Understanding Your Offer

In order to enrol on a course at the University of Lincoln, you will need to demonstrate that you have the required level of English language proficiency, even if you consider English to be your main language (this is also the case for ‘Home’ students).

Please see our full list of acceptable English language qualifications for more details.

The University’s English Language Centre offers a range of Pre-Sessional English and Academic Study Skills (PEASS) courses to help offer holders prepare for their studies.  Full details of the courses available, and their entry requirements, are explained on our PEASS page.

Academic progression forms an important part of the Student Visa system.  Usually, in order to apply for a new course from inside the UK, you must have successfully completed the course for which you were previously issued a Student/Tier 4 visa and be applying to study a course at a higher level. 

A student may be permitted to study a second course at the same level as their previous course, but only:

• In exceptional circumstances; and
• If the additional study will not lead to the student exceeding any study caps set by UKVI; and
• If the student has successfully completed their previous course;
• The start date of the new course of studies (as stated on the CAS) is no more than 28 days after the end of the student’s current visa.

In addition, one of the following must apply:

1. the new course is related to the previous course for which the student was granted permission on the Student route (meaning that it is either connected to the previous course, part of the same subject group or involves deeper specialisation); or
2. the student’s previous and new course combined support the student’s genuine career aspirations

In order to assess whether an application to study a further course at the same level meets these strict academic progression requirements, you will be asked to provide a progression statement. 

The statement should explain your reasons for applying to study the additional course and explain how it meets the requirements set out above.  You will need to draw on the course content, detailed on the course information page, to make a strong case.

The statement must be written in your own words.  If it is found that the statement contains content copied from the Internet, your application will be unsuccessful.

If the statement is not satisfactory, the International Admissions Team will unfortunately not be able to issue you with a CAS to make a new visa application from inside the UK, as your visa application will not represent academic progression.

The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) applies to all international students (apart from exempt nationalities) who are subject to UK immigration control and are intending to study at postgraduate level in certain sensitive subjects.  These students must apply for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate before they can study in the UK.  If students are applying to study an undergraduate course with an integrated master’s year, ATAS clearance may also be required.

Find out more about ATAS

How to apply

If you have applied and received an offer for a course that requires ATAS approval, one of your offer conditions will be to obtain an ATAS certificate.  We will also give you the CAH3 code for your course and a link to the ATAS guidance on the GOV.UK website.

You should apply for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate online.

When to apply

You can apply for an ATAS certificate up to nine months before the start date of your course.  An ATAS certificate is valid for six months from the date of issue and must be in-date when you enrol.

Please note that we cannot issue you with an unconditional offer, or CAS, until you have received ATAS clearance and the International Admissions Team has received a copy of your ATAS certificate.

Documents and information required to apply

To apply online you will need:

• your conditional offer letter from the University
• information about your course /research including the relevant CAH3 code

You will also need to provide information on:

• previous studies
• previous and current employment (if applicable)
• all published papers
• optional modules you anticipate taking in a taught masters (if applicable)
• full names and contact details of 2 referees
• how you will be funding your studies
• your supervisor (if you are applying for a taught master’s degree and therefore do not have a supervisor, please search for your course information page on the University website and use the name of the programme leader)

For guidance on how to apply for an ATAS certificate, please see: Guidance on how to apply for an ATAS certificate - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).  It is very important that you read this information as it explains what is involved in the application process and how long it may take.

Additional information for research degrees

Research students will also need to enter some information about their proposed area of research. This should be at least 5-6 lines in length and agreed with your PhD supervisor in writing before you make your ATAS application.

How long will it take? 

You should allow at least four weeks (20 working days) for the application process. Processing times will increase between the months of April and September and can take 30 or more working days to complete.

To ensure fairness and consistency, there is no ‘fast track’ service, and the University is unable to intervene in an ATAS application.  You should therefore submit you ATAS application as early as possible, however please note that you will be unable to enrol if your ATAS certificate has expired.

If you are a self-funding student and require a Student Visa to study in the UK, you will be required to a pay a CAS deposit, the amount will be listed on your offer letter.  The deposit should be paid after you have accepted an unconditional offer and before you submit a CAS request form.  Details of how to pay can be found on the Paying Your Tuition Fees page of the University’s website.

Requesting a refund of CAS deposit due to unsuccessful visa application

If you find yourself unable to enrol at the University because your visa application has been unsuccessful, it may be possible to receive a refund of your CAS deposit.

The Student Admissions Terms and Conditions explain the circumstances in which your CAS deposit can be refunded.

In the first instance, you will need to email a copy of your visa refusal document to the International Admissions team – intadmissions@lincoln.ac.uk – and confirm that you would like your circumstances to be assessed for a CAS deposit refund.

As part of your offer, you may be asked to provide copies of your official academic certificates and transcripts.

Documents displaying incorrect information, such as name or date of birth, cannot be accepted. If your documents have errors, please contact the awarding institution to request that these be corrected. Please note that we are unable to accept affidavits attesting to errors in documents or to name changes.

If your original degree certificate, academic transcript or other relevant documents are not in English you must provide an officially certified translation.

Your certified translations must be provided either by:

• the awarding institution
• a sworn translator (this would be a translator sworn before a court in a non-UK jurisdiction)
• a Fellow (FITI) or Member (MITI) of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), who may self-certify the translation

If the translation is not provided by the awarding institution we will also ask you to provide:

• confirmation from the translator or translation company that it is an accurate translation of the original document
• the date of the translation
• the full name and signature of the translator or of an authorised official of the translation company
• the translator or translation company's contact details

If you are relying on a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD award completed in a ‘majority English-speaking country’ as proof of your English language ability, and are not a national of one of these countries, you will be required to obtain a UK ENIC Statement of Comparability and this will form one of your offer conditions. 

You will need to send a copy of your Statement to the International Admissions Team and must submit the original Statement with your visa application.

As part of your application, you will be required to provide a personal statement. This is your opportunity to tell us why you are applying to study your chosen course.  It is also important that you include:

• Why you think you would be a good student for the course you are applying to;
• How the course fits in with your future plans;
• Why you are interested in studying in the UK and/or the University of Lincoln.

When writing your personal statement, please make sure that you refer to the course information page on the University’s website as this contains details of course content, entry requirements and career opportunities for successful graduates.

It is important that the statement is written in your own words.  If it is found that parts of your statement have been copied from the Internet, or that your statement does not sufficiently cover the points listed above, you may be given one opportunity to re-write your statement.  If your amended statement still contains plagiarism, or does not explain why you wish to study your chosen course in the UK, your application will be made unsuccessful.