CAS deposits.

Applicants who require a Student visa must pay a deposit of 60% of your tuition fee before the Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) can be issued. The CAS deposit amount will be deducted from your tuition fee balance.

Please note, you will not be required to pay a deposit if you are receiving a US Federal Student loan to cover payment of your tuition fee payments or your tuition fees are to be paid by an official sponsor. In these cases, please provide evidence of your sponsorship to our Admissions team.

Tuition fees.

The tuition fees you are required to pay for your course will be stated in the offer letter. The non-refundable CAS deposit will be deducted from the tuition fee for that academic year. The CAS deposit is 60% of your tuition fee, after any internal scholarship has been applied. For example, postgraduate tuition fees in 2024/25 were £18,000, with a £3,500 international scholarship. So a postgraduate student starting a course that year would have been required to pay £8,700 prior to their being issued their CAS.

CAS deposit refund.

The CAS deposit is non-refundable except in one or several of the following circumstances:

  • In the event of an error/default by Ravensbourne
  • If Ravensbourne terminates a course after the course start date and before the course completion date
  • If Ravensbourne does not provide a course as advertised due to circumstances beyond its control;
  • If you have serious exceptional circumstances such as:
    • Serious personal accident or injury of self or close family member
    • Death of close family member(s)
    • Medical emergency or requirement of long term medical care of self or close family member(s)
    • Impact of natural disaster or civil disruption
  • If you apply for your visa in good time but it is granted too late for you to join your course. In this instance, we will require evidence as to when your visa application was made and when your visa was granted.
  • In the event of a rejected student visa application, if you can provide evidence that the visa application made was valid such as proof that you have the finance and qualifications required and the documents provided are genuine as per the UKVI requirements. Please note, this will need to be submitted at least 15 working days before the latest start date of the course.

The list above is non exhaustive and a request for a CAS deposit refund may be considered on a case by case basis by Ravensbourne. Please see our Tuition Fees Policy for more information.

An application for an exceptional circumstance refund of CAS deposit due to illness or bereavement must be supported by documentary evidence from an official source before a refund can be approved. Refunds in relation to exceptional circumstances are at the discretion of the Director of Finance.

Exclusions.

In the event that your visa application is refused, we will require you to provide a copy of the refusal notice issued by the Home Office/UKVI and the identification page of your passport.

Please be advised, Ravensbourne will not provide a refund of a CAS deposit or any additional fees paid in the case of visa refusals if:

  • Your Student visa application is refused due to the submission of fraudulent or incorrect documentation or failure to meet the UKVI’s maintenance requirements e.g. lack of sufficient funds held for at least 28 consecutive days.
  • Your Student visa or further leave to remain application is rejected due to breaching the conditions of your previous visa(s) such as working more than the permitted 20 hours per week during term time or poor attendance.
  • Your Student visa application is refused due to a failure to demonstrate academic progression or exceeding the previous UK study limit (i.e. 2 or 5-year study cap) and the required information was either not previously disclosed or false information was provided to Ravensbourne.
  • Your Student visa application is refused due to a failure to disclose a previous criminal conviction or failure to disclose any other information to Ravensbourne or on your visa application form which has led to the visa refusal.
  • Your Student visa is granted but you are refused entry upon arrival in the United Kingdom.

Refund request process.

Applications for a refund must be made in writing to the Head of Finance for assessment by the Director of Finance. You will need to email your refund request with all the required documents as attachments to [email protected].

To qualify for a refund, you must submit irrevocable evidence that you are not in the UK by providing a copy of the passport page containing an entry stamp confirming entry

Refund application processing time.

A decision will be made within four weeks provided that the refund application form has been completed correctly and all the relevant information has been submitted to Ravensbourne.

Should further information be required for a final decision to be made, we will notify the applicant. Please note, this may delay the process further and thus the initial four-week processing time may be extended.

If the refund application is refused, Ravensbourne will not normally reconsider the decision made unless the applicant can provide additional information other than that submitted in the original request to support their claim.

Approved refunds.

Where a refund is approved payment will normally be made via the same means the payment was made. For example, if the payment was made by credit card then the refund would be transferred back to the same credit card. Please note, Ravensbourne does not normally issue refunds by cheque or cash. In line with UK money laundering legislation, payment will only be refunded to the person or organisation that paid the fees.

No interest is paid on a refund of CAS deposit and/or tuition fee payments. Please be advised, a £50 administration fee will be deducted from the refund.

Appeals.

All decisions on CAS deposit refunds are made on the basis of the information included in the refund request form and supporting evidence. If an applicant wishes to appeal against the decision, they will need to complete a new form and evidence that was not included in the original request and send it by email to [email protected].

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