UK Student Visa

What the Student visa is

The main route for studying in the UK for longer than 6 months.

The Student visa is for people aged 16 or over who have been offered a place on a course by a licensed student sponsor, have enough money to pay for the course and support themselves, and can speak, read, write and understand English. It replaced the Tier 4 (General) student visa. Students aged 16 or 17 need their parents’ consent, and those who want to study at an independent school may be eligible for the Child Student visa instead.

You can apply up to 6 months before your course starts if you are outside the UK, or up to 3 months before if you are already here. Decisions usually take 3 weeks from outside the UK and 8 weeks from inside it. If you are 18 or over and studying at degree level you can usually stay for up to 5 years in total; below degree level, up to 2 years. After you successfully finish you may extend to study further, switch to another route or apply for the Graduate visa.

Eligibility in detail

You must meet every requirement. These are the rules as published on GOV.UK.

• Unconditional offer and CAS

  An unconditional offer from a licensed student sponsor, shown by a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number. You must apply within 6 months of receiving the CAS.

• Eligible course

  A full-time course at RQF level 3, 4 or 5 with at least 15 hours a week of daytime study; a full-time course at RQF level 6, 7 or 8; a part-time course at RQF level 7 or above; a UK-equivalent degree-level course delivered as part of a longer overseas course; or an English course at CEFR B2 or above.

• Course fees

  Enough money to pay for 1 academic year of your course (up to 9 months), as stated on your CAS, less anything you have already paid. Not required if you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months.

• Living costs (London)

  £1,529 for each month of your course, up to a maximum of 9 months (£13,761). London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs.

• Living costs (outside London)

  £1,171 for each month of your course, up to a maximum of 9 months (£10,539). Boarders at residential independent schools show boarding fees instead.

• The 28-day rule

  The money must have been held for at least 28 consecutive days, and the end date of that 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply. Apply on 1 January and the funds must have been in place for at least the 28 days ending on 1 December.

• English language

  CEFR level B2 for courses at degree level or above; CEFR level B1 for courses below degree level. Proved by an approved Secure English Language Test, a UK school qualification, a degree taught in English, or a higher education provider’s own assessment for degree-level study.

• Age and consent

  You must be 16 or over. If you are 16 or 17 you need written consent from both parents or legal guardians (or one with sole responsibility) covering your application, your travel and your living and care arrangements in the UK, plus a birth certificate or other official document naming your parents.

• ATAS certificate where required

  If you are studying or researching certain sensitive subjects at RQF level 7 or above, and you are not from an exempt country, you must hold a valid Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate and provide it with your application.

• Genuine student

  Appendix Student requires the applicant to be a genuine student. UKVI may ask you to attend a credibility interview about your course choice, study history, finances and plans, and may verify documents with the issuing bank or institution.

Fees and costs

Figures as published on GOV.UK, content as at 26 August 2026.

Application fee (applying from outside the UK)

£558

Application fee (extend or switch from inside the UK)

£558

Fee for each dependant partner or child

£558

Immigration Health Surcharge, student rate (per year)

£776

Immigration Health Surcharge, part-year of 6 months or less

£388

Immigration Health Surcharge for each dependant (per year)

£776

Priority service, where offered (decision in 5 working days)

£500 extra

Super priority service, where offered (next working day)

£1,000 extra

Biometric enrolment (fingerprints and photo)

No fee

Maintenance to show — London (per month, up to 9 months)

£1,529

Maintenance to show — outside London (per month, up to 9 months)

£1,171

Maintenance for each dependant — London / outside London (per month)

£845 / £680

The health surcharge is charged for the whole period of your visa, including the extra months granted before and after your course. A part-year of more than 6 months counts as a full year and a part-year of 6 months or less as a half year. Faster-decision services are not available in every country or for every application; you will be told what you can buy when you apply. If a decision takes longer than the paid-for standard you will not usually get the priority fee back.

Processing times

Standard service times published by UK Visas and Immigration. Times start when you have proved your identity and submitted your documents.

Student visa — applying from outside the UK

3 weeks

Student visa — extending or switching inside the UK

8 weeks

Dependant partner or child — outside the UK

3 weeks

Dependant partner or child — inside the UK

8 weeks

Priority service (where available)

5 working days

Super priority service (where available)

End of the next working day

Processing times run on the UK working week (Monday to Friday) and include UK public holidays. UKVI will contact you within the standard time if your application will take longer, for example because your supporting documents need to be verified, you need to attend an interview, further information is needed about your personal circumstances (such as a criminal conviction), or demand is unusually high. You can ask to withdraw an application, but the fee is only refunded if UKVI has not started processing it. If you apply from inside the UK you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you have a decision — your application would be withdrawn. Source: GOV.UK “Visa processing times: applications outside the UK” (updated 26 June 2026) and “applications inside the UK” (updated 21 July 2025).

