Visas

Applying for a visa

To study in the UK, each international student must have a valid visa – special permission from the UK government which allows you to come to (or remain in) the UK to study.

You can check if you require a visa on the UK Home Office website.

There are two types of visas for studying in the UK:

• Short-term study visa
• Student visa

If you are an EU, EEA (European Economic Area) or Swiss national coming to the UK for less than 6 months, a visa will not be required.

If you are coming to the UK to study part-time, or for a maximum of six months (or 11 months if you will be studying the English language), you may be able to enter as a 'short-term student'. If this route is not appropriate, then a student visa will be required.

If you have any questions about immigration and visas or are having problems applying, email immigration@wrexham.ac.uk, or call 0044 1978 293057 (from outside the UK) or 01978 293057 (from inside the UK).

Student visa Points Based System (PBS) - you need to score 70 points to be awarded a Student visa.

To be eligible to apply for a student visa, you need to be able to score 70 points. Points are non-tradeable, which means you will need to meet all of the requirements. You will be awarded points for meeting the requirements of the route as set out in the table below:

The listed requirements set out in the table above mean that to successfully apply for a student visa, you must demonstrate that:

• You have an unconditional offer from an approved sponsoring institution. When you apply for a student visa, you will need to provide your reference number from the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), which is provided by your education provider once they’ve offered you an unconditional place on a course.
• You are taking a course that leads to an approved qualification at an appropriate level of study.
• You have any relevant academic qualifications needed to undertake the course.
• You genuinely intend to study in the UK.
• You can financially support yourself during your studies in the UK.
• You can speak, read, write and understand English to the required standard for the level of course you intend to study.

Everything you need to know about this visa can be found on the two following links:

• https://www.gov.uk/student-visa
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route

Postgraduate courses - ATAS

If you are an international student who is studying a postgraduate qualification in certain sensitive subject areas, you may be required to apply for ATAS clearance before we issue a CAS.

Whether you need an ATAS certificate depends on your specific area of study. If you do need it, and you are making a Student visa application to study at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, you will need to obtain the ATAS certificate before you will be issued with a CAS. Your conditional offer letter will let you know whether or not ATAS clearance is necessary.

If you have other time-limited immigration permission, you will still need an ATAS certificate before you can start the course, if it is in one of the specific subject areas.

For more information about which subject areas and qualifications require an ATAS certificate and to apply online, please visit the below link. This link also provides a list of countries where nationals of certain countries are not required to provide an ATAS: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme.

There is no charge for applying for an ATAS certificate and there is no limit to the amount of times you can apply for one.

It can take between 20 to 30 working days for an ATAS certificate to be issued, and sometimes longer during busy periods. If your course requires ATAS clearance, please make sure you start the process as soon as possible after receiving your conditional offer letter.

If you already have an ATAS certificate for your programme, and your area of research has changed or your research is taking longer than expected, you must apply for a new certificate.

If you have not had a response from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) about your ATAS application within four weeks, check your Spam or Junk email folder in case it has been filtered out. You can also contact the ATAS Team at the FCO via their website if you think you have missed their response.