Applying for postgraduate study

Making your application

Unless your chosen course is listed below, you should make your application using our online application form.

In order to avoid being given an unnecessary Conditional Offer requesting documents that you haven’t provided, when making you application please ensure that you submit all your available documents:

However, if you are given a Conditional Offer, you must provide all the required documents in order to be considered for an Unconditional Offer.

An Unconditional Offer

Once you have an Unconditional Offer, you should firmly accept this offer by email to Admissions if you have made your application using the University’s online system; or via the appropriate UCAS application system that you are using; or by contacting the International Team.

Apply for University Accommodation

Once you have accepted an Unconditional Offer you can apply for Accommodation. We strongly suggest that you apply as soon as possible as this will give you the best opportunity to secure a room of your choice. Find out more about our Accommodation Options and How to Apply for Accommodation. Some of our accommodation is for women only, and this option is available when you make your application for accommodation.

We encourage you to consider University accommodation as this will enable you to immerse yourself in University and UK culture – an essential part of studying abroad.

All students who are studying at the University on a Student visa are required to be living within 90 minutes and/or 60 miles (96km) of the University during their studies. Living further away from the University will entail unnecessary commuting time and costs (costs that could easily become more expensive than actually living on-campus), and most importantly, this will prejudice your ability to engage fully with your studies and the University. Failure to engage fully with your studies and the University will mean that your visa will be withdrawn, and that you will be deported from the UK.

Scholarships

The University currently (May 2022) offer two scholarships: the International Student Scholarship (Postgraduate) of £3000; and the International Student Scholarship of £1000. The deadline for submitting applications is 31st July, and decisions will be notified in August. Full details are found on our scholarships webpage. These scholarships will appear as a fee discount on enrolment at the University.

For MBA students there is currently (May 2022) a scholarship of £3000 for students whose first language is not English who have achieved a 2:1 in an Honours degree (or equivalent) and IELTS of 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each classification). This scholarship is automatically deducted from your Tuition Fees. Details can be found on the MBA course page.

Tuition Fee Deposit

When you have accepted an Unconditional Offer, the next step is to pay a Tuition Fee Deposit (if you are in receipt of a US Federal Loan the University exempts you from paying the Tuition Fee Deposit). We have two levels of Tuition Fee Deposit:

If you are an international student required to pay a Tuition Fee Deposit, you must pay this Deposit before a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) can be issued.

You can pay your Tuition Fee Deposit using our online payment system.

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

CAS stands for 'Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies'. A CAS number is a unique 16-digit number associated with your application. A CAS Statement is a list of information about you and your chosen course of study at the University. Subject to a satisfactory Pre-CAS Interview (where necessary), the University will generate your CAS number and CAS statement. These will be emailed to you and sent to the UK Visas and Immigration Department (UKVI). You will need the CAS information to make your Student visa application.

Applying for your CAS

You can apply for your CAS using the (CAS) Request Form. You are encouraged to apply for your CAS as soon as you have all the necessary documents and financial arrangements completed. You certainly should not leave applying for your CAS until late in the cycle as there may be delays in our processing your CAS request, delays in acquiring a visa, and increased costs in long-haul travel. 

Financial documents

If you are a category 5 student, you will need to provide us with evidence of the funding that you have in place to support your studies. This evidence will also be required in your Student visa application. The UKVI specifies the amount of funds that you need available to support your studies in the UK. This will be the sum of your Tuition Fees (minus Tuition Fee Deposit) plus money to support yourself. In addition to a birth certificate, it is advised to have a parental consent letter if the student uses their parents’ financial documents in China. If you are awarded a scholarship by the University, this will appear as a deduction from your tuition fee account on enrolment at the University.

For a typical Masters course at the University this will work out as follows:

Tuition fee £14,800  
Supporting money £9,207 (9 months @ £1,023 per month)
Total: £24,007  
less Tuition Fee Deposit £5,000  
required available funds £19,007  

These funds need to be available to you at the time of your Pre-CAS Interview either in bank accounts or as bank loan. If these documents are in a parent’s name, you will be required to submit a copy of your birth certificate.

These funds will also need to be available to you at the time of your Student visa application. The UKVI states that you must have this money for at least 28 consecutive days. The end date of the 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply for your visa.

Category 2 students do not need to submit any financial documents.

Pre-CAS Interview

All category 5 students are required to attend an online Pre-CAS Interview. The purpose of the interview is for both you and the University to ensure that all aspects of your application to come to study at the University in the UK are complete and in order. It is not a test of your academic or creative skills as you will already been given and accepted an Unconditional Offer of a place to study with us. But please be aware that if you are not successful in your Pre-CAS Interview you will not be offered any further interviews.

