The Student Room Group

No CAS this year to intl students?

Hi everyone,

I was about to confirm my place after getting accepted to a graduate program, when the admissions office notified me the uni is not currently issuing CAS due to the uncertainty about courses in September. Without the CAS I can't apply for my student visa, etc. This is all rather a surprise, as there was no indication anywhere on uni websites that they would not be supporting students' visas this year. I understand the lockdown may still be in place in some form in the fall, but assumed it would just be for a couple of months, and people could do distance learning until face-to-face instruction begins.
Anyway, has anybody heard similar information from their unis, that they are not issuing any CAS? I don't know if this is government policy or if I should just apply to a different programme somewhere else.
Reply 1
Original post by parusmajor
Hi everyone,

I was about to confirm my place after getting accepted to a graduate program, when the admissions office notified me the uni is not currently issuing CAS due to the uncertainty about courses in September. Without the CAS I can't apply for my student visa, etc. This is all rather a surprise, as there was no indication anywhere on uni websites that they would not be supporting students' visas this year. I understand the lockdown may still be in place in some form in the fall, but assumed it would just be for a couple of months, and people could do distance learning until face-to-face instruction begins.
Anyway, has anybody heard similar information from their unis, that they are not issuing any CAS? I don't know if this is government policy or if I should just apply to a different programme somewhere else.

That’s so odd! Which school/ programme have you applied to? Pretty sure this isn’t government policy (unless it was just announced and I missed it). I know St Andrews is planning on distributing CAS in June. Maybe contact the uni and explain? As I’m pretty sure you still need CAS to apply for your visa.
Reply 2
Original post by Levdm
That’s so odd! Which school/ programme have you applied to? Pretty sure this isn’t government policy (unless it was just announced and I missed it). I know St Andrews is planning on distributing CAS in June. Maybe contact the uni and explain? As I’m pretty sure you still need CAS to apply for your visa.

It was one of the programmes at Leeds University. On the official website, there is no mention of this, it was something an admissions staff member wrote in an email, responding to a inquiry about part time study. Leeds has been extremely unresponsive as well - this reply took them two weeks. So maybe they are just not on top of things and thinking of dumping all international students? No idea!
Original post by parusmajor
It was one of the programmes at Leeds University. On the official website, there is no mention of this, it was something an admissions staff member wrote in an email, responding to a inquiry about part time study. Leeds has been extremely unresponsive as well - this reply took them two weeks. So maybe they are just not on top of things and thinking of dumping all international students? No idea!

Universities can’t issue a CAS earlier than 3 months before the start of a course (and you can’t get a tier 4 visa for part time study).

A CAS can only be issued once you have met all conditions of your offer.
Reply 4
Original post by PQ
Universities can’t issue a CAS earlier than 3 months before the start of a course (and you can’t get a tier 4 visa for part time study).

A CAS can only be issued once you have met all conditions of your offer.

You're saying what is common knowledge before the coronavirus. But everything is in question now.

First of all, the government last year allowed part-time study on Tier 4 for graduate students. (See Eligibility section on the website: https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa/eligibility) And my unconditional offer was for the part time course, but that's not the issue I'm flagging. The main issue is that their Admissions staff member said they will not be issuing CAS for the time being because of the coronavirus.
Original post by parusmajor
You're saying what is common knowledge before the coronavirus. But everything is in question now.

First of all, the government last year allowed part-time study on Tier 4 for graduate students. (See Eligibility section on the website: https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa/eligibility) And my unconditional offer was for the part time course, but that's not the issue I'm flagging. The main issue is that their Admissions staff member said they will not be issuing CAS for the time being because of the coronavirus.

If they are considering delaying the start of term for the course (even if only for a few weeks) then they’ll have put a hold on issuing CASs until the term dates are fixed and certain
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/123000/international_students/802/coronavirus-information_for_applicants_and_offer_holders#international

Are you issuing Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)?

We have not started to issue CASs yet this year and will reconsider our position in late May. The earliest you can apply for your visa is three months before your course start date so you should still have time to prepare your arrival.

I have received an unconditional offer from the University and a request to pay a deposit to receive a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Do I have to pay it now?

Due to the ongoing situation with coronavirus (covid-19), we are considering making some adjustments to the start of the academic year for our Masters programmes for 2020-21, which may result in a later start date on campus. We are not issuing CASs yet, but we are accepting deposit payments to secure your place on your chosen course.



They’re uncertain of the exact course start dates for masters courses. Until that is certain then they won’t issue CASs

For an early October start the earliest they could issue would be start of July anyway.
Reply 7
Original post by PQ
If they are considering delaying the start of term for the course (even if only for a few weeks) then they’ll have put a hold on issuing CASs until the term dates are fixed and certain


Well, if that's the case, that the start of course will be delayed, then they are keeping that info to themselves for now. The only thing I was notified about was the CAS. And it was just from one uni, another one wrote to me today that they intend to issue them as usual. So it's all in flux.
Original post by parusmajor
Well, if that's the case, that the start of course will be delayed, then they are keeping that info to themselves for now. The only thing I was notified about was the CAS. And it was just from one uni, another one wrote to me today that they intend to issue them as usual. So it's all in flux.

See the post above. They’re literally stating that they’re considering term dates on their website

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