A joint CAS can be issued if you hold an offer for a postgraduate taught (masters) and one of the following applies:

• your offer is unconditional
• your academic offer is for Business, Engineering or Built Environment and the only condition on your academic offer relates to English as you narrowly missed your English language condition
• the only condition on your academic offer relates to English and you have an approved IELTS for UKVI purposes at B1 level and your academic condition is at B2 level

Please email our team of experts for clarification if you believe any of the options might apply to you.

A joint CAS is only available for presessional English courses of 10 or 5 weeks which immediately precede an academic course start date in September.

Yes, that is possible in most cases. However, if you have received any CAS for either the presessional or academic programme already, we cannot change the CAS. You are welcome to email us for advice in this situation.

You do not need a joint CAS, instead, you can apply for your visa based on your main academic CAS. You will be permitted to enter the UK one month prior to your course start date, which should be enough time to start the 4 week presessional course which starts on 30 August 2016.

If you are likely to meet your academic condition (based on degree results, for example) by 25 May (for the 10 week presessional course) or by 7 July (for the 5 week presessional course), then you could be considered for a joint CAS based on question one or two of this guidance. Because of timing, if you prefer to receive a single CAS for your presessional English course, please let us know.

You need a UKVI IELTS test if:

• you require a joint CAS on the basis of the third route outlined in question one
• you are planning to join the presessional course and you will come to the UK on a single CAS for that purpose.

Many students choose to have a UKVI IELTS to make sure that they can keep all options open.

You will need to pass an assessment at the level specified in your academic offer in the following situations:

• if you are studying the presessional English course on a single CAS
• if you are studying on a joint CAS which you secured via the third route outlined in question one (moving from B1 to B2 level English)

If you don’t pass the assessment, you should seek advice from the CELE. Please do be prepared that you may be required to defer your academic offer and return home, overseas.