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CAS is the new big thing

Students seeking admission to UK universities will need aConfirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number. This is expected to check the abuse of the visa system. Experts throw more light on the development.

 THE introduction of electronic numbers in place of conventional visa letters for students seeking admission to various universities in the UK is expected to facilitate hasslefree entry for genuine students.

The system, introduced from February 22, will require the students to pay a portion of the tuition fees as deposit in the British currency ( pound sterling) to procure the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies ( CAS) number from the United Kingdom Border Agency ( UKBA), the organisation that regulates the entry and settlement in the UK. Once the reference number is issued by the UKBA to the university, the institution sends the number to the student via- email.

“ In order to procure a CAS number, the institution needs to confirm that all the academic and financial requirements have been met by the applicants,” said Joe Victor, regional director, South Asia, Middlesex University, London. “ For instance, a potential student should have the necessary academic credentials for the course he/ she has opted to study. An institution will not be able to apply for the CAS number until all the academic conditions are met,” said Victor.

The entire procedure while tightening the existing security measures, allows the border agency to monitor the granting of visas and check the abuse of the system by non- genuine students and bogus educational institutions.As per the norms stipulated by the border agency, a candidate has to show that he/ she have obtained a place on the course at an acceptable level with an approved education provider and have enough money to cover his/ her course fee and monthly living costs when a candidate submit the application. The candidate is required to get the CAS from the education provider and provide all the documents that is necessary to obtain a reference number. Having a valid CAS can fetch a candidate as much as 30 points.

For instance, if a candidate is applying from outside the United Kingdom, he/ she should check with the local visa issuing post, also known as the entry clearance post, to see how they need to apply in their country of residence as well as provide the application form, documents, proof and a biometric scan.

“We are confident that the new visa measures will make it easier and the process much clearer for genuine students to study in the UK,” said Anna Lilley, Senior international officer for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan atSheffield Hallam University.

“ The students who need a visa to study in the U. K. will now apply through the tier 4 points based system.The system provides a framework to assess applications using a consistent set of criteria for each application,” said Lilley.The new system is also expected to do away with visa- related queries from the part of the students. “ The introduction of reference numbers will put an end to visa- related queries from the part of the students,” said Lilley.

Moreover, from the perspective of the university officials, the information they provide to the border agency will be in a much more secure format than a visa letter. “ It will be easier for us to update information or add notes that will help the students in their visa application process. The student data will be with the UKBA teams much quicker as we will be directly loading the data from our system to that of UKBA’s. This means fewer delays and better service for the students,” she added.

What’s more? The days of furnishing fake call letters on behalf of universities in the UK to visa offices in the applicants home country too appears to be over. “ From now on the electronic number will link a university with the visa office directly, thereby doing away with the existing practice of producing hard copy of the offer letters at the visa office by a candidate,” said Jayashree Raghuram, head of South Asia Office, Leeds Metropolitan University. “ In the past, we have had instances of candidates producing fake call letters. “ The new system will put brakes on students who are migrating to the UK with the sole intention of finding a job in the pretext of higher studies,” said Raghuram.The university officials are confident that the new visa measures will not affect the number of students migrating to Britain for higher studies.

“ We don’t expect these changes to have a negative effect on student migration to the UK. In fact in the last academic year, when the points based system was applied we have seen a growth in the number of applications from the Indian students,” said Lilley. Around 500 students from India enrolled for various courses with Sheffield Hallam University last year.

A view also shared by Victor of Middlesex University: “ There should be no reason for a reduction in the number of genuine students, for whom the system is expected to be hassle- free. Of course, there could be teething problems and sometimes the procedures may slow down.” The university boasts an annual application of nearly 7,000 aspirants from India. Out of this, 1,050 enroll at the university after the screening procedures for its various postgraduate programmes including computer network management, computer network security, telecommunication engineering, marketing management, international business management, biomedical sciences and environmnental pollution control.

The Sheffield Hallam University, meanwhile, has an annual intake of around 500 candidates.“We find that many students from India are branching out into some of our more niche course areas such as sport business management, sport engineering, environmental management, film and media production and journalism,” said Lilley.

The university also organises periodic counseling to the students apart from lectures by visiting faculty members at Indian universities.A delegation of 30 students from Sheffield university specialising in journalism will be in Delhi this October to undertake work placement with the press operations team at the Commonwealth Games. Some of the most sought after courses at Leeds Metropolitan University are masters in computing, business, hospitality and sports related courses.