Connect your UK course plan to the CAS, applicable evidence and application timing before treating a deposit or travel date as the final step. Keep academic admission questions beside the immigration questions, with an owner and source for each. The tracker below is an editorial planning tool, not a decision on which visa you can obtain.
Start with the course and institution
GOV.UK’s course guidance says the Student route requires an unconditional offer from a licensed student sponsor. The provider supplies a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies reference, known as a CAS. You need that reference before applying and must include it in the application.
In your course file, record the exact institution, course title, teaching location, start date and outstanding offer conditions. Ask the institution who handles international student immigration questions. Before relying on the reference, work through the CAS detail checks and keep any clarification with the course record.
Separate core documents from conditional evidence
The official document guidance lists a current passport or other valid travel document and a CAS. It also describes evidence that may depend on circumstances, including financial evidence, ATAS, parental consent and tuberculosis testing. Use that official page to identify the full instructions relevant to you; do not copy another student’s pack as a universal list.
For a TB question, use the approved-clinic research guide to organise the source and clinic enquiry. Keep admission records and immigration evidence in separate tracker rows even when the same record is used for both purposes.
GOV.UK’s financial guidance explains that the amount and evidence depend on the applicant’s circumstances. Check its current rules for course fees, living costs, evidence timing and exceptions before deciding which bank or sponsorship records to rely on.
Build a dependency tracker before a deposit
Use one row per decision. Put the source, date and person responsible beside it. This optional worksheet keeps a proposed date separate from a date whose dependencies have been resolved.
| Decision | Record | Question to resolve first |
|---|---|---|
| Course offer | Institution, course details and outstanding conditions | Which condition still needs evidence? |
| CAS | Provider contact and the reference details to check | Who will resolve an error or missing detail? |
| Applicable evidence | Official instruction and the record you hold | Is this evidence requested for my circumstances? |
| Deposit and housing | Written terms, payment deadline and contact | What happens if preparation or a visa decision is delayed? |
| Application and travel | Relevant official timing section and proposed dates | Which unresolved task prevents treating the dates as confirmed? |
The Student visa overview sets different application timing for applicants inside and outside the UK. Use the section for your location. Keep academic deadlines, CAS-related timing and immigration instructions separate in the calendar.
A worked deposit-and-CAS example
Fictional example: Samira has an offer and a deposit deadline, but a course detail in her CAS information needs clarification. She records the unresolved point, contacts the institution and asks for the written terms that apply if preparation is delayed. She uses our visa-delay deposit enquiry guide to keep the payment question separate from the CAS correction.
Samira does not treat a proposed flight as the solution to the missing answer. She marks the date as provisional and assigns a follow-up action. This example establishes neither a refund right nor a likely visa outcome; the useful result is a record of the questions that control her next commitment.
Keep household and later plans separate
If a partner or children may move, use a separate permission plan for each family member. Record any post-study goal as a later research task instead of assuming that course enrolment establishes the next outcome. Review the open rows before each major commitment. Official sources checked on 18 October 2026.