The Application Process for International Students

In order to accept and secure your place at Staffordshire University, you are required to pay a deposit of £2,500. You can pay in different ways and our finance leaflet will explain all the different methods.

• If you are a JPA sponsored Malaysian student or a student from a partner college, you are not required to pay a deposit, so you will need to confirm your acceptance of an offer in order to have your place confirmed and to receive your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.
• Applicants from Trinidad and Tobago applying for the LPC are required to pay a £500 deposit.
• If you have received offer letters for more than one course, you will be required to confirm your preferred choice by returning an acceptance form as well as paying the deposit, if required.
• If you have applied to us via UCAS you will need to confirm you place via UCAS and then forward your deposit payment on to us. UCAS applicants will receive a letter confirming their conditional or unconditional offer. Applicants with an unconditional offers will subsequently receive a letter confirming course details to enable them to apply for their bank loan.

For details of how to pay your deposit, please see Fees and Finance for International Students.

We will confirm receipt of your deposit (or acceptance form from JPA sponsored students, partner students and students who have selected a preferred course from the two offered) by issuing you with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number, which you will receive by email and will need to use when you apply for your visa. The CAS details which course you intend to study, the course duration, the annual tuition fee, the deposit amount that you have paid (if applicable) and which campus you will study on.

You need to apply for your visa in plenty of time. Visa offices are always very busy from June to September for Semester 1 entry, and December and January for Semester 2 entry. They have published lists of financial institutions that are acceptable.

Please note: When you apply for your visa you must declare that you hold, and will continue to hold, the required maintenance funds to support yourself and to pay all outstanding fees. The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) may check that you still hold these funds. They have published lists of financial institutions that are acceptable.

Immigration - entering the UK

You will be checked through Immigration Control when you arrive in the UK, either at the port or airport. The Immigration Officer will need to see the following documents:

• A valid passport and visa (if required)
• Your offer letter from Staffordshire University
• Bank statements or a letter from a sponsor, which proves that you can support yourself without working.

Make sure you have the original documents kept safely. Do not put them in your suitcase - keep them with you in your hand luggage.

What if the Immigration Officer refuses me entry at the UK port or airport?

If you have a valid visa or entry clearance, you can lodge an appeal from within the UK. Contact International Student Support on 01782 294711 or 01785 353818.

We can guarantee accommodation within our Halls of Residence providing that you apply for accommodation no later than 01 September. After this date we will still help you find either University managed or approved accommodation, but this would be subject to availability. To request a room, please complete our online accommodation application form.

A non-refundable accommodation pre-payment of £250 will be required to secure your room. This payment will need to be made by either debit or credit card via the secure payments page link that will be provided in your accommodation offer email. Accommodation places will not be held for anyone who has not made this payment.

Once you have accepted your place and paid your deposit (if applicable), you will be sent details separately of our online enrolment process including your personal username. This allows you to enrol on your award before arriving at the University and completes stage one of the enrolment process. You will receive an email to confirm you have completed stage one enrolment.

We will also ask you to upload a passport size photograph. If this is not possible, you can either email the photo to information-centre@staffs.ac.uk or send by post. If you are emailing or posting the photograph, please include your personal details and application number.

We offer a free ‘Meet and Greet’ service from the main airports of Manchester and London Heathrow. You will be met at the airport by staff from the University and then be transferred by coach or minibus to your campus at either Stoke or Stafford. This will also give you the opportunity to ask any questions of the staff and meet other students who have also just arrived. If you are not using our Meet and Greet Service but intend to stay in University accommodation, you need to notify the Admissions Office and Accommodation office of your expected arrival date and time so that they can prepare your room.

The Meet and Greet service for both airports

This runs at the start of International Welcome Week. Confirmed dates and details will be available on our website. If you wish to take advantage of this service, you will need to complete and return the booking form that will be sent to you by email, this is only to be returned to us when you have paid your deposit/confirmed your place. The form will also be available to download from our website. To guarantee your place, you need to return the completed form by the published closing date.

Please remember that this is a free service so whilst we will do our best to get you to campus as quickly as possible, you may have to wait for a short time before boarding the coach. If you are making your own way to the University, make sure you know which campus you are travelling to, Stoke and Stafford are 29 kilometres apart.

Please note: The Meet and Greet service is only available on the dates specified. There will be no other dates and times and you must arrive at airport arrivals by the time stated on the booking form.

When you arrive at the University, you will complete stage two of your enrolment. In order to enrol, you will need to present your original unconditional offer letter, original academic certificates and transcripts, proof of English language ability, your passport, a copy of your personal details and visa page from your passport, so that we can keep this for our records. Also, at or before enrolment, all students (except JPA sponsored Malaysian, LPC Trinidad and Tobago students, for accounting reasons) must have paid at least 50% of their tuition fees, this includes the £2,500 that you may have already paid. If you fail to pay, you will be unable to enrol and forfeit any deposit paid.

Prior to enrolling at the University, you will not be allowed to set up a UK bank account. Setting one up may take over two weeks to arrange so please ensure that you have a suitable way of paying this money (see our Finance leaflet for help).

Safety First – a guide for all visitors to the UK – now available!

The British Council is pleased to announce that it has recently updated its safety guide aimed at all visitors to the UK, entitled ‘Safety First’. Whereas Creating Confidence is specific to students, Safety First is ideal for dependents of students or other long-term visitors to the UK. The guide can be found as a PDF file on the British Council website.

Please note, there will be no hard copy printing of Safety First.

When you have been enrolled, you will need to open a UK bank account. UK banks will be on campus during Welcome to help you to open an account.

To help you settle into your course and life in the UK, there will be an International Welcome that runs before your course starts. This is a fantasticopportunity for you to make friends and see more of the University and the local area, before the serious business of studying begins! There will be lots of different information sessions and social activities planned.

Examples of previous activities include:

• Welcome lunch/evening meal – a chance to relax after travelling, meet other students, and ask any urgent questions you might have. And it is all free!
• International welcome party – an event held on University grounds, where you can see more of the facilities we have and enjoy an evening of fun with your new friends.
• A day out to Liverpool with a guided tour
• A chance to see local towns and parks such as Trentham Gardens.
• Trips to the local supermarket, to ensure you have all the provisions you need!

You will be sent more information about International Welcome over the summer.

You will also be expected to take part in activities the following week, which include day and social events as well as faculty inductions and course teaching. There will also be Welcome Representatives around both campuses, who will be happy to answer any questions and tell you more about Staffordshire University. They can clearly be seen in their purple t-shirts, and as they are students themselves, they will be able to give you lots of useful information. It is now a requirement of this university that you attend the International Welcome as this provides vital information regarding your stay here in the UK and what is required of you as a student. Failure to attend the International Welcome may prevent you from enrolling onto your course.

• Please note that as a student of this university you are required to live locally and that as a sponsor of students under Tier 4 we are required to know where you are, this means that several times during the year we will run sign in weeks. During this period we require all international students to submit a completed attendance form (which must be authorised by one of your module tutors).
• If you return home or have a short break from your studies, then we require you to submit an authorised leave form. More information regarding this will be given during the International Welcome.

If you are unable to start your course (either in September 2012 for Semester 1 courses, or January 2013 for Semester 2 courses) and wish to defer entry, you will need to contact the Admissions Office via email within 10 working days after the start of your course. Entry can only be deferred once per application. Students who fail to enrol for a second agreed start date, will forfeit their deposit.