Chief Mates + BSc (Hons) Maritime Science – Solent University, UK
🔹️Name of the Course:
Bsc (Hons) Maritime Science & STCW II/2 Chief Mate / Master Examination Route.
This course is for candidates who hold a current STCW Officer of the Watch certificate (without a valid HND in Nautical Science).
Please read page 7,8 and 9 of the attached PDF file for course details.
🔹️Name of the University:
Solent University, Southampton – Warsash Maritime Academy, UK.
🔹️Location:
90 minutes drive from London Heathrow airport. Solent University is located in the heart of the city of Southampton.
🔹️Course start dates:
Batches: 3 times a year.
▪️30 Oct 2023 Distance Learning – Campus phase 22 Jan 2024.
▪️08 Jan 2024 Distance Learning – Campus phase 15 April 2024.
▪️08 July 2024 Distance Learning – Campus phase 30 Sep 2024.
* Please note these are year 1 dates only, you will progress on to year 2 following successful completion of the first year of study.
The deadline to enrol for any course is 3 weeks later from the distance learning start date. For e.g. if the distance learning is starting from 30 Oct 2023, you can enrol latest upto 21 Nov 2023 for that session SUBJECT TO SEAT AVAILABILITY.
🔹Course Duration:
▪️3 months of distance learning (not live online classes) which you can do whilst onboard ship or from the comfort of your home + 6 months of physical classroom teaching in the UK. Total duration of 9 months for the Chief Mates HND Nautical Science part of the course.
▪️Another 8 – 9 months course duration for the Bsc (Hons) Maritime Science.
This course enables a candidate to achieve a BSc (Hons) in Maritime Science and a Chief Mate and Masters certification by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) examination route. In the first part of this course, candidates will take a blended learning Chief Mate and Masters course of study with continuous assessment and end of course assignments in all subjects at Level 5, in addition to the two written examinations in ‘Navigation’ and “Ship Stability’ conducted by the SQA on behalf of the UK MCA. Successful candidates at Level 5 will then progress to Level 6 studies for Bsc Maritime Sciences award offered by Warsash Maritime School, Solent University, UK.
🔹Eligibility Requirement:
▪️Eligiblity: A minimum 12 months of seatime as an independent watch-keeping deck officer whlist holding your STCW II/1 2nd Mates CoC. You need to have sea service stamps on the CDC and bridge watch-keeping letter from the captain of the ship as proof of seatime. Company seatime letter is not a requirement and cannot be used in lieu of the Masters testimonial. However, do take the company seatime letter also as it may be of help to you when you are looking for a full time job in the UK after obtaining your BSc (Hons) Maritime Science degree from Solent University, Southampton, UK.
▪️If you have more than 36 months of seatime as a Deck Officer whilst holding your STCW II/1 OOW CoC, you can give your Masters MCA orals after obtaining your Chief Mates CoC WITHOUT the need for any additional seatime to be done after obtaining your Chief Mates CoC.
It is however not possible to do both Chief Mates and Masters CoC in 1 trip to the UK due to visa time restrictions of 6 months if you are doing only the Chief Mates course and not the BSc Maritime Science course. The visa that you get for a pure Chief Mates only course is 6 months standard visitor visa (with no part-time work rights) whilst if doing the Chief Mates + BSc (Hons) Maritime Science combined course, you get a visa of 17 months with part time work rights in the UK. Within the 17 months visa duration that you get for Chief Mates & BSc Maritme Science combined course, you will get multiple attempts at the SQA exams & MCA orals as well as sufficient time to clear the Chief Mates CoC, Masters CoC and also obtain the BSc (Hons) Maritime Science degree.
▪️If you are uncertain of your seatime and documents, please apply for your MCA NoE before booking a seat with the University. The MCA NoE procedure is sent along with this message..
🔹️English test:
IELTS Academic English test with overall score of 6 band and no sectional score below 5.5
The alternative to IELTS Academic test is to sit for the DUOLINGO test which you can do from home itself and is an online test. The DUOLINGO score required is overall of 115 with no score below 95.
You can book IELTS Academic and DUOLINGO test on the below given websites:
www.duolingo.com
🔹️STCW advanced courses and other ancillary courses:
If your 2nd Mates CoC is not from the UK (but from India / Sri Lanka / Bangladesh / Burma / Pakistan / Nigeria / Ghana, etc.), you will need to do the following MCA, UK approved STCW advanced courses and ancillary courses.
