Practise your UK pre-CAS interview
with answers from your own papers.
Build a profile from your offer, CAS and money papers. Learn the key points for 96 interview questions, practise on camera, and get feedback on every answer. When your readiness reaches 70, a pre-CAS interview mock test opens.
The profile is free. Learn, practice and mock interviews need a plan. Plans are on sale in India today.
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What is Hilingo’s UK CAS Interview prep?
It is online practice for the interviews a student may face on the way to a UK Student visa. Your university may interview you before it issues your CAS, the reference number you need before you can apply for the visa, and UK Visas and Immigration may ask you to attend an interview after you apply. Both cover similar ground: why the UK, this university and this course, how you will pay, and your plans afterwards. Hilingo starts with a profile built from your own offer letter, CAS and money papers, so every practice answer uses the same figures. You learn the key points and an example answer for each question, practise on camera against the clock, and get feedback on 10 parts of every answer. When your readiness reaches 70, a mock interview opens. Your university decides whether to issue your CAS, and the Home Office decides your visa.
Start from your own papers.
What you say about your course and your money should agree with your papers, so your practice starts from them. The profile is 64 short cards, one at a time, with no timer. Each card is saved as you go, so you can stop and come back.
- Course name, level, start month, length, fee and modules, copied from your offer or CAS
- Your university picked from the UK government’s register of licensed student sponsors
- Choices start with your own state, province or division for India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
- The profile locks when you finish; support or your institute can reopen it if something was wrong
Key points and an example answer for every question.
96 interview questions written by Hilingo, in 13 topics, plus visa history and family if they apply to you. Each question lists the other ways it is often asked, and one answer covers them all. Your answers are built from your profile, so the fee, the course and who is paying are the same in every one.
Learn the points, then say them your way. The University of Plymouth advises students to answer in their own words, without scripts.
- Simple, Advanced or Super Advanced wording, sized to the time you have to answer
- Money answers use the current UKVI living-cost figure for your campus, in London or outside it
- Edit in your own words; change a fact and a red note stops you locking it until it matches your profile
- Simplify the wording once, keeping every number and name, then lock the answer
Practise on camera, one topic at a time.
Some universities use a recorded video interview, like Liverpool John Moores, and others a live call, like Lincoln. Hilingo’s practice is recorded, so you get used to talking to a camera with the clock running.
- A camera, microphone and internet check before you start
- 5 questions a set, each hidden until you press Start
- Up to 30 seconds to prepare, then 30, 60 or 90 seconds to answer
- One take per question and no going back; feedback a few minutes later
Feedback on 10 parts of every answer.
Each part gets Strong, Developing or Needs work, one sentence on what we heard, and a tip. You also see which of your key points you covered and which you missed.
- Answering the question
- Specific details
- Handling slips
- Sounding sure
- Use of time
- Pauses
- Rhythm
- Voice variety
- Eye contact
- Setting and integrity
- A flag when an answer sounds recited or contradicts your profile, when another face is on camera, or when you leave the tab
- Grammar slips listed for your information, never scored
- Comments in English or 50 other languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Urdu and Bengali
The AI listens to the audio of your answer. Eye contact is measured on your own device, and the video is kept only so you can play it back.
A readiness meter, then a pre-CAS mock test.
All your practice feeds one meter from 0 to 100, built from your last 3 scored answers in each topic. Today the mock opens at 70. A skipped or weak topic holds you at 69, so nobody reaches the mock by leaving a topic out. Below the meter you see what to practise next.
- A short statement that you are taking it alone, and a passport-and-voice rehearsal that stays on your device
- Today, 13 questions picked from across the topics, one more if you have a past refusal or dependants, one take each
- A Green, Amber or Red band from our AI scoring. Green is the top of three bands, not a pass
- 5 mock interviews on the 7-day plan, 20 on the 50-day plan
Your recordings and passport details.
You record yourself and type in passport details, so here is exactly what happens to them. Taking part is your choice, and you can stop at any time.
- Recordings are kept in private storage and play only through links that expire after 5 minutes
- Recordings are deleted 7 days after your plan ends and never kept longer than 90 days
- Your passport number is stored encrypted, and staff see only its last 3 characters
- Passport details are never sent to the AI language service or the speech service
- Ask support, or your institute, to delete your data
Two plans: 7 days or 50 days.
Both include Learn, recorded practice and feedback. Only the number of days and mock interviews changes. Prices for your country are on the pricing page; plans are on sale in India today.
See prices5 mock interviews, for a student whose interview is close.
20 mock interviews, for working through every topic at your own pace.
Who runs the interview, and who decides.
If your university holds a pre-CAS interview, it runs it before it issues your CAS. A UKVI credibility interview, if you are asked to attend one, takes place during your visa application and is run by UKVI; the University of Kent’s guidance on both interviews sets out the difference. Passing a university’s interview does not guarantee that UKVI will accept you, as the University of Plymouth’s guidance says.
Hilingo will not promise you a CAS, an offer, an interview result or a visa. Your university decides whether to issue your CAS, and the Home Office decides your visa. We do not publish an accuracy figure for our scoring, and Hilingo’s questions are written by Hilingo, not taken from any university. Hilingo is not affiliated with UK Visas and Immigration, the Home Office or any university.
