Short-term Study Visa

Which route is right for you

The course length and subject decide the visa. Choosing the wrong one wastes a fee and can lead to refusal.

What the Short-term study visa is

A single-purpose visa for learning English in the UK.

The Short-term study visa lets you come to the UK for an English language course that lasts longer than 6 months but not more than 11 months. You can stay for the length of the course plus 30 days, provided your total stay is no longer than 11 months. You must be 16 or older, your course must be with an accredited institution and must include no other subjects, and you must be able to support yourself and pay for your journey home without working. You apply online from outside the UK, up to 3 months before you travel, and usually get a decision within 3 weeks of your appointment.

The visa is deliberately restrictive: no work of any kind, no dependants, no extension, no change of course, and no switching to another visa from inside the UK. If you later want to take a degree or a longer course you return home and apply for a Student visa with a CAS.

Eligibility in detail

What you must prove for the Short-term study visa, and the extra points that apply to under-18s.

• Age

  You must be 16 or older to apply. Under-18s need parental or guardian consent and arranged travel and accommodation.

• Course type and length

  An English language course that lasts longer than 6 months and up to 11 months and includes no other subjects. Mixed courses or courses with other subjects need a Student visa.

• Accredited institution

  The provider must hold a student sponsor licence or a valid accreditation and be listed by one of the bodies GOV.UK names — including Accreditation UK, the British Accreditation Council, ASIC, ISI, Ofsted, the Office for Students and the QAA — or be an eligible overseas higher education institution delivering part of its course in the UK.

• Course fees

  Evidence that you have paid your course fees or have enough money to pay them. Your acceptance letter should state the course name, duration and cost, including accommodation.

• Maintenance

  Enough money to support yourself without working or claiming public funds, or evidence that relatives and friends can support and house you. There is no fixed monthly amount and no 28-day holding rule for this route — GOV.UK asks for evidence such as bank statements or payslips for the last 6 months.

• Return or onward journey

  You must show you can pay for your journey out of the UK at the end of the course.

• No English test

  The route has no English language requirement, because the purpose of the visit is to learn English.

• Tuberculosis test

  Required if you are applying from a country where GOV.UK requires a TB test for stays of more than 6 months.

• Under 18: consent and care

  Written consent from both parents (or one with sole responsibility) or your legal guardian covering the application, your travel, your living arrangements and care in the UK, and what happens when you arrive; proof of suitable accommodation and who will look after you; contact details for a parent or guardian at home.

• Genuine short-term student

  As with any temporary route, the decision maker must be satisfied that you intend to study the course you have been accepted onto and leave at the end. Your history, funds and plans should be consistent with that.

Fees and costs

Figures as published on GOV.UK, content as at 29 April 2026.

Short-term study visa (English courses, more than 6 and up to 11 months)

£228

Immigration Health Surcharge for the Short-term study visa

Usually £776

Standard Visitor visa (study up to 6 months, any accredited course)

£135

Immigration Health Surcharge for a Standard Visitor

Not payable

Priority service, where offered (5 working days)

£500 extra

Super priority service, where offered (next working day)

£1,000 extra

Biometric enrolment at the visa application centre

No fee

Maintenance to show

No fixed amount — enough to support yourself and pay your fees and return journey

The application fee is only refunded if UK Visas and Immigration has not started processing your application. Faster-decision services depend on the country you apply from; you will be told what is available when you apply, and the priority fee is not usually refunded if the decision takes longer than the paid-for standard.

Processing times

UK Visas and Immigration standard service times. The clock starts at your visa application centre appointment.

Short-term student (6 to 11 month English language courses)

3 weeks

Standard Visitor — applying from outside the UK

3 weeks

Earliest you can apply

3 months before you travel

Priority service (where available)

5 working days

Super priority service (where available)

End of the next working day

Times are measured on the UK working week and include UK public holidays but not those in the country you apply from. UKVI will contact you within the standard time if your application will take longer, for example because documents must be verified, you are asked to interview, further information is needed about your circumstances or demand is high. You are not required to book travel before you apply, and GOV.UK advises against paying for accommodation or travel until you have your visa. Source: GOV.UK “Visa processing times: applications outside the UK” (updated 26 June 2026).

Documents you’ll need

The GOV.UK list for the Short-term study visa.

