The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

What is ATAS?

The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) is for security clearance from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for courses where students’ knowledge could be used in programmes to develop Advanced Conventional Military Technology (ACMT), weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) or their means of delivery. 

You may need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate if you are studying for a Masters or DPhil in certain science subjects, mathematics, engineering, technology or medicine or a 4 year undergraduate Masters in Physics or Materials. This will also apply if you are coming as a visitor, or Recognised Student, in a subject area that requires ATAS. A list of subjects and areas that require ATAS is in the section ‘Courses that require ATAS’ below. 

For contracted researchers, i.e. employees, ATAS is also required for some job descriptions and you should contact the HR department for advice.

Exemptions

If you are a national of an EU country, the European Economic Area (EEA), Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the United States of America you do not need an ATAS certificate.

If you have indefinite leave to remain or pre-settled or settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme you will not need ATAS. If you are studying on a visa type that allows study without an ATAS condition or you are exempt from Immigration Control you will not need ATAS.

Dual nationals

If you are a dual national who holds one of the nationalities listed above then you will be exempt from the ATAS requirement. However, if you are applying for your visa using a passport of a non-exempt country, you will need to make sure that you provide proof of your exempt nationality by uploading a copy of your valid passport for the exempt nationality as well and you should ask your department/college to include a note on your CAS so that it is clear when you make your visa application why you are not including an ATAS certificate. The Home Office advises that when your visa is granted you should add your exempt nationality passport to your eVisa.

Courses that require ATAS

If you are offered a place at Oxford your Department or college will advise whether you need ATAS.

For a list of courses at Oxford that require ATAS at postgraduate level, read the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) section on the Graduate Admissions website.

For undergraduates, the only courses that require ATAS are the 4-year undergraduate masters courses in these subjects: Materials; Physics; Physics and Philosophy and Mathematical and Theoretical Physics. 

ATAS and your visa application

If you are applying for a Student route visa for an ATAS subject, you will need an ATAS certificate to include with your visa application.

If you are coming as a Standard Visitor for a short period of study or research requiring ATAS, you must have the certificate before you start the study or research. Although under the Immigration Rules, an ATAS certificate is not a requirement for a Standard Visitor visa application, in practice you will need to apply for it before you come to the UK because of the long processing times and because if you correctly indicate on your Visitor visa application that you will be coming for a period of study, you will need to indicate whether you need, and have obtained an ATAS certificate. 

Other visa types that allow study subject to the ATAS condition, for example, a Dependant visa, will also need ATAS approved before you can start studying but not before you can make the visa application. If you are unsure whether your non-Student visa type requires ATAS, contact us at [email protected] for advice.

Managing the timings and prepare in advance

This can be a very lengthy process so please read the information in the ‘When should I apply?’ section below carefully and plan to do this well in advance. 

How do I know if I need to apply?

Your offer letter will explain if you need to apply for ATAS and it will also be stated in your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) email. The CAS number is required for your visa application and will only be issued when you have met all your academic and financial conditions, but you can apply for ATAS before you get your CAS. Your department (for graduates) and college (for undergraduates) will issue you with an ATAS letter to use for your ATAS application.

You can also check the list of graduate courses that need ATAS on the Graduate Admissions website.

For undergraduates, the only courses that require ATAS are the 4-year undergraduate masters courses with these titles: Materials; Physics; Physics and Philosophy and Mathematical and Theoretical Physics. 

If you will be studying a subject requiring ATAS on a visa type other than Student, for example as a Dependant, you will still need to have an ATAS certificate before you can start study even though it was not a requirement for your visa application.

When should I apply?

Before you can apply for ATAS, you will need your offer letter and ATAS letter containing essential information about your course, the course start and end dates and a subject code (CAH3 code) that you must use for the ATAS online application form. For postgraduate research students this should also include an agreed research statement from your supervisor, for undergraduate students it will include a list of course modules from your college.

You do not need to wait until your offer is unconditional to apply, and you can apply before your CAS is issued to save time. ATAS applications can take a long time: expect at least 30 working days (6 weeks), or longer during the busy period from April to September and there is no priority service. Some applications may take several months. Where possible, you should aim to apply before 15 May at the latest for an October course start date.

If you are approved for ATAS clearance you will receive a certificate by email that is valid for six months to use with a visa application. You can apply for your Student visa once you are within six months before your course start date if applying outside the UK, or 3 months if applying in-UK where allowed, for a new/second course or to complete a started course.

You will need your ATAS certificate before you can apply for your Student visa, so it is best to apply as soon as possible but within the timeframes explained above and with the official information provided by your department/college.

For in-UK applicants, note that you must not overstay the end of your existing visa without having submitted a new visa application, so if you are waiting for ATAS and running out of time, contact us for advice at [email protected]

FAQs

Can I apply for ATAS certificates for different courses at the same time?

If you have offers for more than one course, or offers from different universities, you can make a separate application for each course and can do this concurrently unless the course is at the same university and has the same CAH3 code.

Do not make more than one application for the same course, the system will not accept duplicate applications from the same student for the same course.

