If you have an offer for a postgraduate level degree course at the University of Nottingham and want to take a Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes course of 10 or six weeks to precede the postgraduate course start date in September/October, you may be eligible to receive a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) which covers both your pre-sessional course and your degree course. This is known as an integrated CAS and means that you should only need to apply for your Student Visa once.
Criteria for an integrated CAS
An integrated CAS can be issued if you meet all of the following criteria:
- you hold an academic offer for a postgraduate course which you have accepted
- you have a minimum of 5.0 overall and 5.0 in all elements in your current UKVI IELTS (Secure English Language Test) or equivalent in an alternative SELT
- your academic offer is conditional and English language is the only condition
- your academic course application and your pre-sessional application are both on the same Nottingham ID
We are unable to issue an integrated CAS for any postgraduate certificate (PGCert) or postgraduate diploma (PGDip) offer of study.
We may be able to consider issuing an integrated CAS for undergraduate and postgraduate research courses where a 10-week or six-week pre-sessional course immediately precedes the degree start date.
Please email our team of experts for clarification if you believe any of the options might apply to you.
Students who qualify for an integrated CAS will automatically receive one from our Admissions Team. You will be notified of this, including any deadlines which must be met, on your pre-sessional offer letter.
UKVI Secure English Language Test (SELT)
Students who are intending to study a pre-sessional course should secure a UKVI SELT to make sure they can keep all options open. A UKVI SELT is needed:
- if you are planning to come to the UK on a CAS which covers only the pre-sessional English course
or
- if you are planning to come to the UK on an integrated CAS because your English Language condition still needs to be met
If you accept an offer for a 10-week pre-sessional English course and then get an English test score that allows you to do the six-week pre-sessional English course, it is only possible to change course if you have not already received a CAS and the course application deadline has not passed. If you have already received a CAS, it is not possible to switch, you would need to reapply via our Admissions Team for a new pre-sessional course duration.
Unconditional offer holders
If you have an unconditional academic offer, you can choose to take a CELE pre-sessional course for your own development and receive an integrated CAS to include either a 10-week or six-week pre-sessional English course immediately preceding a postgraduate course. In these circumstances a SELT is not required.
However, this is only available with advance notice. If you have already received a single CAS from the university for either a CELE pre-sessional course or a postgraduate course, it will not be possible to issue you with an integrated CAS if your circumstances subsequently change.
You are welcome to email us for advice in this situation.
Accepting a pre-sessional English offer
You will need to accept your pre-sessional offer no more than two weeks after receiving it.
You will need to pay a CAS deposit charge when you accept your offer. This must be received before we can issue your integrated CAS. For more information on this, please visit our CAS deposit webpage.
Once you receive an integrated CAS, you are obliged to fully attend both courses to comply with the attendance and engagement requirements which are one of the key conditions of your student visa.
We will begin issuing CAS documents for summer 2025 pre-sessional programmes during week commencing 28 April 2025.
Glossary
- Unconditional - you have no conditions outstanding for entry on to your degree programme.
- Conditional - conditions that you must fulfil before your academic offer is unconditional (for example providing references or reaching your English language target).
- Integrated CAS - a CAS which covers both pre-sessional English and degree study.
- IELTS - International English Language Testing System - a type of SELT
- SELT - a Secure English Language Test - a UK Visas and Immigration recognised English test required by UK Visas and Immigration for an integrated CAS to be issued where the academic offer is conditional on English. A SELT is also required for a CAS to be issued for a student to attend a stand-alone pre-sessional English course.