▪️AFF
▪️MFA
▪️PSCRB
▪️Medicare
▪️ECDIS
▪️Tanker Courses for DCE (if required)
You can refer to the attached MCA MIN643.
The above MCA approved courses can be done from the UK or you can do from India also. It will be much cheaper doing it from India rather than doing in the UK.
The below mentioned colleges offer these MCA approved courses in India:
BP Marine Academy, Mumbai
www.bpmarineacademy.in
HIMT, Chennai
www.himt.co.in
Out of the above, MCA UK approved ECDIS needs to be mandatorily done before going to the UK as it is a pre-requisite for the NAEST (M) course whilst the other MCA STCW advanced courses and ancillary courses can be completed after your UK studies and before applying for your MCA STCW II/2 Chief Mates FG CoC.
The cost of doing all the MCA, UK approved STCW advanced courses and ancillary courses in India are as given below:
▪️AFF: INR 40,000
▪️MFA: INR 40,000
▪️PSCRB: INR 40,000
▪️Medicare: INR 45,000
▪️ECDIS: INR 80,000
▪️GMDSS: INR 45,000
▪️Tanker Courses (Oil, Chemical, Gas): INR 50,000
These fees are paid directly to the college in India and out of purview of the UK college.
For students holding a 2nd Mates UK CoC after 1 Jan 2005, ECDIS (MCA, UK) course will not be required for them. They will however need to do the MCA approved Medicare, HELM (M) and Tanker Courses (if required). The HELM (M) is now included in the course tuition fees as a package fees and there will be no refund of any money if you do HELM (M) separately from any other institute.
Indian GMDSS is accepted by the MCA, UK. For other countries, please check directly by emailing to the MCA at deck@mcga.gov.uk if your country GMDSS is accepted by the MCA or not.
🔹️ Course Booking:
Please Whatsapp or email the following documents to us for seat booking:
▪️Passport 1st page and address page.
▪️CDC 1st page and sea service stamped pages after 2nd Mates CoC.
▪️CoC all relevant pages including expiry date page.
▪️Medical First Aid (MFA) certificate.
▪️University application form (Take B&W printout of the first 2 pages of PDF, fill it by pen and email / whatsapp to me).
Kindly email or Whatsapp these 5 PDF files consisting of the above documents. You can download CAMSCANNER APP on your smartphone to make the PDF files.
A sample filled up University application form (page 5 and 6 of the PDF) is attached for reference to help you fill the main application form.
A non refundable deposit payment of £ 1,000 has to be made to Solent University, Warsash Maritime Academy for seat booking. This amount will be deducted from your total tuition fees. This non-refundable deposit payment can be carried forward in your own name (not friend or relative) for the same course upto 2 years without any transfer charges should you not be able to attend the course. The admission letter will come by email in about 3 weeks after the documents and deposit fees payment have been done.
🔹️Tuition Fees:
▪️Course Tuition Fees – Year 1
£8,005. This fee includes HND Nautical Science, MCA Oral Preparations, NAEST (M) and HELM (M).
▪️Course Tuition Fees – Year 2
£ 5,495
Top-up to BSc (Hons) Maritime Sciences.
🔹Schedule of payment:
▪️£1,000 is paid for booking a seat in the University.
▪️50% course fees of Year 1 including the seat booking deposit of £1,000 is paid before the start of the distance learning course. This comes to £3,005.
▪️ Balance Year 1 fees of £4,000 is paid after the visa and before the start or your physical classes in the UK.
▪️Year 2 fees of £5,495 is paid after Chief Mates HND course completion and prior to the start of the BSc Maritime Sciences Top-Up course in the UK.
We will assist you with the fees payment transfer to the University. It can be done through electronic bank transfer or using your debit card / credit card on the University website.
🔹️Visa Duration:
The length of visa that you get for the Chief Mates & BSc (Hons) Maritime Science combined course is of 17 – 18 months. The visa will end 4 months after your BSc Maritime Science course end date.
🔹️Accommodation:
Off campus accommodation is available about 5 – 10 minutes walking distance from the University. Most of the landlords are Indian / Asian and we will share their contact numbers with you so that you can get in touch with them prior to departing for the UK. The monthly spending on food & accommodation + bills will vary from £400 – £450 per month depending upon the quality of accommodation and your food habits.