Documents you’ll need

What GOV.UK says you must provide, and the financial evidence rules that trip up most applications.

• A current passport or other valid travel document
• Your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number from your course provider
• Proof you have enough money for your course fees and living costs, unless you are exempt
• A valid ATAS certificate if your course and nationality require one
• Proof of your English language ability, unless you are exempt or your higher education provider has assessed you
• Your tuberculosis (TB) test results if you are applying from a country where a test is required
• Written consent from your parents or legal guardians, and proof of your relationship to them, if you are under 18
• Written consent to your application from your financial sponsor, if they have paid your course fees and living costs in the last 12 months
• Certified translations of any document that is not in English or Welsh

Working, dependants and what you can’t do

The conditions attached to a Student visa, as set out in Appendix Student.

• Degree level or above at a compliant HEP

  Up to 20 hours a week in term time, and full-time outside term time. Applies to full-time courses with a higher education provider that has a track record of compliance, and to short-term study abroad programmes sponsored by an overseas HEI.

• Below degree level at a compliant HEP

  Up to 10 hours a week in term time, and full-time outside term time.

• All other study, including part-time

  No employment permitted.

• Placements and sabbatical posts

  Work placements assessed as an integral part of your course are allowed. You may also work as an elected student union sabbatical officer or NUS officer for up to 2 years if your CAS was assigned for that purpose.

• You may take up a full-time permanent job early only if you have a Skilled Worker application pending (from 3 months before your course ends) or a Graduate visa application pending after completing the course
• Dependants (partner and children under 18) are allowed only if you are a government-sponsored student on a course longer than 6 months, or a full-time postgraduate student (RQF 7+) on a course of 9 months or more — and for courses starting on or after 1 January 2024 that course must be a PhD, other doctorate or research-based higher degree
• Each dependant needs £845 a month (London) or £680 a month (outside London) for up to 9 months, held for 28 days, in addition to your own funds; their visa ends on the same date as yours
• Dependants cannot switch in the UK from a visit visa, a Short-term study visa, a Parent of a Child Student visa, a Seasonal Worker visa or a Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa
• A child born to you in the UK is not automatically British — you must apply for their dependant visa before they turn 18 if they are to stay

After your course: Graduate visa, extending and switching

Your options once you have completed, or while you are still studying.

• Time on a Student visa does not itself count towards indefinite leave to remain; settlement is reached through the work route you switch into
• The Graduate visa cannot be extended, but you can switch from it to routes such as Skilled Worker
• Your dependants can apply to stay on your Graduate visa only if they were already your dependants on the Student visa (or were born in the UK during it)
• If your Student visa was refused and you apply for administrative review, you can stay in the UK until the review is decided

Common refusal reasons

Each of these follows directly from a mandatory requirement in the Student rules or the general grounds for refusal.

• Funds not held for 28 consecutive days, or the closing balance on the statement is dated more than 31 days before the application
• Living costs calculated at the wrong rate — for example using the outside-London figure for a course at a London campus, or counting fewer months than the CAS shows
• Unpaid course fees not covered: the money shown does not include the first-year fee balance stated on the CAS
• Money held in an unacceptable form, such as an overdraft, shares, cryptocurrency, a pension or an unregulated bank, or UKVI could not verify the bank statement
• Using a parent’s or partner’s account without the required letter of consent, or relying on a sponsor’s funds without the sponsor’s written consent to the application
• CAS details do not match the application — course, level, dates, fees or the sponsor’s licence status — or the application is made more than 6 months after the CAS was issued
• English language evidence not at the required CEFR level (B2 for degree level, B1 below) or not from an approved SELT provider where a test was needed
• No valid ATAS certificate for a course and nationality that require one
• Credibility interview answers inconsistent with the study plan, the applicant’s history or the funds presented, so the genuine student requirement is not met
• Missing TB certificate, under-18 consent documents or certified translations, or a general ground such as false representations or a previous breach of immigration conditions

How to apply

Applications are online, with identity checks by app or in person.

Source and verification

Information sourced from GOV.UK (Student visa; Financial evidence for Student and Child Student visa applicants; Visa processing times; Immigration Rules Appendix Student), content as at 26 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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