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The University of Sheffield agent training guidance

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Application process

Undergraduate information

All applications for undergraduate courses must be made via UCAS. Sheffield does not accept direct applications. 

Medicine and Dentistry courses have an annual deadline of October in the year prior to the start of study (e.g. 16 October 2023 for September 2024 start). 

BMedSci Speech and Language (B621) course deadline is 15 January in the year of study. 

Other undergraduate courses will accept international applications from UCAS until 30 June (e.g. 30 June 2024 for a September 2024 start). Most UK students apply by the 31 January deadline, after which offers are made and places will begin to be filled. We therefore recommend applying as soon as possible for all courses. International applicants can apply through UCAS Clearing throughout July and August

Postgraduate information

All applications for postgraduate courses must be made via the agent portal. This is accessed using your agent username and password.

Unless otherwise specified on Departmental web pages, the majority of postgraduate courses have no formal application deadlines. However, courses may close for application if they reach capacity. For certain courses with high demand there may be fixed application deadlines. 

Postgraduate application process

Applications can be made via the portal in exactly the same way as an individual would apply. There is an online form you will need to complete on your student’s behalf, asking for information including:

Agent correspondence details (Agent email should go in ‘Email’ field in Section B)
Student email address (Student email should go in ‘Alternative Email’ in Section B)
Student personal details (name, date of birth, address, personal mobile/telephone number)
Course application details
Education and qualification information, including transcripts and certificates (original and transcripts)
Work experience
Personal Statement

IMPORTANT NOTE: Student correspondence details (phone number and email) MUST be provided for all applications. 

Your contract with us obliges you to provide both full personal and agent contact details for each applicant for GDPR purposes. For important regulatory compliance, we need to be able to contact students directly, as well as liaise with yourself, regarding their application. 

Agent details will automatically be input as the correspondence details, so put the student’s personal details as the ‘home’ or ‘alternative’ contact details. Do not enter agent details twice. 

Pre-sessional English applications 

Postgraduate Taught and Research Applicants:

Applications to Pre-sessional English courses on behalf of postgraduate offer holders can now be made through the agent portal.

When viewing an individual application on the portal, a link labelled ‘Add an English language pre-sessional application’ will appear under the application details for conditional and unconditional postgraduate offer holders.

Clicking on the 'Add an English language pre-sessional application' link will take you to a pre-populated ELTC application form for that individual student. You will still need to select which specific ELTC course your student wishes to apply to, but otherwise you should find that all the other details on the application form are pre-populated with your student’s personal details.

Undergraduate Applicants:

Applications to Pre-sessional English courses on behalf of undergraduate offer holders can be submitted through the agent portal by clicking on the 'Create New Alternative Route Application' button and selecting 'English Language Pre-sessional Course (ELT)' from the list of courses which appears.

If you need to amend an applicant’s choice of pre-sessional course, for example to a shorter option as a result of obtaining a higher English language qualification result, or for any other queries related to ELTC admissions please contact our ELTC admissions team - eltc-admissions@sheffield.ac.uk

Exceptions for UG and PG courses

Alternative Routes:
There are 2 drop downs for course selection. If you cannot find the course you are looking for in ‘Create New PG Application’, check the other drop down titled ‘Create New Alternate Route Application'. 

Our MArch courses should now be applied for using the standard 'Create new PG application' option, not under the alternative routes option. 

Some courses have their own particular application processes that differ to those above. However, most postgraduate applications are possible to make via the agent portal. 

