Confirmation of acceptance for studies

If you need a Student visa to study with us, before you can apply to the Home Office for your visa you must have a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number to submit as part of your visa application.

A CAS is a unique reference number that is 14 digits long and is given to you by the University of Brighton. It confirms to the Home Office that you have accepted an unconditional offer and met Home Office eligibility requirements.

View our CAS deadlines

The CAS process

Read this important information about how to obtain your CAS number from the University of Brighton.

How can I get my CAS number?

To request a CAS number you need to have been made an unconditional offer and firmly accepted it. Please send us your confirmed qualification results via the Applicant Portal as soon as you have them so that you can apply for your CAS as soon as possible.

Once you have an unconditional offer that you have firmly accepted, the link to the University of Brighton CAS questionnaire will appear in Student View, under the Visa information tab. Please complete the questionnaire in full, upload copies of all required documents and click submit when you are finished.

We will issue you with a CAS number for the University of Brighton if you meet all of the eligibility requirements for English language, academic progression, maximum UK study periods and have paid a tuition fee deposit (where due).

English language

You must meet the UK Home Office requirements for English language ability.

Unless you meet one of the approved exemptions, you must have a valid English language qualification that is equivalent to:

a minimum of level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) if you will be studying a course at degree-level and above (eg bachelors, masters, postgraduate diploma/certificate, doctorate).

a minimum of level B1 CEFR if you will be studying a course at below degree-level (eg foundation degree), which must be in the form of a Secure English Language Test (SELT).

For a list of the approved exemptions, SELTs and further information please visit the Home Office website - knowledge of English.

Academic progression

You must meet the Home Office requirements for academic progression.
If you have already studied in the UK on a student visa (whether the course has been completed or not), your new course of study must represent academic progression from your previous study; it must be at a higher academic level than your previous UK course.

For more information about academic progression, please visit the Home Office website.

Maximum UK study periods

You must meet the Home Office requirements on maximum time spent studying in the UK on a Student visa.

Unless you meet one of the approved exemptions, your course at the University of Brighton must not lead you to exceed the maximum time limit for study within the UK on a Student visa:

You must not spend more than a total of five years studying at degree-level on a Student visa.
You must not spend more than a total of two years studying at below degree-level on a Student visa.

For a list of the approved exemptions and for more information, please visit the Home Office website.

International tuition fee deposit

Not all students need to pay a tuition fee deposit, for example if your fees are being paid via US Federal Loan or a government. For a full list of deposit exemptions, please check the information on our international fees webpage.
If you do need to pay our £5,000 tuition fee deposit, this must have been paid and the funds cleared for us to issue a CAS.
You are strongly advised to pay your deposit as soon as you can to secure your course place – but you can pay it after your submit your CAS questionnaire, or after you have passed your pre-CAS interview.

Pay your deposit

Pre-CAS interview

Applicants may be required to attend a pre-CAS interview as part of our assessment of their suitability to be sponsored for a student visa. The Visa Compliance team will confirm if you are required to attend a pre-CAS interview after your CAS questionnaire has been assessed.

Applicants who do not respond to the interview invitation, fail to attend, or do not pass the interview will be refused a CAS/Student visa sponsorship and their offer of a place at the university will be withdrawn.

When will I get my CAS number?

Before we can issue you with your CAS number, we will need to assess your completed CAS questionnaire, supporting documentation and pre-CAS interview responses (if applicable) against Home Office visa regulations.

This means that CAS assessments and timescales will vary according to your personal circumstances, and we cannot guarantee that you will be issued with a CAS, even if you hold an unconditional academic offer to study and have provided us with all requested information.

Our CAS deadlines are the last possible chance for you to submit the questionnaire and still receive your CAS number; it does not guarantee that you will also have enough time to apply for and receive your visa.

A CAS number can only be used in a visa application up to six months after it has been assigned.

The Home Office rules allow you to apply for a visa six months before the start of your course – however, the University of Brighton will start issuing CAS numbers three to four months before the start of a course.

