To apply for a student visa, you need a statement from us outlining our Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Find out how you get a CAS and where to go if you have questions.
The purpose of a CAS
A CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) is an electronic document created by Sussex that confirms you have accepted an offer to study with us. You will need a CAS to make a successful student visa application.
Like other UK universities, we use a platform called CAS Shield to gather the details we need from you to give you your CAS.
The admissions team will only start assessing you for a CAS once you accept your offer and have met all of its conditions.
Before you begin
If you already study at Sussex and need a new CAS to continue your current course, have a look at our changes to your studies webpage.
If you are an international student starting a Masters course, your CAS will only be issued after you have paid a tuition fee deposit or have provided acceptable evidence that you meet one of our exemptions.
If you will be studying a PhD at Sussex, you will not use CAS Shield to obtain your CAS and do not need to follow the process below. We will contact you about the PhD CAS-request process approximately 3 months before you are due to start your course with us.
The CAS Shield platform
Before we can issue you a CAS, you will be expected to meet certain UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) guidelines. These checks are completed through CAS Shield. This online platform will guide you through the completion of pre-CAS tasks and document requests. You will be required to complete everything through the CAS Shield platform and our team will not accept any documents provided by email.
It is your responsibility to complete all tasks as early as possible. This will allow us to approve the information you’ve shared and issue you with your CAS in time for your course start date.
Stages of receiving your CAS
- Logging into CAS Shield
- Information check and document upload
- Pre-CAS questionnaire
- Pre-CAS interview
- Financial checks
- Your CAS is issued
- Applying for your student visa
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Logging into CAS Shield
After accepting your unconditional offer, you will be sent a secure login link to CAS Shield through a welcome email. You will need to register by verifying your email address and creating a password.
Information check and document upload
On the CAS Shield platform, you will be asked to complete an information check to ensure all information in your application is correct. You will need to provide answers to questions around travel history, any visa refusals received and your study history. You will also be asked to upload documents, including your passport, academic qualifications and English language. Although you may have already provided some of these documents as part of your University application, you will be required to upload them in CAS Shield as part of the CAS process.
Based on the responses in your information check, you may be asked to provide additional information or upload further documents, including if you have disclosed any previous UK study or any previous visa refusals from the UK or elsewhere.
Pre-CAS questionnaire
You will then be asked to complete a short questionnaire, answering questions around your reasons for studying in the UK and at the University of Sussex. You will be asked about your plans during your studies and after you complete your course.
Pre-CAS interview
You may be asked to complete a pre-CAS interview on CAS Shield. This is a video interview where you film yourself answering set questions. The pre-CAS interview will help you prepare for a potential credibility interview that you may be invited to by the Home Office. Credibility interviews take place to ensure that you are a genuine applicant intending to study and that you meet the English Language requirements for applying. The pre-CAS interview conducted by us will help you prepare for a possible credibility interview and will help to reduce the risk of your visa application being refused.
We recommend that you prepare original and personal answers using the resources on our website. Avoid giving generic answers that could apply to any other university or country of study. Find out more information and take a look at some example questions.
Financial Checks
As part of the pre-CAS checks, you will be asked to complete a financial plan to share how you intend to fund your studies at Sussex. Based on your circumstances, you may be asked to upload evidence of your financial documents for review. This is because UKVI have specific financial requirements for student route visa applicants and it is essential you are prepared to provide financial documents for your application to avoid a visa refusal.
You will automatically meet the financial requirement for a student visa if you:- are applying for a Student visa inside the UK
- have been in the UK for at least 12 months with valid permission on the date of application – holidays and short absences from the UK do not break the 12-month period, but if you have been away for a significant time (three months or more), you will not meet the requirement.
Alternatively, you won’t need to submit financial documents if you:
- are from one of the countries listed in appendix ST 22.1 (includes all EU nationals) and
- apply from your country of nationality, the country where you are resident (not as a visitor) or from within the UK.
If you meet the differentiation requirements, you won’t need to send evidence of your finances to UKVI when you apply for a visa. However, unless you are applying in the UK and meet the financial exemption, you must have evidence of your finances available as per UKVI requirements, as UKVI can still ask you for proof of funds. Because of this, you will still need to complete the full financial plan on CAS Shield and we may ask for further financial information or documents on a case-by-case basis.
In preparation to submit financial documents to CAS Shield, read through our guidance to ensure you provide us with the right evidence.-
Your CAS is issued
If you complete all pre-CAS tasks in CAS Shield and these tasks and documents are approved by the Sussex admissions team, we will then issue you with a CAS statement. You will also be given access to a portal where you can view your live CAS statement and any changes made after CAS issuance. Please note that the CAS is not issued via CAS Shield.
We recommend checking the information in your CAS statement is correct. If anything is incorrect, please contact us.
Your CAS number can only be issued for a visa application to study the course you have applied for at the University of Sussex. If you do not take up your place, your application and CAS will be withdrawn. -
Applying for your student visa
After you have been issued your CAS, it is your responsibility to make sure you meet all the Student visa requirements before submitting your application. Follow our guidance on how to make a student visa application from inside or outside the UK and contact our International Advisors if you have any questions.
If you have questions
If you need more information or guidance before you’re invited to CAS Shield, speak to our team by filling out one of our enquiry forms for new undergraduate students or new masters students.
Once you are invited into CAS Shield, you can use the messaging functionality on the platform to contact our teams.
Read the CAS Issuing Policy [PDF 256KB] to find out more.