These include the following:
MA Social Work - apply via UCAS

Visit the relevant links for details of how to apply. Be sure to submit your authority forms for each of these applications for commission purposes:

This list may change but is correct as of November 2023

Agent Portal: Institution listing

The quickest way to find an institution using our application form is to use the “Search” function. Selecting “Not in List” (which appears at the bottom of the search list) causes long delays in the processing of applications as each institution entered needs to be manually validated before it can go into the pool of applications to be processed. Therefore, “Not in List” should only be used as a last resort if the institution is genuinely not found. Here are some other points to help you find an institution:

  • Firstly, select the country that the institution is based in and then begin to type in the name of the institution which will populate a drop down with options.
  • Search for parts of the institution name, instead of the whole title. For example, search for “Sheffield” instead of “University of Sheffield”
  • Only enter the name of the awarding university, do not include details of the faculty or school within the university. 
  • Where an applicant is studying a 3+1 or 2+2 joint programme, enter each institution as a separate qualification. Do not try to title it as a joint programme. 
  • Only include university level qualifications, do not include details of junior college programmes. 
  • Only include details of full qualifications in the education section. Do not include details of summer school programmes, these can be included in a CV or the personal statement
Supporting documents

Undergraduate

All documents should be uploaded to UCAS where possible. Additional documents that cannot be uploaded may be emailed directly to Admissions. State the student’s full name, date of birth, application number and course to which they have applied in your correspondence.

Postgraduate

All documents must be uploaded to the portal. This will be the agent portal for most applications, however, if the student has applied using the individual portal they will need to upload the documents themselves. Do not email documents to Admissions as above unless there is absolutely no way you or the student can upload these.  

Decisions

Undergraduate

Decisions will be processed and made available to view via UCAS. The time this takes will depend on at what point of the year you apply. Sometimes, these may be processed very quickly, but at other times or for courses where decisions are batched, it may take a few months.

UCAS sets the following deadlines for decision-making by universities. 

There is information on the dates and deadlines here. 

If you have not received a decision for a standard application within four weeks, contact your International Recruitment Co-ordinator who will liaise with Admissions to find out more on your behalf. 

Postgraduate

Admissions and our Departments aim to process decisions via the online application within four -  six weeks of applications being received. However, this is not a guaranteed deadline and some course applications take longer to process. 

Courses requiring additional materials, such as portfolios or documents (e.g. Architecture, Landscape, Journalism) will likely take longer. Applications are often assessed in batches, so bear with us while these are processed. 

Staged Admissions courses give clear expectations for decisions according to when an application is submitted.

Application decisions are made online and offer letters are accessible via the online agent portal (or individual portal). These can be printed if required; however we do not provide printed offer letters. Emails will also be sent out to inform the applicant a decision will be made. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is the responsibility of agents to ensure that all email correspondence sent to you is then distributed to the individual students in a timely and accurate manner. Agents are responsible for ensuring that students are kept up-to-date regarding their applications. 

Staged admissions: Masters courses

Our most popular courses receive many more applications than we have study places available. To manage the competition for places on these postgraduate courses, we operate a staged admissions process, with application and decision deadlines throughout the year.

Applications are submitted in the normal way, via our Postgraduate Online Application Form or agent portal, but we give preference to applications that exceed the course entry requirements. Applications for entry in September 2024 are now open.

Fee deposits

Fee deposits are normally paid by international fee-paying students who have accepted an Unconditional offer for a place on a postgraduate taught course.

To ensure that we offer the best possible experience as a Sheffield student, we can only accept a limited number of students on each course. Course places at the University of Sheffield are competitive and we receive many more applications than there are places available. Therefore, we will ask students to pay a tuition fee deposit to indicate that they definitely intend to take up their course place.

By paying a tuition fee deposit you will indicate that you are definitely going to take up your place. We will not arrange the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number necessary for a UK study visa until you have paid your fee deposit.

CAS number application

If you have any questions about the tuition fee deposit, see these FAQs or email the Fee Deposit Team.

Who pays a fee deposit?

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Research students are not required to pay a fee deposit. 

Fee deposits are normally paid by international fee-paying students who have accepted an Unconditional offer for a place on a postgraduate taught course. Paying a tuition fee is compulsory for all postgraduate taught courses, unless you are sponsored by a University-recognised sponsor.

