Child Student Visa UK

The Child Student route is for applicants aged 4 to 17 with an eligible place and CAS from a licensed Child Student sponsor. It normally involves an independent school, not a general entitlement to attend a state school. GOV.UK also identifies a limited Erasmus+ arrangement at participating academies or maintained schools; check any proposed exception specifically.

Applicants aged 16 or 17 may need to consider the ordinary Student route instead, depending on the course and provider. Child Student permission is distinct from permission held as the dependant of a parent: the child is being sponsored to study in their own right.

• Student visa options
• Child dependant visas

The application needs the required parental or legal-guardian consent and evidence of the relationship. Consent must address the application, living and care arrangements and travel. Arrangements during holidays or other periods away from boarding school need consideration as well as term-time accommodation.

Permitted arrangements include boarding, living with an eligible close relative or private foster carer, living with a parent who holds Parent of a Child Student permission, or living independently at 16 or 17. A nominated guardian used for breaks from boarding must meet the route’s requirements; a stay with that guardian must be less than 28 continuous days.

Carers and nominated guardians must meet the relevant British citizenship or settlement requirements. A letter of undertaking is required in the relevant arrangements, with additional provisions for guardianship organisations. Private fostering can require local-authority notification and confirmation. The Home Office also considers safeguarding and relevant criminality of carers and adults regularly living with a nominated guardian.

• Child Student living arrangements

Child Student maintenance is not the same as ordinary Student maintenance. The current calculation depends on where the child will live and who will support them. Outstanding school fees, boarding payments and the period covered must be checked against the CAS and applicable rule.

Cash funds normally need to be held for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days before applying. Qualifying loans or government/international scholarship awards have separate provisions. An in-country applicant who has been in the UK with permission for at least twelve months meets the financial requirement without showing funds. Differential evidence for listed nationalities does not remove the underlying financial requirement.

• Boarding: sufficient funds for the outstanding course and boarding fees for one academic year.
• Living with an eligible close relative or private foster carer: outstanding course fees plus the carer’s £570 a month for up to nine months.
• Living with a parent holding Parent of a Child Student permission: the relevant outstanding fees plus £1,560 a month for child and parent, for up to nine months, and £625 a month for each additional eligible child.
• Living independently at 16 or 17: outstanding course fees plus £1,334 a month in London or £1,023 outside London, for up to nine months.

• Child Student maintenance

The school’s CAS must support the proposed course and application. Check course dates, qualifications used to obtain the place, tuition and boarding charges, and payments already made. The applicant must also meet the other eligibility and suitability requirements; a school offer alone is not enough.

A complete care plan should identify where the child will stay and who is responsible for them. Changes to guardianship, parental responsibility or accommodation should be resolved and accurately reflected in the documents rather than left for the visa application to explain.

• Passport or accepted travel document and a valid CAS reference.
• Parental or legal-guardian consent and evidence of the relationship.
• Accommodation and care evidence, including the required undertaking or private-fostering documents where applicable.
• Financial and qualification evidence where required, plus a tuberculosis certificate if the entry-clearance rules require one.

An overseas application can be made up to six months before the course starts. An in-country application can be made up to three months before the start, before existing permission expires, with the new course beginning within 28 days of that expiry. Apply within the CAS validity period.

Switching in the UK is not available to someone who has, or last had, Visitor, Short-term Student or permission outside the Immigration Rules. Other validity and suitability rules still apply. An extension requires the child to remain eligible, including being aged 4 to 17 when applying; turning 18 may require consideration of another route.

Permission length depends on age at application and course length: under 16, up to six years of study; at 16 or 17, up to three years, with an additional four months after the course. These are maximum course periods, not a promise of the maximum grant for every child.

• Switching to Child Student permission

Child Students under 16 cannot work. From 16, permitted work includes up to ten hours a week in term time and full-time work in vacations. Assessed course placements have separate limits. Self-employment, business activity, work as a professional sportsperson or entertainer and filling a permanent full-time vacancy are prohibited.

A Child Student cannot sponsor dependants. A parent who wishes to accompany the child must qualify independently, for example under the separate Parent of a Child Student route where its requirements are met. That route generally requires a child under 12, including a qualifying younger sibling; it is not permission for the whole family to accompany the child automatically.

For an enquiry, provide the child’s age, school and course dates, intended living arrangements and the immigration position of any accompanying parent. Any advice and document-review scope must be agreed with Highfin; the draft does not confirm an individual child’s eligibility.