🔹️Part Time Work:
Your visa sticker will mention that you can work part-time upto 20 hours per week during course period and full time during vacation. The term vacation does not mean weekends but refers to Christmas, Easter and summer break at the University. The minimum pay rate in the UK is £10.42 per hour but you will likely be paid higher if you are working in night shifts, weekends and during holidays. Normally a student by working 20 hours per week part-time can earn around £830 per month whilst working full time (say 50 hours per week) during vacation can earn £2,080 per month. This not only helps to cover your monthly living expenses of £400 but also helps to earn extra to offset your tuition fees payment also. Over a 14 months period of stay in the UK, a student could look at recovering £13,000 by working part-time / full-time as per international student visa work rules. Students normally work in KFC, Mc Donalds, restaurants, food take away joint, pizza delivery, shopping malls, security guards, Southampton port, car park, departmental stores, library, AMAZAON delivery warehouses, etc. Some jobs like working as drivers to load / unload cars from car carriers in Southampton port pay lot more i.e. close to £15 per hour as time is of essence in such jobs and it requires driving license / skills also.
🔹️Total Expenses:
Here we will calculate the all total expenses over a 17 months visa:
▪️Tuition Fees: £13,500
▪️MCA NoE (oral exam) fees: £220
▪️SQA written exam fees: £240
▪️Flight Ticket (one way): £400
▪️Visa Fees: £490
▪️Health Insurance: £720
▪️STCW short courses: £3,000 (MCA aproved AFF + MFA + PSCRB + Medicare + ECDIS + Tanker Courses)
▪️Living expenses for 15 months in the UK (as initial 3 months are distance learning) @ £400 per month: £6,000
▪️Miscellaneous Exp: £1,000
Total = £25,570
This is what you will spend if you do not do work part-time / full-time in the UK.
As the student visa allows you to work part-time during term time and full-time during vacations as per international student visa rules, you can earn about £13,000 to offset part of your total expenses of £25,570. The net expense will thus be only to the tune of £12,570. The risk however is that if Covid like pandemic, war, etc., strikes the UK again in future, then part-time work opportunities become scarce due to the country going into a lock down. Hence, you should be ready with sufficient funds of your own so that you do not have to depend upon part-time work for your sustenance. If your spouse were to join you on a 6 months visa, then you can expect to add another £2,000 towards her living and travel expenses. Spouses cannot work during their 6 months visa and they have to return back to their home country as 6 months visitor visas cannot be extended in the UK.
🔹️Visa Procedure:
▪️We will assist you with the visa procedure.
▪️As the visa procedure is totally online now, we can assist you even if you are residing in other countries for e.g. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Iran, etc.
▪️The visa processing time is normally 3 weeks. During difficult times like Covid, War, etc, the visa processing time can stretch much longer for e.g. upto 2 months or more. There is also a fast-track visa option wherein by paying £270 extra, you can get your visa in about 5 working days.
▪️University will issue you a visa letter, also called as CAS (confirmation of acceptance of studies). This is a 14 digit alpha-numeric number.
▪️To get the CAS, you have to submit your IELTS Academic / Duolingo / PTE Academic, English language test result and proof of funds in your bank account maintained for the last 28 days.
▪️The total funds to be shown for the visa is your first year course tuition fees of £8,005 and 1 year of living expenses i.e. £9,207.The total amount is £17,12 + 5% extra for any currency fluctuation charges. So total amount to show for visa will be £18,073 INCLUDING any money already paid as tuition fees to the University towards seat booking and distance learning course fees. This amount has to be maintained in your bank account (as cash / FD’s) for atleast 28 days and then you need to send the bank statement / passbook / FD letter to the University for issuance of CAS. The source of funds is usually not questioned by the visa officer. However, you should have an explanation ready shoud the visa officer like to know the source of the money that you are showing for the UK visa. The funds however have to be in an approved bank list as per UKVI which you can find by doing a simple Google search. You can also show funds in your parents account. You CANNOT show stocks, bonds, insurance policy, car, property, jewelry, etc, as source of funds. Educational loans are also an option for many students to show as proof of funds.
▪️The University will take about 4 working days for issuance of CAS after submission of your financial documents.
