Prospective Student Visa

I have received a conditional offer to start a course in the UK, and have calculated that by the time I get an unconditional offer and then a CAS number my time to get a student visa will be too little.
So I was wondering if it will be a good idea to apply for a prospective student visa while I collect all the documents to get an unconditional offer and CAS number?

You do not need an unconditional offer to apply for a prospective student visa. You would get the unconditional offer when you are inside the UK.

VAT10.1 What is a prospective student?

A prospective student is a person who intends to undertake studies in the UK but has not completed all the arrangements for their course of study. Once a prospective student has been unconditionally accepted for a course of study they may apply for leave to remain as a Student in-country.

This category includes:

prospective student nurses but not postgraduate doctors or dentists; or
overseas qualified nurses or midwives.

Prospective students should have a clear idea of the type and purpose of the studies and should already have been in touch with educational institutions in the UK. For example, the applicant may already have been provisionally accepted at an establishment with final acceptance dependent on an interview. A vague intention to study for qualifications or to enter an unspecified university or other institution is insufficient.

Thanks for the reply, as it is the 17th of August now and my course starts on the 27th and I have a conditional offer at the moment and not an unconditional offer (so no CAS number) I can not apply for a student visa, and as it could probably take 2 more weeks before the University changes my offer to unconditional and then another week to receive my CAS number, i would be left with a few days in order to apply for a student visa. I would like to be in the UK at least 10 days before Uni starts, and as far as I can see I am allowed to apply for a prospective student visa?
I forgot to mention this earlier but I do have a tourist visa that last till December, and as far as I understand once I am in the UK with a Tourist visa I wont be able to change it to any other type of visa.

You have probably left it too late. Some locations have VAC that offer premium service for entry clearance where the application is guaranteed to be decided in 48 hours. This is an additional service offered by the VAC and is not a third party agency. If you are in one of those locations you might consider using those facilities. Where are you based?

@Lucapooka, I guess the fast track service that you mentioned is for visitor visa and does not include student visa

http://www.vfs-uk-in.com/additionalservice.html

UK VFS in India says so, may be different in other countries, can anyone please conform?

regards
Krishna

It does apply to all types of entry clearance in a large number locations but it's not offered universally in every territory. I guess India falls into the later category.

Thanks for the update

It seems like India is in such a list

http://www.vfs-uk-id.com/fasttrack.aspx

Regards
Krishna

Im in Croatia and I cant find anything about a fast track service here.

Well as previously stated, it's not something that is available in all locations. Where available, it's found under additional services on the VAC site.

Education is very important. you can do your higher education in another country. You can select New Zealand. Some times You get a chance migration to new zealand.