How to Verify a UK University Offer Letter Is Genuine
A forged offer letter is not just a wasted fee. It can end with money sent abroad that nobody can recover and a visa application that looks like deception.
By Rahul Chhetri, Director, House of Admissions · Updated 20 Oct 2026
Verify three things, all of which you can check yourself in under an hour. Is the university on the UK government’s student sponsor register? Does the offer arrive from the university’s own email domain? And does the university confirm it when you contact them directly, using details from their own website rather than anything the agency gave you?
This page is about verifying one document. For judging the agency itself see nine warning signs; for the consequences of submitting false documents see document fraud consequences.
- Check 1
- University appears on the UK student sponsor register
- Check 2
- Offer arrives from the university’s own email domain
- Check 3
- University confirms it directly when you contact them
- Use
- Contact details from the university website, not from the agency
- A CAS is not an offer
- It comes later, and has its own reference number
- Never
- Send tuition to a personal or agency account
- If in doubt
- Ask the university before you pay anything
The Three Checks, in Order
- Find the university on the UK student sponsor register. The UK government publishes the list of institutions licensed to sponsor students. If the name is not on it, no legitimate Student visa can follow from that offer — whatever the document says.
- Look at the email domain the offer came from. A genuine offer arrives from the university’s own domain. An offer forwarded to you only by an agency, from a generic mail account, has not been verified by anyone.
- Contact the university’s international admissions office directly, using contact details from the university’s own website. Give them your name and application reference and ask them to confirm. This is routine and they will answer.
If you verify a document using a phone number or email address given to you by the same person who gave you the document, you have verified nothing. Go to the university website and find the international office yourself. This single habit defeats most document scams.
An Offer Letter Is Not a CAS
These are two different documents at two different stages. An offer letter says you have been accepted. A CAS — Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies — is issued later, after you have met the conditions and usually paid a deposit, and carries a unique reference number that UKVI checks against the university’s own records. You cannot apply for a visa on an offer letter alone. How the CAS works →
Where the Money Goes Is the Real Test
Tuition and deposits are paid to the university, through the banking channel, after your NOC is issued. Payment details come from the university’s own invoice or payment portal.
No legitimate UK university asks for tuition to be paid into an individual’s account, an agency’s account, or via an informal transfer channel. If that is requested, stop. Once money leaves Nepal through an informal channel there is nobody to complain to and no receipt to show anyone. How tuition should be paid →
Want a second opinion on an offer letter?Send it to us and we will check the sponsor register and the sender domain with you, and show you how to confirm it with the university yourself. Free.
Free WhatsApp checkFrequently Asked Questions
Three checks: confirm the university is on the UK student sponsor register, confirm the offer came from the university’s own email domain, and contact the university’s international admissions office directly using details from their own website.
The UK government’s published list of institutions licensed to sponsor international students. If an institution is not on it, no legitimate Student visa can follow from its offer, regardless of what the offer letter says.
No. Verifying a document with contact details supplied by the person who gave you the document verifies nothing. Find the international office through the university’s own website.
No. An offer letter says you have been accepted. A CAS is issued later, after conditions are met and usually a deposit is paid, and carries a unique reference UKVI checks against the university’s records. You cannot apply for a visa on an offer letter alone.
To the university, through the banking channel, after your NOC is issued, using payment details from the university’s own invoice or payment portal. Never to a personal or agency account.
Contact the university immediately to establish whether an application exists in your name, and contact your bank about the transfer. Act quickly — recovery depends entirely on which channel the money went through, and informal channels are generally unrecoverable.
Submitting a false document to UKVI is treated as deception, with consequences well beyond a refusal. If you suspect a document is not genuine, do not submit it. What the consequences are.
No. Pay tuition deposits only to the university's own account, using details from its official website or student portal.
Get this checked before you submit — free
Most refusals from Nepal come from paperwork, not from weak profiles. We check every document against the UKVI and MoEST requirements before you pay a fee. House of Admissions is free to students at every stage — we are paid by universities after enrolment, never by you.
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Where Does This Information Come From?
- GOV.UK — Register of licensed student sponsors
- GOV.UK — Student visa
- House of Admissions casework, 2016–2026 (self-reported)
Last updated 20 Oct 2026. Nepali foreign-exchange rules and MoEST procedure change by circular and are not always announced in English — confirm current figures with your bank or at noc.moest.gov.np before you rely on them. Nothing here is immigration or financial advice; for a decision on your own case, consult a regulated adviser.