuition fees and living expenses. I haven’t paid any tuition or accommodation fees as it will all be covered by my sponsor, how will this be shown on my CAS?

Tuition fee amount: £24,500 (full fee amount as listed on the offer email)
Tuition fees paid: £0 (we cannot list funding provided by external sponsors on the CAS)
Accommodation fees paid: £0 (we cannot list funding provided by external sponsors on the CAS)

We are required to check that you meet UKVI’s academic progression rules regarding previous UK study. Please see our Immigration and visas page (academic progression section) for more information.

No, we only need to know about time you have previously spent in the UK as a student.

Yes, please simply note the details of your previous study on your CAS Data Check form. If you have a CAS statement for your previous course, please upload it, but if you are unable to provide this, please still submit your CAS Data Check form. If we require any further documentation from you, we will email you to request this.

No, we only need to be informed of previous UK study which was taught within the UK. If you were awarded a degree from a UK University but it was taught fully overseas or by distance learning, it does not count as previous UK study for visa purposes.