Preparing students for an agency or institute?
UK CAS prep for institutesQuestions students ask
Something else? Ask us and a person answers within one business day.
Is there a free trial?
You can sign up and build your profile for free. Learn, recorded practice and mock interviews need a UK CAS plan. There is no free mock for UK CAS.
Which countries can buy a plan?
UK CAS plans are on sale in India today, and the pricing page shows them to visitors from India. If you are preparing from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh or another country, write to support@hilingo.com and we will tell you when plans open where you are.
Does it help with the UKVI credibility interview too?
It is practice for both. Your university's interview and a UKVI interview cover similar ground, such as why you chose the UK, the university and the course, how you will pay and what you plan to do afterwards, and Hilingo's 13 topics are built around that ground. Neither Hilingo nor anyone else outside the interview knows the exact questions you will be asked.
Are these the questions my university will ask?
Hilingo's 96 questions are written by Hilingo, each with the other ways it is often asked. They are not taken from any university. Universities choose their own questions, and some draw them at random: Aston University's policy, for example, picks them at random and shows none in advance.
Can I memorise the example answers?
Please do not. The example answer shows how your own facts fit together. Learn the key points and say them your way. The University of Plymouth's advice is to answer in your own words and not rely on scripts, and Hilingo flags a practice answer that sounds recited.
Will this get me my CAS or my visa?
No. Hilingo is practice. Your university decides whether to issue your CAS, and the Home Office decides your visa application. Readiness, bands and mock results are not a prediction of either.
Who can see my recordings?
You, and the people allowed to see your results, such as your institute's UK CAS trainers if you joined through an institute. Playback links expire after 5 minutes, and recordings are deleted 7 days after your plan ends. If you bought your plan yourself, nobody reviews your answers by hand; authorised Hilingo staff open a result only to handle a support request you raise.
What if I made a mistake in my profile?
The profile locks when you finish it, so your answers all use the same facts. Hilingo support, or your institute, can reopen it for you to correct the card. Any locked answer that uses the changed fact opens again so you can rebuild it.
Guides to the interview
- The UK Genuine Student requirement, explained from the Home Office's own guidanceEvery UK Student visa application has to meet one short rule, that the applicant is a genuine student. Here is what the Home Office's own caseworker guidance says that means, what it is judged on, how some universities check it before your CAS, and which of your own papers answer each part.
- Pre-CAS interview checklist: the night before and the hour beforeThe night before a pre-CAS interview is for checking facts and set-up, not for learning new answers. Which papers to have ready, which facts to say aloud once, how to set up the camera and the room, what to do in the hour before and during the interview, and what happens after, with a printable checklist.
- Why students fail the pre-CAS interview: nine avoidable mistakesMost of what goes wrong in a pre-CAS interview can be fixed before the camera turns on: numbers that do not match your CAS, a memorised script, a vague answer, a dropped connection, a missed deadline. Here are nine mistakes, what the university or government guidance says about each, and what to do instead.
- Preparing a whole intake for pre-CAS interviews: a workflow for agents and counsellorsUK universities answer to the Home Office for their visa refusal rate, some interview students before they issue a CAS, and the caseworker guidance names agents of concern as a factor. Here is a six-step way to prepare a whole intake without scripts, with the official source behind every rule.
- Pre-CAS interview vs UK credibility interview: who asks, when, and what happens afterTwo interviews, run by two different bodies. Your university may interview you before it issues your CAS, UKVI may interview you during your visa application, and only the Home Office decides your visa. Here is how each one works, with every rule linked to its official source.
- UK credibility interview questions: what each one checks, and how to answer from your own papersThere is no official list of UK credibility interview questions, but universities publish the areas they cover. Here are 13 of them, with example questions we wrote, what each one checks, and which of your own papers the answer comes from.
- UK student visa money rules for 2026, and the funding questions your interview may askHow much money a UK Student visa needs in 2026, how the 28-day bank rule works with a dated example, what changes on 30 November 2026, and how the same numbers can come up again in your pre-CAS or credibility interview. Every rule links to its official source.
- "Why this university?" and "Why this course?": how to build an answer the interviewer can checkThe interviewer is not waiting for praise of your university. They want to hear research you did yourself and a course that makes sense after what you studied before. Here is how to build that answer from your CAS, the course page and your own plans, with nothing to memorise.
Sources
Official pages, all accessed 6 October 2026. We link to these universities’ own guidance as sources only.
- GOV.UK, Student visa: your course (what a CAS is, and that you need one before you apply)
- GOV.UK, Student visa: money (living costs for courses in and outside London)
- GOV.UK, Student visa: apply (you may be asked to attend an interview)
- GOV.UK, Register of licensed sponsors: students
- University of Kent, Credibility interviews (the pre-CAS interview and the UKVI interview)
- University of Plymouth, UKVI credibility interviews (own words, no scripts; no guarantee)
- Liverpool John Moores University, Pre-CAS interviews (a recorded video interview)
- University of Lincoln, Pre-CAS interview (a live interview on Zoom or similar)
- Aston University, Pre-CAS interview policy, May 2026, PDF (questions drawn at random, none shown in advance)
- Coventry University, Credibility interviews (the topics of the UKVI interview)
Practise the interview before the real one.
Start with your profile. It is free.