CAS deadlines

September 2025 entry

We want you to arrive in good time to start your studies so have the deadlines below to support the timely issue of your CAS. Deadlines vary according to the level of information required by the Home Office in your visa application. Students who are nationals of countries that are not on the Home Office Differential Evidence list need to provide the Home Office with financial information, which we will also need to see to assess suitability for a CAS. As these checks take more time, earlier deadlines apply to students from countries not on the Home Office Differential Evidence list.

The deadlines below are the latest dates to receive information from you for you to start studies on-time. Providing requested information by these dates does not guarantee that you will also have enough time to apply for and receive your visa, so please do send qualification results and apply for your CAS as early as possible. We expect all students to apply for their visa within three working days of CAS issuance and no later than the deadlines below.

September 2025 CAS deadlines
Type of deadline	Applicant is a national of a country NOT on the Home Office Differential Evidence list	Applicant is a national of a country on the Home Office Differential Evidence list	Applying from within the UK
Deadline to provide all documents to meet offer conditions	Monday 11 August 2025	Monday 25 August 2025	Monday 1 September 2025
CAS request deadline	Monday 18 August 2025*	Monday 1 September 2025*	Tuesday 9 September 2025
Course start date	Monday 29 September 2025**	Monday 29 September 2025**	Monday 29 September 2025**

Home Office Differential Evidence list

*Due to additional CAS processing times applicants to MRes courses need to make their CAS application by 15 August if applying with a nationality not on the UKVI differential evidence list, and 21 August if applying with a nationality on the UKVI differential evidence list.

**Students applying for their visa close to the course start date are advised to use priority visa services where available.

All applicants outside of the UK who apply via Clearing, or are awaiting qualifications that are not available until August (such as A levels), should apply for their CAS no later than Thursday 21 August 2025.

January 2026 entry

Our deadlines for the January 2026 intake are being finalised and will be released soon.

Frequently asked questions on receiving your CAS

Once your CAS number has been assigned, we will send you a CAS statement email, which you can also see in Student View.

The CAS statement email is for your reference only and will list the information that we have provided to the Home Office, including the qualifications used for entry to the course, which we will need to see original certificates for at registration.

We will not send out a paper copy of your CAS statement as you do not need this for your visa application. You will need to enter the CAS number on your visa application form, as all details in the CAS statement email will be visible electronically by the Home Office Visa Officer.
Once a payment has been made and cleared by the university's financial system, the Visa Compliance team will be notified to update either the 'course fees paid' or the 'accommodation fees paid' sections on your CAS number. Please note that it can take a minimum of three working days for a payment to clear on our system.

If your CAS number is successfully updated with the payment details, we will send you an email confirming that this amendment has been made.

Please also be aware that if you submit your visa application and your CAS number is used before the payment has cleared, we will not be able to update your CAS number with the payment details. Please see our how to pay your fees information.
You must check that the information in your CAS statement email is correct as soon as you receive it. If any details are not correct or information has not been included, please contact us by emailing casenquiries@brighton.ac.uk. If your passport details are incorrect, please attach a copy of your (new) passport.

We will only amend the details on the CAS statement if the errors will have an effect on the success of your visa application. For example, if your name, passport number, qualification or fees are incorrect. We will not normally amend spelling mistakes, as these will not result in a visa refusal.
If our Visa Compliance team updates details on your CAS number, we will send you an email confirming the amendment that has been made.

We do not amend and re-send the CAS statement email once it has initially been produced, even if an update has been made. This is because all the information in the CAS statement is uploaded electronically to the Home Office and any amendments that are made are logged straight onto the Home Office’s live Sponsor Management System; so everything will be visible by the Home Office Visa Officer.
Once you've received your CAS you can apply for your Student visa, which will be different according to whether you are applying in the UK or from your home country:
- How to make your visa application from your home country
- How to make your visa application from the UK
When the Home Office processes a decision on your visa application, the University of Brighton will be notified.

If you have been granted a visa, we will need to see you in person when you start studies with us to check and take copies of your passport and visa (visa share code if electronic) or Biometric Residence Permit card. We may also need to see evidence of your entry into the UK, such as an airline boarding card.

We will contact you to let you know when and where you will be able to meet with the Visa Compliance team who undertake these checks.