Information for postgraduate applicants

Your offer 

The offer letter sent to you by email is a formal offer letter and can be used for official purposes but please be advised that it may need resizing before printing. Please note that hard-copies of offer letters will not be sent by post.

1. Read your offer letter carefully making sure that all details are correct

If any of the details about the programme, the start date, the study method, the tuition fee amount or your personal details appear incorrect please contact the Admissions Services team as soon as possible quoting your University number.

T: +44 (0)1483 682222
E: admissions@surrey.ac.uk

2. Check whether you have been made a ‘conditional’ or ‘unconditional’ offer

If you receive a conditional offer, your offer letter will list all the conditions that apply and you will be required to send additional supporting documents to show you have met these conditions. Please forward evidence to the Admissions Services team as soon as it is available, remembering to include your University number in the correspondence.

E: admissions@surrey.ac.uk

Admissions Services
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7XH, UK

Please note that if you receive a conditional offer to start a postgraduate taught programme in September 2013, you should provide evidence that you have met all of the conditions outlined in your offer by 30th August 2013, unless otherwise agreed.  

Once all conditions have been met your status will be updated and you will be sent an unconditional offer letter by email. Your offer must be unconditional in order for you to register on your programme. If you are an international applicant and require a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), your offer must be unconditional for your CAS to be issued.

Your reply

Accepting your offer

You can accept your offer whether it is conditional or unconditional by returning the Acceptance Form enclosed with your offer letter.  We advise accepting your offer as early as possible and the quickest way to do this is to scan and send it by email as an attachment to admissions@surrey.ac.uk

If you accept a conditional offer, which is subsequently made unconditional, you do not need to return the Acceptance Form again.

The Acceptance Form can be returned with or without payment of your tuition fees or satisfactory evidence of sponsorship. If returning the form without such evidence or payment your record will show a provisional acceptance. Official acceptance will be recorded once we have received your Acceptance Form and payment or satisfactory evidence of sponsorship.

Declining your offer

We ask that you kindly inform us if you wish to decline your offer by emailing admissions@surrey.ac.uk. Please include your University number.

Your tuition fees - self-financing applicants

1. Decide whether you want to pay in full or in instalments

For students paying fees on an annual basis, fees may be paid in full in advance, or alternatively in three instalments. The first instalment is payable prior to registration and should be at least one third of your fees. The option to pay in instalments is not available to students paying on a module by module basis, to postgraduate research students joining programmes in April or July (required to pay in full), nor where local agreements are in place. Postgraduate research students joining programmes in January can pay in two instalments.

If you are an international applicant and require a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), the first instalment should be at least £5000*. You must return your Acceptance Form and pay at least £5000 towards your fees before a CAS can be issued.

* If you are an international applicant requiring a CAS and are commencing your programme in the 2012/3 academic year, the first instalment should be at least £4000.

The second and third instalments are payable in January and June (applicants commencing in October) or April and June (applicants commencing in February).

There is no need to apply for an instalment plan – payment of the first instalment will result in an invoice for the second and third instalments being automatically issued to your University email account after registration.

If you do not require a CAS you should pay your fees at least one month before the start of your programme as Welcome information will only be sent to those applicants holding an unconditional offer, which has been accepted and where the first instalment of the fees has been paid.

2. Arrange payment of your fees

Tuition Fees may be paid:

• By Debit/Credit Card¹ through the University of Surrey e-payment gateway
• By bank transfer to National Westminster Bank plc, University of Surrey branch [sort code 60-09-50], quoting the reference ‘PGFEES’, your University number and your name in full. The account to be credited is ‘The University of Surrey’, account number 58080716. The University’s swift code is NWBKGB2L and its IBAN number is GB82NWBK60095058080716 Please note that the transfer can take up to 10 working days to show in our account so you should allow time for your payment to clear.
• By Debit/Credit Card in person at the Cashiers Office or by telephone: +44 (0)1483 68 9016
• By cash in person at the Cashiers Office, University of Surrey.

3. Ensure you are aware of the tuition fees terms and conditions

Full details of the terms and conditions can be found online. Please especially note:

Once registered, students paying fees by instalment are expected to settle their accounts promptly as indicated on their emailed invoices. Please refer to the Student Fees and Funding Office’s website for further information on arrangements for payment of fees and penalties for late/non-payment.