Fee deposit information and refund policy

Payment methods

Students will be told how much they need to pay for their course in the offer letter where we ask you to pay a deposit (this is normally in the unconditional offer letter). The quickest and easiest way to pay is by credit or debit card using our online payment system, but you can also pay by bank transfer.

The University does not automatically issue paper receipts for payments made, however, you will receive email confirmation of your payment if it is made by credit card online.

Refunds

For 2024 entry, we will only be able to refund a tuition fee deposit in specific circumstances. For further information please see the 'Will my fee deposit be refunded if I can't come to the University of Sheffield?' section on our postgraduate taught course tuition fee deposits webpage.

Sponsors

If students are sponsored by a body recognised by the University (national government, employers etc), then they will not need to pay a tuition fee deposit. However, if they are asked to pay a tuition fee deposit they will need to send us proof of this sponsorship arrangement.

If their sponsor is not recognised by the University of Sheffield (for example a family member), you will still be required to pay the deposit.

Staged Admissions - Fee Deposits

For courses that operate under the staged admissions process, if we offer a place to study, we will ask applicants to accept the offer and pay a tuition fee deposit (relevant to international students only). If they do not accept the offer and pay the deposit by the deadline stated in the offer letter, we may withdraw our offer.

Tuition fees 

Information about fee amounts for each study level and how to make payments

Offer holders can either pay their tuition fees in full in one instalment or 2 instalments. They can pay accommodation fees in 3 instalments.

We would expect the payment to be made by the student, the student’s parents/guardian or very close family members.

Students will be invited to pay their tuition fees and provide additional information via an email from preregistration@sheffield.ac.uk titled “The University of Sheffield: Complete pre-registration tasks now” followed by (Name and applicant number). Students will log into the pre-registration portal and under the Online Registration Menu, they will need to complete the task titled ‘Arrange Fee Payment’. 

If the the Student or the Students Parents/Guardian or very close Family members are unable to make the payment via the payment methods offered at the payments portal they must email studentcustomers@sheffield.ac.uk to let them know how they are intending to pay and wait for approval from the team.

Payments can be made online using international and domestic cards.  We also accept direct to bank payments via our two trusted and approved partners: Flywire and Convera. 

We do NOT work or accept payments from any other third parties.  Never give personal information to a third party who says they will make payment on your behalf.

Authority forms

Our online agent application portal allows you to submit applications for postgraduate study on behalf of prospective students and monitor the applications and decisions made. For applications which are not made through the online system (e.g. for undergraduate study), or to confirm that a student has decided to work with your agency post application, we require evidence of the student’s intention to use the agency’s services. 

Where can I find the authority form?

This evidence is provided through completion and submission of the Notification of use of services of a recognised University of Sheffield recruitment agent form (authority form). This can be found in Appendix 2 of the contractual agreement between your agency and the University of Sheffield. 

Guidance

The form is required to support commission claims for our financial audit process. Guidelines for completion are given below for your information:

Ask the student to complete the form as soon as possible in order for you to submit this form within four weeks of a student starting to work with your agency.

Return the completed authority form to authorityforms@sheffield.ac.uk. This email address is for completed authority forms only.

We cannot share information with you unless the applicant has notified us that they are working with you. Students are required to complete the form and a handwritten submission is preferred. Students must sign the completed form themselves.  

MUSE portal

Students who are holding offers with us have access to the members area of our website, MUSE – My University of Sheffield Environment. Using MUSE is the easiest way to book to attend departmental open days, apply for University accommodation (available from March), apply for scholarships and, when the time comes, complete pre-registration tasks.

Access and activation

When submitting an application on behalf of the student, it is important that both a personal email address for the student and the agent email address are added into the application. If there is only an agent email address in the system, when the student tries to set up the MUSE portal, they will not be able to as they cannot receive their activation code to their personal email address. 