The interview will be conducted in English, online, using Microsoft Teams, so you will need reliable broadband access and a computer/tablet with camera and microphone (not a smartphone). You do not need to have an account with MS Teams as you can simply use the browser version of Teams – you will be sent a link to this once we have agreed a date and time for your interview. The interview will be recorded.

We will discuss a range of topics focusing on:

You will also be given the opportunity to ask us questions at the end of the interview should you wish.

After discussion with staff, the outcome of the Pre-CAS Interview will either be a recommendation to issue a CAS, or a decision not to proceed with issuing a CAS.

Category 2 students are not required to attend a Pre-CAS Interview.

Issuing your CAS

We cannot give you a guaranteed turnaround time for issuing your CAS, but the whole process will inevitably take longer the later you leave it.

As we said earlier, you are encouraged to apply for your CAS as soon as you have all the necessary documents and financial arrangements completed. You certainly should not leave applying for your CAS until late in the cycle as there may be delays in our processing your CAS request, delays in acquiring a visa, and increased costs in long-haul travel.

The cost of your Student visa

In May 2022 it will cost £363 to apply for a Student visa from outside the UK. Should you need to, students from some countries may be able for a priority service which offers a five working day turnaround and costs an additional £500; there is also a super priority service offer an end of next working day service costing an additional £800. These services are outlined on the UKVI website. You can check how long it will take to get a decisions on your visa application on the UKVI visa decision waiting times webpage.

Immigration Health Surcharge

In addition to the cost of the visa application itself, you will also be required to pay a Health Surcharge. In May 2022 this was £624 per year.

Applying for your Student visa

If you are working with one of our recognised agents, they will be able to give informed, in-country guidance on making your Student visa application. However, we are also here to help with any questions that you may have about making an application for a Student visa.

Whatever the case you must pay attention to the following before you finally submit your application:

For help and advice on the visa application process

If you have any general questions about the University and Student visa application process, contact us on international@winchester.ac.uk. But if you are already in contact with a member of the International Team, just ask them!

Once you have your Student visa

Once you have secured your visa, please let us know! You can also start to make your travel arrangements to arrive at the University in time for the start of your course.

University accommodation

Once you have received your Student visa you should seriously think about applying for University Accommodation. We strongly suggest that you apply as soon as possible as this will give you the best opportunity to secure a room of your choice. Find out more about our Accommodation Options and How to Apply for Accommodation.

All students who are studying at the University on a Student visa are required to be living within 90 minutes and/or 60 miles (96km) of the University during their studies. Living further away from the University will entail unnecessary commuting time and costs (costs that could easily become more expensive than actually living on-campus), and most importantly, this will prejudice your ability to engage fully with your studies and the University. Failure to engage fully with your studies and the University would mean that your visa would be withdrawn, and that you would be deported from the UK.

Students are not asked about their UK housing in their visa application, but they will be asked about this in any UKVI interview. If you are intent on acquiring off-campus accommodation, we strongly advise you to research the cost and time of commuting to the University from that location. Be mindful that you may have both early morning (09:00) and late evening lectures that may not finish until 20:00 on separate days that will require early starts and late finishes. In addition to costs, do you really prefer commuting on cold, dark winter mornings and evenings? You can easily check the cost of commuting by train on the Trainline website.

Airport pick-up service

We offer a free airport pick-up (in the Pre-Departure section) service from London Heathrow airport during the arrival weekend in September before the start of each course. Details of the 2022 service are yet to be finalised (as of May 2022).

Arrivals Weekend

This year’s Arrivals Weekend will be Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September 2022. We encourage all international students to arrive in the UK during Arrivals Weekend. Our students staying in University accommodation should make every effort to arrive on the Saturday of Arrivals Weekend.

Welcome Week

This year’s Welcome Week will be from Monday 12th to Friday 16th September 2022.As Welcome Week includes Orientation and The Freshers fair it is certainly to your advantage that you are here for these important activities.

Teaching on most courses begins on Monday 19th September 2022, and the deadline to register on-campus is Monday 03rd October 2022. Students who are not registered and on-campus by this date may have their visa sponsorship withdrawn and may not be allowed to register.

If you cannot arrive for Welcome Week and/or the deadline for arrival, please contact us as soon as possible.

Contact us

If you need any information or advice about the application process, or about life and study at the University, ask your contact person on the International Team, or email us.

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