Fees are subject to annual review and revised fees are payable by students continuing on programmes of study in subsequent years. In the event of a student failing for any reason to complete a programme of study the University is not under any obligation to return any part of the fees paid by the student, or on behalf of the student.

Notes:

Applicants are advised to pay in sterling whenever possible. Any shortfall resulting from currency fluctuations or bank transfer charges will be advised to the applicant, who is liable for full settlement of the fees.

Your tuition fees at Surrey may be referred to as ‘composition fees’. Composition fees include tuition, registration, examination/assessment (but not re-examination/assessment) and membership of the Students’ Union.

¹ Unfortunately we cannot accept American Express as a form of payment

Your tuition fees - sponsored applicants

1. Arrange for your sponsoring body to issue a confirmation letter

If you are being sponsored, evidence of sponsorship must be issued by an authorised officer of an official sponsoring body and must have a recent date of issue. The letter should be on company headed paper and should clearly state:

• Your name and University number
• The programme for which you have been offered a place
• The level of fees that will be paid by the company
• The address the invoice should be sent to
• That the fees will be paid directly to the University of Surrey

2. Provide the University with evidence of sponsorship

You must arrange for a letter to be sent to the Admissions Services team.

E: admissions@surrey.ac.uk

Admissions Services
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7XH, UK

International students can only be issued with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) once satisfactory evidence of sponsorship has been received.

If you are being sponsored by the University either through a Research Council grant or departmental scholarship, your funding information will be sent to the Admissions Services team by your Department - you do not need to arrange for a letter to be sent.

3. Ensure your sponsor completes their payment

If your sponsor subsequently fails to pay fees within 30 days of an invoice being issued, the University may no longer recognise them as a sponsor, and you will then become personally liable for payment of their fees.  Only tuition fees should be paid to the University of Surrey and all subsistence payments should be made directly to students.

Notes:
Applicants who are funded by their family are not regarded as sponsored and are required to pay their tuition fees as detailed in the section ‘Your tuition fees – self-financing applicants’

Your tuition fees at Surrey may be referred to as ‘composition fees’. Composition fees include tuition, registration, examination/assessment (but not re-examination/assessment) and membership of the Students’ Union.

Your accommodation

This information applies to applicants to full-time programmes only.

1. Have a look to see what University accommodation is available

Our accommodation is arranged in groups of self-catered housing called Courts of Residence and has been designed to meet your needs and provide you with a living space of your own.

All University student bedrooms have unlimited, free broadband, and a telephone service with cheap external calls and free internal calls is also available.

Accommodation at the University is reasonably priced. We offer low-cost duplex rooms, mid-range rents that compare with national averages, and even the rooms at the top end of our scale are affordable for those with a bit more cash to spend.

For more details, please see the Accommodation Services website.

2. Apply for accommodation as soon as you have returned your acceptance form

The online application system for new postgraduate students is available on the Accommodation Services website. You will be able to apply for a room two working days after the Postgraduate Team has received your acceptance form.

All new postgraduate students starting their programme in September/October 2013 are guaranteed a place in accommodation provided they accept a place and pay their programme fees (first instalment only needed to qualify for guarantee as detailed in the section above) by 9th August 2013.

Applicants paying fees after 9th August continue to be offered accommodation subject to availability. The latest information about availability is posted on the Accommodation Services homepage from early August.

International students

1. Check if you need permission to enter the UK

If you are coming to study in the UK for more than six months, and you are not an EEA national, you are required to obtain entry clearance as a student (student visa) from your nearest British Embassy, Consulate or High Commission.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) requires you to be formally sponsored by a licensed UK higher education institution - the University of Surrey in our case. To apply for a Tier 4 student visa, you must have a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from the university you wish to study at. This is a unique number which will enable UKBA officers to retrieve certain information about you, your course, fee payments and about the University of Surrey.

