Student route: your CAS

Our Admissions team are responsible for issuing CAS to eligible applicants who have applied to start a new course at the University of Essex. This includes current Essex sponsored students who hold an offer for a new Essex course, as well as Pre-Sessional students studying at the University of Essex International College.

Our International Services Team (IST) are responsible for issuing CAS to eligible registered Essex students who need to make either:

• a Student route application to complete their current Essex course; or
• a Student route application before changing to a different course part way through their programme (following advice from IST).

If you are a current Essex student and you require Student immigration permission to complete the course you have already started, you can find out how to request a CAS in our Student Directory pages. If you are eligible to apply for a Student route visa from within the UK, please contact us to request your CAS 3 months before your current visa is due to expire. 

Most applicants are required to pay a tuition fee deposit before they can make a CAS application, although some exemptions apply. You should read the relevant Tuition Fee Deposits Policy for your intake to confirm who is required to pay a deposit, the amount due, who can make the payment, and how refund requests are handled. Please look out for emails from the Admissions team about paying your deposit and ensure you pay close attention to any deadlines

You should aim to make any pre-payments for tuition fees and accommodation before we issue your CAS. This ensures that your CAS statement will reflect any payments you have made to the University to date.

Please read our Your application page for more information about the money you will need to have available, acceptable accounts and how long it must be held in an account for before you apply for your visa. The most common reason for a refusal of an application is due to applicants not being able to demonstrate they meet the financial requirements. 

If you are considering changing your course, or adding a year abroad or work placement year, please contact the Admissions team using the email address at the top of your offer letter before you make your Student route application.

Once you have been issued a Student visa, it will be linked specifically to the course listed on your CAS. You may not be able to change your course, or add a year abroad or work placement year, without first obtaining a new CAS and Student visa first.

Please let the Admissions team know that you wish to change your course as soon as possible; do not wait for your CAS to be issued first. It is essential that your CAS is issued with the correct course details. Any changes we are unaware of could mean that you aren't able to obtain a Student visa in time to start the course. 

The University of Essex International College (a Kaplan International Pathways Partner) offers a range of Pre-Sessional English (PSE) courses, which you may choose to take before you start your main course of study. These programmes aim to support applicants to achieve the English language conditions of their offer and/or improve academic study skills commonly used in the UK.

• These programmes are available to study on campus in the UK.
• If you need to improve your English and opt to study a PSE course, you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT).
• Where you meet the eligibility criteria, we will issue you a single CAS to cover both your PSE and your main course of study. 

If we are not able to issue you with a single CAS to cover both your PSE course and main course, you will receive a CAS for your PSE course only (issued by Kaplan). Once you have successfully completed your PSE, the University will issue a CAS for your degree course and you will need to make a new Student route application. You will be able to make this application from within the UK, provided you are eligible. 

To study a PSE with our partners in China a SELT is not required, but applicants must hold an acceptable English language test.

We will issue you a CAS for your main course programme once we receive confirmation that you have successfully completed your PSE programme with our partners in China and your offer is unconditional.

Further information regarding our Pre-Sessional English courses can be found on our PSE webpage. 

We will check your CAS before issuing it to you, but we ask that you also check it carefully when you receive it so that we can help resolve any issues as early as possible. If anything is incorrect, please let us know before you make your Student route application. 
 
We are unable to make amendments to the CAS once a visa application has been made, and the CAS has been marked as ‘used’ by the Home Office. 

If you have made payments to the University for tuition fees or accommodation which are not reflected on your CAS statement, contact us immediately and before you submit your Student route application so that we can amend your CAS. Remember to attach any receipts you may have. 
 
Any payments made to the University after you have made your Student route application will not be taken into account by the Home Office. You must make sure your financial documents show you hold the required amount of money on the date you submitted your application online. 

You should have already read our guidance, checked you meet the Student Immigration Rules and gathered all the evidence you require. 

Before you submit your application, please read our Student route application page and follow links to the UKCISA guidance. We hope you will find all the information you will need, including how much money you will need to show you have available for living expenses to study at one of our campuses, and  other details that you will need when completing the online application form.

We (and the Home Office) do not recommend that you book travel to the UK before you recieve your CAS or Student visa. Read our Coming to the UK pages for more guidance on what you should do before travelling to the UK.

Once you have your Student visa, you should make arrangements to be able to arrive, register and begin attending classes from the start of term where possible.

If you are unable to arrive on campus by the start of term, then you must ensure you arrive and complete in person registration by the latest accept date given on your CAS statement.

If you cannot arrive on campus by the latest accept date, do not travel. You should let us know immediately by emailing vquery@essex.ac.uk to discuss your options.

Information about the registration process can be found on our Registration webpages. 

If you wish to change course after your Student visa application has been successful, it may not be possible to do so without applying for a new Student visa from overseas first. Contact us by emailing vquery@essex.ac.uk as soon as possible so we can advise further on your options. 

If you do not think you will be able to arrive in the UK and start your course by the Latest Accept Date on your CAS, or you have decided to study at a different institution, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing vquery@essex.ac.uk