ATAS certificates and deferring your offer

What happens if you decide to defer your offer?  

It depends on how long you have decided to defer your start date.  

The ATAS certificate is valid for 6 months prior to your start date, so if you have an ATAS certificate dated June 2012 and you have deferred your start date from 1st October 2012 to 1st November 2012 or 1st December 2012, you can still use the same ATAS certificate.

Any start date after that time, you will need to re-apply by beginning another ATAS application.

If you have changed your start date to the following year, for example from 1st October 2012 to 1st October 2013, you will need to re-apply approx 6 months before your new start date.

Keep your ATAS certificate safe because you can use the same information to re-apply.

If you have changed your JACS code or your course/research area, do not re-apply for ATAS clearance until you have checked out the details with the supervisor of your course.

Points to remember:

The ATAS certificate is valid for 6 months prior to your start date.

You will need to re-apply for ATAS clearance nearer to your start date if you decide to defer your offer.