What is CAS letter and shield in the UK? Is it required and Does it mean visa approval?
To apply to UK universities, the documentation varies from institute to institute and program to program, but one common and most important document you might have heard during your UK study journey is a CAS letter. What is a CAS letter in the UK and how does it play a crucial role in the UK admissions process? Does it affect your visa approval chances? We will be learning all the details one by one in this blog.
The UK, an English-speaking country with the oldest and most renowned reputations of institutions, is pretty famous amongst international students and is at the top chart of overseas education for many reasons, such as quality education, recognized degrees around the globe, lucrative post-study work permits, a welcoming and safe environment, a high standard of living, and permanent residency options as well. Regarding the latest trend of 2025, according to the Times Higher Education report, acceptance letter issuance is up 14%, and deposits made by international students through Enroly for the January 2025 admission are up 27% from the previous year.
UK Institutions are known for their reputations, easy eligibility criteria, no backlog restriction, lenient study gap bar, and even providing English language proficiency waiver to non-speaking countries students as well. This is why, after having so much trouble with other countries, such as Canada’s pessimistic view towards international students and the Trump government’s strictness against Immigrants, more and more international students are opting for the UK as their preferred destination. The UK also allows international students to apply for Indefinite leave to remain, or ILR after a five-year stay in the UK (excluding study duration), which is known as permanent residency.
What is CAS Letter in the UK?
Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies or CAS letter, is an official document issued by the UK University where you have received the admission. It contains a unique 14-digit CAS number that has been assigned to your application for study visa processing purposes. It also covers your personal information, program details, sponsoring institution details, academic qualification, tuition fee, passport number, scholarship details, and many more important details. CAS letters play a crucial role in UK student visas.
Process to get the CAS Letter
a) Receive an unconditional offer letter from the university. It is very important that to receive a CAS letter, always apply for an unconditional offer letter first.
b) If you have a conditional offer letter, then please fulfill the required condition. There can be conditions for fulfilling academic, English proficiency, or interview requirements. There are many universities that, after providing the offer letter, ask for an interview to check the student’s English and genuniness.
c) Pay the CAS deposit. All the universities do ask for a CAS deposit, which means before releasing a CAS letter, they require some amount like £1000, £2000 or 50% of the tuition fee (for high-risk regions). Please complete the requirement by paying the deposit mentioned in the offer letter.
c) Submit the academic documents, passport, and IELTS documents.
d) Wait for the processing time for the university to release the CAS letter. Universities usually take 7–12 business days to release the CAS letter.
Process to do after receiving the CAS Letter
- The first and most important thing the student needs to do is to cross-check the information provided on the CAS letter since a minor mistake in cross-checking can create a blunder in the visa process.
- The second thing to do after having a CAS letter is to prepare for visa submissions. CAS letters play a vital role in the UK Tier 4 student visa.
- The last thing the student can do is to schedule the travel.
What is CAS shield?
CAS Shield is nothing but an online platform that is used by some of the UK universities to grant access to international students to track and manage their confirmation of acceptance for studies. Not all the UK institutions provide CAS through the CAS shield; some of them have their own system for releasing CAS letters. CAS Shield is a third-party platform which is developed by Enroly, a company which is specializes in student visa compliance solutions. With the help of CAS shield, Universities have greater capacity to deal with thousands of CAS requests. Within CAS Shield, many universities offer instructions about visas. Alerts on deadlines, missing documents, and next steps are sent to students directly.
I have received the CAS letter; does it mean my visa has been approved?
No, the issuance of a CAS letter does not mean your UK study visa has been approved. A CAS letter is a document that shows that you have been accepted to a legitimate university. The UK study visa depends on many factors, such as financial stability, Immigration history, Visa form and documentation, etc.
Common mistakes to avoid while applying for a CAS letter
- Always make sure the information is correct and matches with your official documents
- Always make sure you have enough funds required by UKVI.
- If your university uses a third-party platform such as CAS Shield to release CAS letters, always check the update on regular basis.
- Start early to avoid any delay and apply for the student visa after getting the CAS letter.