▪️The visa form has to be filled online and you have to pay the health insurance fees and visa fees online itself. The health insurance fees will be £720 and visa fees will be £490 approximately. This is ADDITIONAL to the funds maintained in your bank account for 28 days. All supporting documents like CAS, Passport, Tuberculosis (TB) test result, IELTS/ Duolingo test result, bank financial documents, work experience documents and academic certificates will be uploaded on the visa website. You will then take an appointment on the visa website itself and on the date of appointment you just have to go to the VFS office to submit your passport and do your biometrics (eye retina scan and fingerprints). Your passport will be returned back to you by courier (or personal collection) with the visa sticker on it in about 3 weeks time under normal circumstances.
▪️We will send you a sample visa filled up form along with supporting documents to be uploaded on the visa website. We will also check your online visa filled up PDF form and all uploaded supporting documents before you pay the visa fees.
▪️Your visa will start about 2 – 3 weeks before your course commencement date in the UK and will end 4 months after the course end date as given in your CAS. Total approximate length of study visa will be 17 – 18 months and you can get a further 24 months of PSW visa after course completion ie total visa duration will be 41 months.
▪️Your spouse and child can accompany you to the UK on a visitor visa of 6 months duration. You will need to show additional funds for them (£ 4,080 per dependent) for the UK visa. Their visas cannot be extended in the UK beyond 6 months and they will have to return back to their own country. They can however re-apply for a fresh visitor visa for the UK after returning back to their home country. We will assist with the visa procedure for your spouse and children also.
🔹️Whatsapp Group:
A Whatsapp group of all students going in the same batch for the Chief Mates or Chief Mates + BSc Maritime Science will be formed as it will be of immense help to you for group-study & general discussion. Batch size would be about 30 – 40 students on an average from India and other countries.
🔹️Post Study Work (PSW):
You will apply for a 2 years PSW visa after you have successfully passed your BSc Maritime Science course and before the expiry of your student visa. The fees for PSW visa is £700 and you will also pay for health insurance which is £624 for each year of your stay in the UK. Once you have applied online for your PSW visa, you will get a decision within 8 weeks. You can stay in the UK whilst you wait for your PSW visa decision. Whilst on a PSW visa in the UK you can be employed or self employed also. Once you get a PSW visa, you will get a full list of what you can and cannot do on a PSW visa (for e.g. you cannot work as a professional sportsperson).
🔹️Skilled Work Visa (SKW):
From January 1, 2021, EU and non EU citizens are treated to be equal in terms of UK immigration. SKW visa applicants must score 70 points on the UK points test to be eligible for this visa which is for a period of 5 years. The relevant points which a seafarer can hope to achieve are as given below:
▪️Offer of job by an approved sponsor – 20 points.
▪️Job at appropriate skill level – 20 points.
▪️Speaks English at required level – 10 points.
▪️Salary of £25,600 or above or atleast the going rate for the profession (whichever is higher) – 20 points.
A job as a faculty in a maritime college or jobs as assistant superintendent, assistant DPA, fleet manager, technical manager, port captain, marine insurance surveyor, etc., should normally meet the points requirement as such.
In order to apply for a UK SKW visa, you must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from the employer who has offered you a job. The employer must have a sponsor license. When you get a job in the UK whilst working under the PSW visa, always check whether your employer has a sponsor license or not. It is best to have your job offer letter vetted by an immigration lawyer in the UK before you accept the job offer so that you are sure that you can move from the PSW visa to the SKW visa on the basis of the job that you have got.
SKW visas are based on demand supply gap. Hence, these rules are always tweaked a little bit with changing market situation and you should check the www.gov.uk website for latest updates.
SKW visa holders after 5 years can apply for a permanent residency in the UK. PSW visa time does not count for permanent residence, only SKW time is counted for that.
After finishing your studies, you move to a Post Study Work (PSW) visa. When you are able to move to a Skilled Work Visa (SKW) on getting a skilled job in the UK, you can then call your spouse and children full time to the UK and your spouse can also work full-time when you are on a SKW visa. Your plan of action should be to finish your BSc degree, get a PSW visa, move to a SKW visa and then apply for Permanent Residency (PR) after being on a SKW visa for a minimum period of 5 years.
We have attached a PDF file showing the kind of martime shore jobs advertised in the UK. This will give you an idea of the salaries offered, skill-sets required, cities in which these jobs are, employers who hire maritime profiessionals, etc., thus enabling you to prepare accordingly in your search for a skilled job in the UK after obtaining your Bsc (Hons) Maritime Science degree qualification.
For any queries, please do revert back.
🔹️ https://wa.me/message/2QULIAPZA7JAL1
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY SERVICE CHARGES AS WE ARE A DIRECT UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVE.