Study abroad without guessing what happens next

A distance degree from a good university can be worth taking on its own terms. What it does not do is confer post-study work rights, and it does not satisfy the study requirement for any migration pathway we work with.

If your goal is to live and work abroad, an online degree does not move you toward it.

We are paid a commission by most of the universities we place students with, which means our service costs you nothing for those applications. Where an institution does not pay commission, there is a service fee, and we tell you what it is before we begin.

We do not accept a commission that would push us to recommend a university that is wrong for you. If a self-funded application is the better choice, we will say so.

Most taught masters ask for 6.5 overall. The detail that catches students out is the minimum in each band: a 7.0 overall with a 5.5 in writing will be rejected where a flat 6.5 is accepted.

Some universities accept PTE, the Duolingo test, or a waiver if your degree was taught in English. We confirm which before you book a test.

The UK allows twenty hours a week during term and full time in vacations. Canada allows twenty-four hours a week off campus. Australia permits forty-eight hours a fortnight.

Plan on part-time work covering living costs, not tuition. Applications that rely on term-time earnings to pay fees are refused at the visa stage.

Applications open around a year ahead. A realistic timeline is three months for testing and shortlisting, two months for applications and offers, two months for the deposit and CAS or equivalent, and one to two months for the visa.

It can be done in four months when a deadline demands it. It is more expensive and more stressful that way.

Refusals are far more often about how funds were evidenced than about whether they exist. We obtain the refusal notice, identify the specific ground, and rebuild the file to address it directly.

Most of the refusals we take over are approved on the second application. Where a refusal is not recoverable we tell you, rather than taking a fee for a hopeless refiling.

Every destination requires evidence that tuition and living costs can be met. The funds must usually have been held for a continuous period — twenty-eight days for the UK — and the source of any large deposit must be explainable.

A sponsor must be an immediate family member, with proof of relationship. This is the single most common reason a file is sent back.

Published minimums are guidance, not law, and admissions committees weigh relevant work experience, a strong dissertation and an upward grade trend.

What does not work is applying widely and hoping. We identify the small number of institutions that genuinely consider the whole application and put the case properly.