UK University Limits MRes Admissions Amid Soaring Demand

🔍What’s happening?

An unnamed UK university has told its partner agents (who help recruit international students) to stop accepting new applications for MRes (Master of Research) programs starting in September 2025.

Why? Because:    

• There’s been a huge increase in demand for these courses.
• The university has already received too many applications.
• The university wants to ask the UK government (UKVI) for more CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) letters, which are required to apply for a student visa.

🎯What is MRes and why the rush?

MRes programs are postgraduate research courses. They’re popular because:

• They still allow students to bring their dependants (like spouses or children), unlike many other postgraduate courses after the UK government restricted dependant visas in 2024.
• Some agents and students may have been choosing MResmainly to bring family to the UK.

UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) has warned against promoting MRes as a way to bring dependants, which may have caused this university to tighten its policies.

  💥What’s changing now?

• MResapplications are closed for now.
• Agents can only use 25% of their CAS for MRes students.
• All marketing materials about MRes courses must be approved by the university.
• From September 2025, students can’t use MOI (Medium of Instruction) letters as proof of English. They’ll need official English test results.

😠 Agents are upset

Agents say:

• They have many students with offers who now won’t get a CAS, meaning they can’t apply for a visa.
• It’s unfair to suddenly limit places after giving out so many offers.
• They’re left with a difficult task: choosing which students can proceed and which ones can’t.

🌍What’s the impact on international students?

1. Fewer MRes places available: Students wanting to join an MRes course may not get a chance, especially if they’re applying from high-demand countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Nigeria.
2. Visa challenges: Without a CAS, students can’t apply for a visa – so even those with offers may lose their opportunity.
3. No more MOI letters: From Sept 2025, students must take an approved English language test like IELTS or TOEFL. This makes the application process stricter.
4. Dependants harder to bring: The UK is tightening how MRes courses are used, especially to limit abuse of the dependant visa rule. So students should not expect to use MRes only to bring family.
5. More scrutiny from UKVI: As universities ask for more CAS, UKVI might audit them to ensure students are genuine, not just using loopholes.

🗓 Key Timeline:

• ❌New MRes applications are already closed as of June 2025.
• 📋CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) limits and priority lists are now in effect for agents and universities.
• 📢 From September 2025 onwards:
  • Medium of Instruction (MOI) letters will no longer be accepted for English proficiency (students will need IELTS or other approved tests).
  • The tightened rules around CAS usage (max 25% for MRes) are enforced.

Note: These changes are university-specific for now (not a blanket UK law), but they reflect increasing government pressure on universities to tighten admissions and reduce misuse dependant visas