2. Ensure that you receive your CAS from us

You will be issued with a CAS provided you:

• Have sent us a scanned copy of your passport. Please email this to admissions@surrey.ac.uk, remembering to include your University number.
• Hold an unconditional offer
• Have returned your signed acceptance form
• Have paid at least £5000* towards your fees. If you are unable to join your programme and require a refund of your fees, you will be charged an administration fee of £50, unless you can provide us with a visa refusal notice.
• Have obtained ATAS clearance where applicable (see following section)

* If you are an international applicant requiring a CAS and are commencing your programme in the 2012/3 academic year, you should pay at least £4000 towards your fees.

Your CAS number will be emailed to you in a 'CAS statement' which lists the information that we have sent to the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Carefully check the information and report any errors or changes as soon as possible.

Your CAS is valid for six months but you cannot apply for your visa until three months before your course starts. We usually send CAS emails approximately three months before the start of the course to applicants who have satisfied the above criteria. You do not need to contact us to request your CAS, however if you have not received it within the timeframe indicated and you believe you have fulfilled the above criteria, please email admissions@surrey.ac.uk as it is possible that we are missing some information from your record such as your passport number or country of birth.

Processing times for visas can vary according to where you live, so please ensure you apply for your visa as early as possible to avoid any delays which may affect your studies in the UK. 

If you are already in the UK and currently hold a Tier 4 visa for another institution, please be aware that you must have at least sent off a new visa application, using a Surrey CAS, before you will be allowed to register at the University.

Please contact the International Student Office international@surrey.ac.uk in good time, to ensure that you have full details about how to apply for this new visa, either from your home country or from the UK, to avoid any problems at Registration.

Please note the following important points for those applying for a Tier 4 (General) student visa both overseas and in the UK:

A new maximum 5 year time limit for study on courses at degree level (undergraduate and masters).  

The amount of maintenance you need to show is £800 a month

Residents of India who apply for a student visa for longer than 6 months have now been added to the list of migrants who are required to undergo pre-entry TB Testing.

The University is required to know about any study you have done, or plan to do in the UK prior to starting on your course at the University of Surrey. Therefore if you have not included details of all courses you have completed or plan to complete in the UK on your application form, you must send an email to admissions@surrey.ac.uk giving details of the course level, subject and length of study in each case. Failure to provide this information could result in your visa being refused. Please include your University number in the email.

3. Find out whether you need an ATAS clearance certificate

Having an ATAS clearance certificate is mandatory for some postgraduate applicants who need Entry Clearance to study in the UK. If ATAS clearance is required, we will not be able to issue you with your Confirmation of Acceptance to Study (CAS) or register you on your programme until your clearance certificate has been received.

ATAS will apply to you if are not a UK or EU/EEA (including Switzerland) national, you require a student Entry Clearance or Visa to study in the UK and are planning to undertake postgraduate research in the following disciplines:

• Medicine
• Biological Sciences
• Veterinary Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Mathematical Sciences
• Computer Sciences
• Engineering  
• Technology disciplines

OR if you are applying for a taught Master's, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate in:

• Materials Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics (including Nuclear Physics)

The government has based this scheme on JACS (Joint Academic Coding System) codes. All University courses have a JACS code allocated according to the subject area. Your offer letter will detail the JACS code for your programme of study. You can check the list of the JACS codes included in ATAS on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

If your programme of study requires ATAS, shortly after receiving your offer you will be sent as email from the Admissions Services team. If you are taking a taught masters course your email will detail the list of modules available for your programme. If you are undertaking a postgraduate research programme your email will contain a short research statement. You should copy and paste this information into your ATAS application. 

The ATAS application is an online only process and is free of charge. Details of applying for ATAS can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

4. Look out for our full International Pre-departure Guide brochure

The full International Pre-departure Guide will be sent to you closer to your start date. It will advise you in detail on the visa process, airport pickups and induction arrangements.  
If you wish to find out more information the websites below are useful sources of general information. Up-to-date information will also be available on the International Student Office web pages.

Useful web addresses:

UK Visas
www.ukvisas.gov.uk

UK Border Agency
T: +44 (0)870 606 7766
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk

The British Council
T: +44 (0)161 957 7755
F: +44 (0)161 957 7762
E: general.enquiries@britishcouncil.org

www.britishcouncil.org

British Council Guide to Studying and Living in the UK
www.educationuk.org

UKCISA - UK Council for International Student Affairs
T: +44 (0)20 7107 9922
www.ukcisa.org.uk

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
www.fco.gov.uk