It's a new month, so we're here to answer your top questions. Here, we cover the CAS status and share some information with the parents of our prospective students.

Each month, we collect our top five questions that you asked our Course Enquiry Team (CET). We then write a blog covering the answers, so you can be as ready as you can be for uni.

But this month, it’s a little different. Rather than having our top five questions, there are two main subjects that are popular with the CET right now. This is most probably due to the fact that it’s summer and everyone’s waiting for results day (eek).

Let’s have a look at what people are most interested in right now.

CAS status – international students

If you’re an international student, you most probably know what a CAS status is. But if you don’t, then CAS stands for Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.

This is essentially a reference number that the government sends to the uni, which you then have to put onto your visa application in order to get your student visa.

So, it’s no wonder that CAS is a popular topic right now. If you’re an international student, you must be busy sorting out your documentation and getting ready to move to the UK – exciting!

Sometimes, getting your CAS can take a little longer than expected as our Admissions and Compliance teams have to go through them individually – and there’s a lot to go through!

So, if you haven’t received your CAS status yet, fear not. We ask that you continue to be patient whilst our team are busy singly reviewing each application. We promise to contact you with an update once we have reviewed your application.  

If you have received it, then that’s one less thing on your to-do list. Now it’s time for you to get ready for Welcome Week here at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Student accommodation – info for parents

If you’re a parent preparing to say goodbye to your child as they leave for university, it can be an emotional time. But, with Canterbury being in the top 10 for the UK’s safest cities, you won’t have anything to be concerned about.

Student accommodation at Canterbury Christ Church University is a popular choice thanks to our accommodation guarantee for students who apply by 8 September and who go through Clearing.

All of our accommodation includes bills and Wi-Fi, which makes living in student accommodation much easier thanks to these benefits.

Another important point to note is that parents are now expected to pay towards their child’s cost of living whilst they’re at university, so we recommend looking into this if you haven’t already done so.

Have a read of the UCAS help guide for student finance and tuition fees for parents.

Thankfully, we have a wealth of information for parents in our parents’ and carers’ guide, which you can read on our website.

Clearing for parents

Another important topic that our CET have flagged is questions about Clearing.

Clearing is the process which a student goes through if they apply late to university. This could be for multiple reasons:

• They’ve changed their mind on which course they applied for.
• They have decided to switch universities.
• They decided to apply for university later on in the year.
• They didn’t receive the results they needed to get into their initial choices.

Each year, universities offer Clearing places to courses that are not yet filled up to students who are still in need of a university place after results day.

This year, Clearing ends on 17 October at Canterbury Christ Church University, so there’s still plenty of time for your child to attend university on one of our many courses that still have spaces available.

If you want more information about Clearing at CCCU, please read our guide for parents and carers.

You can also read one of our student’s experience about Clearing and the accommodation guarantee to give you some real insight into what your child might expect.

Whatever your concerns, we’re here to help you and your child navigate the application process as smoothly as possible. Whilst it can be quite overwhelming at first, we’re here to help answer your questions and point you in the right direction.

To all our parents, please don’t hesitate to call our Course Enquiry Team on 01227 928 000. Or feel free to email courses@canterbury.ac.uk.

So, there we have it. Your main queries covered for the beginning of August. We’ll be back in a few weeks to cover more of your most popular questions.