CAS Deposit

You may be exempt from paying the CAS deposit if your tuition fees are fully funded by an official sponsor or scholarship, including if you are:

• In receipt of a scholarship that covers the full tuition fees, the fees are to be paid directly to SOAS by the scholarship awarding body, and you have your complete scholarship award letter.
• Sponsored by a recognised government body that covers full tuition fees, the payments are made directly to SOAS, and you have a financial guarantee letter.
• You are a US federally-funded student.
• You are joining SOAS for a term or year from another institution through an exchange arrangement and there is no fee or the fee is paid by the home institution. If you are studying abroad and paying fees to SOAS, a CAS deposit payment is required.
• You are studying at SOAS as part of a partnership agreement and your home university is paying your fees.

You will be required to upload this evidence in official letter format when submitting your CAS request.

We advise that you do not pay the CAS deposit whilst waiting for a decision on a pending scholarship application as the deposit is non-refundable.

CAS documentation regarding visa applications

Documentation that is accepted to waive your CAS deposit payment may not be suitable to use as part of your visa application. It is your responsibility to ensure that UKVI visa requirements are met, and correct documents are submitted.

Eligibility

Your CAS deposit of £4000 is usually non-refundable. We will refund your CAS deposit in the limited circumstances set out below:

• You request a withdrawal from your programme and a refund of your deposit within 14 days of SOAS receiving payment of your deposit.
• A core or compulsory module of your programme has been cancelled/amended by SOAS.   
• The programme you applied for is withdrawn by SOAS.
• You are unable to apply for a Student visa because SOAS is unable to provide a CAS.  
• You successfully appeal the refusal of your visa application but you receive notification of your successful appeal too later for you to start your programme on time.  

We may also refund your CAS deposit in the following exceptional circumstances and any requests for refunds in these scenarios will be considered by us on a case by case basis: 

• you are prevented from travelling to start your programme on time by reason of an international emergency (defined by your own government, the World Health Organisation or the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office or similar);
• you have a personal emergency such as your serious illness or a death in your immediate family. 

Your CAS deposit will not be refunded if your visa application is refused due to any of the following:  

• credibility or genuine student concerns;
• fraud and/ or deception concerns;
• breach of immigration conditions; and/or
• a criminal offence being committed;
• you enter the UK to study and subsequently seek asylum or switch to an alternative visa once in the UK;
• your offer from SOAS has been withdrawn due to you providing information as part of your application that was a misrepresentation of your academic or other achievements. 

How to request a CAS deposit refund

To request a CAS deposit refund, please complete the refund request form below. You must provide evidence of payment such as a receipt or a bank statement showing payment from that account. We will need the bank's SWIFT or BIC code. Failure to do so will delay the refund or prevent it altogether. 

Administration fee

A £55 administration fee will be deducted from any CAS deposit refund made by SOAS.

Deadline

The deadline for you to request a refund of the CAS deposit payment is the 31 October of the year your programme started. 

Processing

CAS deposit refund requests will be processed by the Admissions team prior to registration. If you have enrolled and paid tuition fees, the CAS deposit refund is still subject to approval. Please refer to the Fee refund and charging policy for information on the remaining fees you have paid.

Approval 

If your refund request is approved, the deposit will be refunded to the bank account of the person or organisation who initially paid the deposit or credited back to the credit card used for the original payment. Refunds will be paid in GBP as per the exchange rates on the day of the refund. 

Deferred offer

If you have an approved deferred offer, and have paid the CAS deposit, the deposit amount will be offset against your tuition fees for the following year. We will not issue a refund in this case.