The student can activate their account here. The date of birth and only one other option from the list should be provided. Providing all the information will not work. 

MUSE examples
A screenshot of the MUSE interface
A screenshot of the MUSE interface

Scholarships

We have an extensive and generous scholarship offering for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. We offer generous and competitive scholarships for both Home & Overseas students at all levels, to attract and reward high-achieving applicants with excellent academic results and potential. These include our International Undergraduate & Postgraduate Merit Scholarships, IB Merit Scholarships,  International Excellence Scholarships for Engineering & Computer Science, and PhD Scholarships.

Further scholarships information can be found at on our webpage or for guidance on course specific fees and funding, use our Funding Calculator. To check fee or immigration status check our guidance for EU applicants.

Visit our country pages for more information about country-specific scholarships and funding opportunities.

ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) process

ATAS is a certificate issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) giving you security clearance to study subject areas where the knowledge gained may have application in the development or delivery of weapons of mass destruction (e.g. certain science subjects, mathematics, engineering, technology or medicine).

ATAS requirements and information

ATAS clearance is required:

as part of the Student Route Student visa application
as part of the Short-Term Student visa application
to register on your course where you hold any limited leave to remain/immigration status

Follow the ATAS guidance. If ATAS is required, it will be stated in the offer letter. 

Course modules for the forthcoming academic year are confirmed in May. When the modules have been confirmed, we will send you an email containing instructions on how to apply for ATAS clearance and the information you need to include in your application. If you receive your offer between May and September, we will send you the ATAS email within 7 days of you receiving your offer letter.

CAS process (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies)

UK immigration rules require the University to sponsor your application for a student visa (this is not the same as financial sponsorship).

To confirm their sponsorship, anyone who applies for a visa to study in the UK must include with their visa application a unique Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number, linking them to the institution where they intend to study.

CAS process, timeline and FAQs process

Where do I log in to the CAS portal?

You log in log in here with the same username and password used to access your agent application portal.

When a CAS application has been processed, we will email you to tell you that your CAS number has been allocated.  You will then be able to view the CAS number by logging back in to the CAS Application System.

What if a student does not appear in my CAS portal?

This could be due to the student not having been coded correctly to your agency.  Contact your International Recruitment Coordinator for further advice.

What do we do if a visa is refused?

You will need to send a copy of the visa refusal notice and all relevant documentation (i.e. bank statements) to our International Students Support Team immigration advisors. They will need to check the documentation and if everything is ok, they will then request that a new CAS number be issued.  You can then apply for a second visa.

Deferrals

You can request a deferral via your online application. We are not able to consider deferral requests for applications to courses using our staged admissions process.

See the key dates and deadlines webpage for the latest deadline to request a deferral. 

Commission

Refer to the terms and conditions regarding commission payments in your contract with the University of Sheffield. The University of Sheffield has an annual commission claim process that starts in November each year. We will contact you regarding the process and include a template spreadsheet that we require you to fill in, if the columns are not all filled in as required it can result in delays in processing claims. Do not send us any claims until we contact you. 

We aim to have all claims confirmed and approved to pay by mid February. Processing time can be reduced if you only claim for students that have registered at the University of Sheffield and have either supplied an authority form for the student or submitted the application through the agent portal.

For further questions on commission, contact your International Recruitment Coordinator.

Freight

We are committed to responding to the global climate emergency and we are proud of the work that we have done so far to ensure sustainability. For these reasons, we don’t send hard copies of departmental brochures to our agents. However, each year we will send a reference copy of the latest International Student Guide.  The most up to date information about our courses can be found on our online course finder.

UK Quality Agent Framework Pledge

As an institution, we are committed to the UK Agent Quality Framework and pledge to create and maintain the highest standards of agent management, ensuring the UK remains a leading study destination for international students. 

Useful links and contacts

Key contacts
Key dates and deadlines

Key dates and deadlines for postgraduate courses

Our university
International Student Support
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