• A current passport or other valid travel document
• Written proof of your course — a letter of acceptance from the institution stating the course name, duration and cost, including accommodation
• Evidence that you have paid your course fees or have enough money to pay them
• Evidence that you can support yourself during your stay, for example bank statements or payslips for the last 6 months
• Details of where you intend to stay and your travel plans (do not pay for these until your visa is granted)
• Your tuberculosis test results, if you are applying from a country where a test is required
• Contact details for at least one parent or guardian in your home country, if you are under 18
• Parental consent letters and accommodation details if you are under 18 and travelling alone or with an adult who is not your parent or guardian
• Evidence of your permission to be in the country you are applying from, if you are not a national of it
• Evidence of a financial sponsor’s occupation, income, savings or funds, if someone else is paying for your studies
• A certified translation of any document that is not in English or Welsh

What you can and cannot do

The conditions of the Short-term study visa, as published on GOV.UK.

• Study the English language course named in your application at the accredited institution that accepted you
• Stay for the length of your course plus 30 days, up to a maximum of 11 months
• Use the NHS, because you have paid the health surcharge
• Travel in and out of the UK during the validity of your visa

Studying for up to 6 months as a Standard Visitor

What GOV.UK allows under the visitor rules, and the extra requirements for each activity.

• A course at an accredited institution

  Any subject, including English, for no more than 6 months. The institution cannot be an academy or state-funded school. You must show you have been accepted onto the course.

• Distance learning

  If most of your study happens outside the UK, the course itself can be longer than 6 months and you can visit for inductions, intensive face-to-face teaching, progress checks, exams and assessments.

• A short piece of research

  You must be at least 16, enrolled on a degree-equivalent course overseas, and accepted by a UK higher education institution for research relevant to that course, with written confirmation from your overseas provider.

• An elective

  For students of medicine, veterinary medicine and science, nursing, midwifery or dentistry who are at least 16 and enrolled overseas; the UK provider must confirm in writing that you will not treat patients or be paid.

• Exams and vivas

  Sitting an entrance exam, retaking an exam or module, or attending a PhD oral exam (viva) are permitted visitor activities.

• Clinical attachments and PLAB or OSCE

  Overseas medical, dental and nursing graduates can do an unpaid clinical attachment or dental observer post for up to 6 months, and sit the PLAB or OSCE with a registration letter from the GMC or NMC. You must not treat patients.

• Visitors must show they will leave the UK at the end of the visit, can support themselves and pay for their return journey, and will not live in the UK through frequent or successive visits
• A Standard Visitor visa costs £135 for up to 6 months and the earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel; some nationalities need only an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) or nothing at all, but must still meet the visitor rules at the border
• Postgraduate-level study or research in a subject covered by the Academic Technology Approval Scheme may need an ATAS certificate before it starts, although it is not required for the visitor visa application itself

After your course: extending, switching and studying longer

Both routes are temporary, and GOV.UK is explicit about what comes next.

• The Short-term study visa cannot be extended; you must leave by the end of your permission, which is your course end date plus 30 days
• You cannot switch to the Student visa from a Short-term study visa or a visit visa inside the UK — the Student rules list both as excluded routes
• To continue to a degree or a course longer than 11 months, secure a CAS from a licensed student sponsor and apply for the Student visa from outside the UK, up to 6 months before the course starts
• A Standard Visitor cannot extend to study longer either, except for PLAB candidates who may apply to stay a further 6 months to retake the test or to take up an unpaid clinical attachment, up to 18 months in total
• Time on either route does not count towards settlement and gives no work rights

Common refusal reasons

Each follows from a mandatory requirement of the Short-term study or visitor rules, or from the general grounds for refusal.

• The course is 6 months or shorter, or longer than 11 months, so the Short-term study visa is the wrong route
• The course is not purely an English language course — it includes other subjects, or is a mixed or academic programme that needs a Student visa
• The institution is not accredited by one of the bodies GOV.UK lists, or holds no student sponsor licence
• Financial evidence does not show that you can pay the course fees, support yourself without working and fund your return journey
• Acceptance letter missing or incomplete — it does not state the course name, duration and cost including accommodation
• Under-18 consent, accommodation or care arrangements not evidenced, or no parent or guardian contact details provided
• The decision maker is not satisfied you are a genuine short-term student who will leave at the end of the course — for example because your history or plans are inconsistent with a short English course
• Missing TB certificate where required, or documents not accompanied by a certified translation
• Applying from inside the UK, or attempting to switch from a visit or Short-term study visa to another route, which the rules do not permit
• A general ground for refusal, such as false representations, undisclosed previous refusals or a breach of conditions on an earlier visit

Application process

Applications are made online from outside the UK, with an appointment at a visa application centre.

Source and verification

Information sourced from GOV.UK (Study English in the UK (Short-term study visa); Standard Visitor; Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application; Visa processing times), content as at 29 April 2026 and 4 August 2026, and reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Rules change; we verify requirements at the point of instruction.

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