Frequently Asked Questions

This will depend on a number of circumstances. Please visit our website for further details. If you are not currently resident in the UK with a UK visa, it is likely that you will need to apply for a Student visa. 

You will receive your CAS at the point you have an unconditional offer to study at Brunel University London and within 6 months of the course start date. We advise that you meet any conditions of your offer as soon as possible. This includes the completion of your CAS application (CAS Shield). 

Your CAS statement will be emailed to you when your unconditional offer is processed. You do not need a hard copy letter to make a Student visa application. A CAS is an electronic document that we have also sent to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). They can view this in your visa application.

In certain circumstances, Brunel University can issue a Joint Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) that would cover both a Pre-sessional English course and a main degree course of study. This means that a student can apply for just one Student Visa that would cover the duration of both courses.

However, please note that the requirements set by the UK Home Office that allow this are quite strict and Brunel can only issue students with Joint CAS’ in certain circumstances:

• You have an offer on a degree course, conditional on successfully passing the Pre-sessional course that will last three months (12 weeks) or less. A Joint CAS cannot be issued if the Pre-sessional course is longer than this.

• You have an unconditional offer on both courses (the Pre-sessional course must be three months/12 weeks or less)

• There will be no more than 1 month between the end of your Pre-sessional and the start of your main degree courses

• Your main course of study must be at undergraduate level (RQF 6) or above

• If your offer on the degree course is conditional, passing the Pre-sessional course must be the only outstanding condition to your offer

• You must hold a UKVI approved IELTS at a minimum of CEFR B1 Level (or another acceptable Secure English Language Test). The only exception to this is if you hold an unconditional offer on both courses i.e. you already meet the English requirements for your degree course but also choose to do a Pre-sessional course

• Both the Pre-sessional and degree courses must be studied at Brunel University London (including pathway programmes with our partner College; Brunel Pathway Centre)

* Please note, to progress from the Pre-sessional, you must meet the English Language requirement for your degree course

To qualify for a Joint CAS, you must meet all of the conditions of your offer for both the Pre-sessional and degree courses (with the exception of the condition to pass a Pre-sessional course). If you are not eligible for a Joint CAS, we can issue a single CAS to cover your Pre-sessional English course, and you can extend your Student visa in the UK when you progress onto the degree course. 

Please email us at admissions.immigration@brunel.ac.uk if you notice a mistake on your CAS. We can usually electronically amend minor errors on a CAS using a 'sponsor note'. We can also amend tuition fees on the CAS. Please check your CAS very carefully when you receive it. 

No, unfortunately we will only sponsor Student visas for full-time courses at Brunel. 

Please visit the information on our website for details of how, where and when to apply for your Student visa.

This is a decision you may have to make based on the length of time before your course start date and/or registration deadline. Generally, if you are applying for your visa at least several weeks before the course starts, you may be advised just to use the standard service because the visa application should be processed within three weeks.

But you may wish to consider priority services if there is less than a month before your course starts to ensure you obtain your visa in time, although please note this comes at significant additional cost. Note that visa application processing delays may occur at peak times, particularly in August, September and December, including for priority services. This is another reason why you should apply for your visa as early as you can. 

All students need to meet the finance requirements in their visa application. If using a personal bank statement/s (in your name or that of a parent or legal guardian) as evidence of funds, you will need to show these funds have been held for a minimum of 28 days:

• Remaining tuition fees (for the first year of your course). These are stated on your CAS.
• Living costs of £1,334 per month for a maximum of nine months. This will be £12,006 if your course is more than nine months long. 

Please note that the financial requirements will change on 2 January 2025. The monthly financial requirement will increase to £1,483 per month. For courses that are nine months or over, you would have to show that you have £13,347 for your living costs.

Please carefully ensure that you can meet the finance requirements before applying for your visa. There are various ways in which these requirements can be met, so please visit our website for further details.

No! If you are applying for a Student visa, it is very important that you do not travel to the UK before your Student visa is granted. This would be possible if you are a non-visa national as you could enter on your passport to visit for six months, for example, if you are a national of the USA, Canada or any EU/EEA country (as well as many others). 

The problem with doing this is that your Student visa is not 'activated' until you enter the UK after the issue date. If you enter the UK before the issue date of the Student visa, it will not be valid, and you can only stay in the UK for six months. We would not be able to register you on your course if this is found to be the case as your Student visa will not be valid.

The only solution would be for you to leave the UK and re-enter on your Student visa, which would likely be expensive and inconvenient. This may mean you end up missing your registration deadline. 

Also note that if you enter the UK for six months as a visitor, you cannot make a valid Student visa application in the UK. You have to leave the UK to do this. 

The documents that you will need to supply with your visa application may include:

• Your passport
• Two passport photographs
• Financial evidence that you will meet the maintenance requirements 
• Depending on which country you are applying in, you may also need to take a tuberculosis test before applying

There may be other documents that you need to supply depending on your circumstances. You will need official translations of any documents that are not in English. If you use your parents’ bank account details to meet the maintenance requirements, you will also need to supply a consent letter and your birth certificate. If your course requires ATAS clearance, you will need to provide the certificate.

For further details about the documents that you need to supply, please visit our website with details of how to make the Student visa application. 

You must contact us urgently if your visa application is refused for any reason. You must send us a copy of your visa refusal letter. Please do not delay as there may be very limited time to take any appropriate action if your course is due to start in the near future. We can then provide you with the advice that you need.  

All of our courses have a registration deadline. This is stated on your CAS and in your registration instructions that Brunel University will send to you. You will be allowed to register as normal until the deadline has passed. 

If you are not able to register before the deadline, your course leader/academic department would have to approve an extension to your registration deadline. If you receive your visa after the initial deadline, please do not travel to the UK unless it has been confirmed that you are allowed to register at a later date. 

No. Please visit our website for details of what you will need to do in order to complete your registration. 

No. Please visit our website for details of what you will need to do in order to complete your registration. 

From the end of 2024, Student (and other) visas will be issued in a digital format. These are known as electronic visas - eVisas. Please visit our website Making a Student visa application for further information about eVisas.