Minimum course level
You cannot assign a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) to a Tier 4 (General) student unless their course covered by the CAS will be at or above a minimum level.
If the student will be studying an English language course, the course must be at or above level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for English language students. The only exceptions to this are:
* a course to be taken by a government-sponsored student, who can study English language at any level; and
* a pre-sessional English language course which will be studied by a student immediately before they take up an unconditional offer of a full-time course of study at or above National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 6, if both the pre-sessional and main courses are covered by a single CAS assigned by you; and
* a pre-sessional English language course which will allow a student - if they successfully complete the course - to pursue a full-time course of study at or above NQF level 6. You must be a higher education provider that will sponsor the student for both courses, and you must have assigned the student a CAS for the pre-sessional course and a conditional offer on the main course.