Combined CAS

A Combined CAS is a CAS covering study on more than one course at the University of Sheffield. With a Combined CAS you can apply for one Student visa that will allow you to remain in the UK for the duration of both the Pre-sessional English course (or Academic Literacy and University Culture programme) and the degree course.

When you receive your offer for your pre-sessional course, you will be asked to indicate whether you wish to obtain a Combined CAS or a single CAS. You must complete the visa survey which is linked within your unconditional offer letter. You will need to complete this before we can begin arranging your CAS.

A Combined CAS can be issued if:

1. You meet one of the below:

• You hold a conditional offer with English language conditions and hold a Secure English Language Test (SELT):
  • 6 week course: The SELT you hold must be only IELTS 0.5 below the English language condition issued to you
  • 10 week course: The SELT you hold must be minimum B1 Level (with 2 components at 5.5 or above and with no component less than 5.0) 
• You hold an Unconditional offer

2. The start date of your degree course is less than one month after the end date of your ELTC course 

3. You request a Combined CAS by the following deadlines:

• 10-week Pre-sessional English course: Monday 2 June 2025
• 6-week Pre-sessional English course: Monday 16 June 2025
• 4-week Academic Literacy and University Culture programme: Monday 14 July 2025

4. You hold an offer for a postgraduate degree course (or an unconditional offer for an Undergraduate course) at the University of Sheffield. If your offer is conditional upon anything other than English language, you must meet those conditions by the following deadlines:

• 10-week Pre-sessional English course: Friday 30 May 2025
• 6-week Pre-sessional English course: Friday 13 June 2025
• 4-week Academic Literacy and University Culture programme: Friday 11 July 2025

5. You pay any tuition fee deposit we have requested in your offer letter. Payment should be received at the University of Sheffield by the following deadlines. 

• 10-week Pre-sessional English course: Friday 6 June 2025
• 6-week Pre-sessional English course: Friday 20 June 2025
• 4-week Academic Literacy and University Culture programme: Friday 18 July 2025

If you do not meet these requirements, or if you do not want a Combined CAS, you will need to request two separate CAS: one for the pre-sessional course, and one for the degree course. You will then apply for two separate visas. If you have two separate CAS you will need to use a SELT for your pre-sessional course CAS.

APPLICANTS WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONDITIONS:

You must provide a SELT to be eligible for a Combined CAS. If we upgrade your offer from Conditional to Unconditional, the Unconditional offer will be issued on the understanding that you will attend the pre-sessional course at the ELTC, which will equip you with the English language ability required to study the degree course. Attendance and engagement at the pre-sessional course is therefore essential and will be monitored closely. If you do not register on, attend and successfully complete the pre-sessional course, we will report you to the UK government and your visa will be cancelled. We will also downgrade your offer for the degree course to Conditional on the original English language requirement.

We will start to arrange Combined CAS from 4 months before the start date of your ELTC course. We will email you to let you know when your CAS application is available to you.

More information about the CAS application process is available on our CAS application pages.