Note that if you are applying for ATAS for two courses at Oxford with the same CAH3 code you must wait for a decision to be made on the first application, before submitting the second application. This is because otherwise the system will treat it as a duplicate application and block it.

I need to renew my passport - how should I manage this along with my ATAS application?

The passport details you provide in your ATAS application must be the same you will be using for your CAS/Student visa application and to travel to the UK. Your passport must be valid at the time you will be travelling to the UK but there is no minimum validity period required upon entry and it won't cause an issue for your ATAS or visa applications if your passport is due to expire before the end of your course.

If you need to renew your passport before you apply for your visa, it would be best to do this as soon as possible and before you apply for ATAS as updating your passport details later for a pending or approved certificate will not be quick. If it has not been possible to do this before you apply for ATAS, please read the FAQ 'What should I do if my passport is renewed after submitting my ATAS application?' in the 'After you apply' section of this webpage.

After submitting your application, it will have the status ‘submitted’ whilst the application is pending and ‘decided’ once a decision has been made. Decisions can take at least 30 working days (6 weeks) and often longer between April and September. The ATAS team deal with applications in date order and there is no priority service. Please note:

• Withdrawing and resubmitting an application will not speed up the process and will instead re-set the processing time.
• It is not possible to submit a duplicate application (for the same course) to speed up the process whilst one is already pending – the system prevents this.
• If you are asked to amend details because of major omissions or errors please note that this may reset the processing time so pay careful attention to dates and the accuracy of the information you supply.

You will receive a decision by email and once an application has been decided (either Granted or Refused) it is not possible to submit a further application for the same course for 90 days after this first decision. If ATAS is granted but any of the details on the certificate are incorrect please contact us at [email protected] 

FAQs

What should I do if I realise I have made a mistake in the application after I have submitted it?

Do not submit a new application to try to rectify your mistake (unless the ATAS team specifically instructs you to do so). Instead, we suggest that you email the ATAS team at [email protected] with your application reference number and passport number, explain where you think you have made the mistake and provide the correct information. Follow any instructions in their reply. Check your certificate when you receive it to make sure the details are correct.

What should I do if my passport is renewed after submitting my ATAS application?

Try to avoid doing this if at all possible as updating your passport number after you have submitted your ATAS application or after your certificate is granted can be a slow process. If your application is still in progress you should email your new passport details to [email protected] and make sure you include your application reference number.

If your certificate has already been granted then you will need to get this amended before applying for your Student visa by emailing the ATAS team as above.

Do I need to reapply if my funding has changed while I am waiting for the certificate?

Email the ATAS team at [email protected] and explain the change in your funding, and any other significant changes. If you submitted your application less than 30 working days ago, you may not receive a reply to your email until that time has passed, and it normally takes at least 5 working days to get a response.

Do not submit a new application because of the change unless the ATAS team instruct you to do so.

When you first make your application, you should include details of funding you have applied for but have not yet had a decision on.

Can you help if my ATAS certificate is delayed?

If you have been waiting for more than 40 working days (8 weeks) we can check by emailing the ATAS team but we cannot expedite the application.

Email [email protected] with ‘ATAS delay’ in the subject line and we will send you a link to a form where you can provide us with all of the necessary details. Please let us know if you have received any communication from the ATAS team and why the application has now become urgent (for example, you are running out of time to apply for your visa).

What should I do if ATAS is refused?

Please note if your ATAS application has been refused you will only be able to submit a new application for the same course once 90 days has passed from the date of the email from FCDO notifying you of the refusal.

For national security reasons the ATAS team will not explain either to the applicant or the University why the ATAS clearance was refused so it is not possible for us to advise or speculate on the reason for refusal. You should talk to your supervisor about any concerns the ATAS team might have about your research project description.

What you can do about a refusal:

1. Check your original application. Usually, if you have omitted any information from your application, the ATAS team would contact you to ask for it. However, you should check that you applied correctly. Read this government page about ATAS and how to apply:

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

2. Discuss the refusal with your Supervisor (DPhil or research degrees), Graduate Studies Assistant (taught masters) or your college (undergraduate masters) as it could possibly relate to a specific area of your research or financial sponsorship; you will need their input for a review/appeal or reapplication.

3. Ask the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office for a review/appeal of the decision by emailing [email protected] - we cannot tell you what to write in your review request, but make sure you address any omissions there may have been from your original application. Ask for a statement of support from your supervisor, we cannot tell them what to write for this but if they feel that your research could not be used for the purposes that ATAS aims to prevent, they could explain why.

4. The review process can take several weeks. If you have not received a reply after a month, we can make enquiries about your review request, but the ATAS team cannot influence how fast it is processed as the review is passed to independent reviewers. If you would like us to ask about it, email us at [email protected]

5. If the review is unsuccessful and you think the refusal was because of your research area, discuss with your Supervisor, Department or College as appropriate whether you can change your research area and if you can, you can apply again for ATAS.

6. It is possible to apply again for ATAS either for the same or a different area of research or course.