Student Visa Solicitors

The Student route is for eligible applicants aged 16 or over studying with a licensed sponsor. Child Student permission is a separate route for children aged 4 to 17, normally attending an independent school. At 16 or 17, the course and institution help determine which route is appropriate.

Short-term Study covers eligible English language courses lasting more than six months and no more than eleven months. Courses of six months or less fall under the visitor study provisions, subject to their requirements. Short-term Study does not permit work, dependants or an extension.

Graduate permission is a post-study work route following successful completion of a qualifying course. It is not a Student visa extension and is not available simply because someone has attended a UK course.

• Child Student visas
• Graduate visas
• Short-term English language study

You need an eligible course and a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from a licensed Student sponsor. The CAS is an electronic reference containing course and sponsorship information; an offer letter alone is insufficient. Check names, course dates, fees and recorded payments with the provider before applying.

Applicants must satisfy the genuine Student requirement as well as the financial, language and other applicable rules. An interview may be requested, but it is not a compulsory step in every application. Previous study, immigration history and the reason for the chosen course can be relevant.

As checked on 12 October 2026, Appendix Student also restricts entry-clearance applications by nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan. This is a restriction on Student applications from outside the UK; do not assume the same provision governs an in-country extension or Child Student application. Obtain advice about the rules applying to your nationality and application location.

• Immigration Rules: Appendix Student

Unless an exception applies, funds must cover the outstanding course fees shown on the CAS for the relevant academic year and living costs. Current Student maintenance is £1,529 a month in London or £1,171 outside London, for up to nine months. London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs. Residential independent-school students have a different fee-and-boarding calculation.

Cash funds normally need to be held for 28 consecutive days, with the end of that period within 31 days before the application. Qualifying loans and official financial sponsorship have different evidence provisions. Recorded tuition payments and permitted accommodation payments can affect the calculation.

Someone applying in the UK after living here with permission for at least twelve months meets the financial requirement without showing funds under the relevant rule. Differential-evidence arrangements for certain nationalities usually remove the initial document requirement, not the obligation to hold the necessary money: UKVI may still request evidence.

The usual English standard is CEFR B2 for degree-level study or above and B1 below degree level. A Secure English Language Test is one way to demonstrate this, but qualifying nationality, educational evidence or a permitted assessment by a higher education provider may also be relevant. The accepted method depends on the course and circumstances.

Prepare evidence that is consistent with the CAS and application. Applicants under 18 need the required parental or legal-guardian consent, including for the application, care arrangements and travel, together with evidence of the relationship.

• Current passport or other accepted travel document and the CAS reference.
• Financial evidence, or a clear basis for the applicable exception or differential-evidence arrangement.
• English-language evidence and qualifications where required.
• ATAS clearance for relevant courses and nationalities, a tuberculosis certificate where required, and any necessary financial sponsor consent.

A full-time degree-level student sponsored by a higher education provider with a track record of compliance can normally work up to 20 hours a week in term time and full-time outside term time. Eligible below-degree study with such a provider normally allows ten term-time hours. These are not universal entitlements: other study, including part-time study, generally carries no ordinary employment permission.

Course placements have separate rules. Students generally cannot be self-employed, work as professional sportspeople or entertainers, or fill permanent full-time vacancies. Narrow exceptions apply to some people switching routes. Check the actual permission, course calendar and applicable exception before starting work rather than assuming a submitted application changes work rights.

• Skilled Worker visas

Student permission does not automatically allow family members to accompany you. The main qualifying categories include government-sponsored students on full-time courses of at least six months, and qualifying postgraduate students on courses of at least nine months at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance.

For postgraduate courses starting on or after 1 January 2024, the course must be a PhD, another doctorate or a research-based higher degree. An ordinary taught master’s course starting after that date does not by itself qualify under this provision.

Appendix Student contains additional provisions for some existing dependants continuing with a student onto another course, and for certain children born during or shortly after Student permission. Dates, previous permission, course lengths and whether applications are made together matter. Each dependant must meet their own relationship, financial and other requirements; a nationality-based evidence concession is not a blanket exemption from maintenance.

• Student partners and children
• Family and dependant immigration options

Applications from outside the UK can be made up to six months before the course starts. In-country applications can normally be made up to three months beforehand, must be submitted before current permission expires and require the new course to start within 28 days of that expiry. The CAS must also be valid for the application.

Not everyone can switch in the UK. Visitor and Short-term Student permission are among the excluded categories. An extension can involve academic-progression and time-limit rules as well as a new CAS; receiving another offer does not guarantee eligibility.

For an enquiry to Highfin, identify the proposed course, sponsor, start date, current immigration permission and any family applications. These facts allow the scope of advice and required documents to be discussed before an application is prepared. Do not send highly sensitive documents through an initial enquiry.