UK Student visa: eligibility, fees and how to apply

The UK Student visa is the route for people aged 16 or over who have an unconditional offer of a place on a course with a licensed student sponsor, can support themselves financially, meet the English language requirement and, if aged 16 or 17, have parental consent. It replaced the Tier 4 (General) student visa. The application fee is £558 whether you apply from outside or inside the UK, and you must also pay the healthcare surcharge. You can apply up to six months before your course starts if you are outside the UK, or three months before if you are already in the UK. Decisions usually take three weeks from outside the UK and eight weeks from inside.

Eligibility requirements

To apply for a Student visa you must be 16 or over and meet four core conditions. You must have been offered a place on a course by a licensed student sponsor. You must have enough money to support yourself and pay for your course, although the amount varies depending on your circumstances. You must be able to speak, read, write and understand English. If you are 16 or 17, you must have consent from your parents and provide evidence of this when you apply.

If you are 16 or 17 and want to study at an independent school in the UK, you may instead be eligible for a Child Student visa. The Student visa route is for further or higher education courses.

When to apply

The earliest you can apply depends on where you are. From outside the UK, the earliest point is six months before your course starts. From inside the UK, the earliest point is three months before your course starts.

If you are already in the UK, you must apply before your current visa expires. Your new course must begin within 28 days of your current visa expiring. For example, if your visa expires on 1 December, you must apply before 1 December and your new course must begin by 29 December.

You must also apply within six months of getting your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). You can stay in the UK until you get your decision, and if you applied for an administrative review after a refusal, you can stay until that review decision comes through.

Fees and healthcare surcharge

The fee is £558 to apply for a Student visa from outside the UK. It is also £558 to extend or switch to a Student visa from inside the UK. You must pay the visa fee for each person who joins you.

You will also have to pay the healthcare surcharge as part of your application. How much you pay depends on how long your visa lasts. When extending, you also need to have your fingerprints and a photo taken; there is no fee for this.

How long you can stay

How long you can stay depends on the length of your course and what study you have already completed in the UK. If you are 18 or over and your course is at degree level, you can usually stay for up to five years. If it is below degree level, you can usually stay for up to two years.

You may be able to extend your visa if you are eligible, for example to continue your studies, or switch to a Student visa from another visa if you are already in the UK. You may also be able to switch to a Graduate visa after successfully completing your course.

Graduate visa duration	When you apply
2 years	On or before 31 December 2026
18 months	On or after 1 January 2027
3 years	If you completed a PhD or other doctoral qualification

When you can travel to the UK

You can arrive before your course starts, but the permitted window depends on the length of your course. If your course lasts six months or less, you can arrive up to one week before it starts. If your course lasts more than six months, you can arrive up to one month before it starts.

You must not travel to the UK before the start date given on your visa, no matter when your course starts.

What you can and cannot do

On a Student visa you can study and work as a student union sabbatical officer. You may be able to work, but how much depends on what you are studying and whether you are working in or out of term-time.

You cannot claim public funds (benefits) and pensions. You cannot work in certain jobs, for example as a professional sportsperson or sports coach. You cannot be self-employed. You cannot study at an academy or a local authority-funded school, also known as a maintained school.

If your application is successful, you will be told what you can and cannot do on a Student visa.

Extending your visa

You may be able to extend your Student visa to stay longer and continue your course or study a new course. This includes if you currently have a Tier 4 (General) student visa.

To extend, you must be in the UK on a Student visa or a Tier 4 (General) student visa. You must have an unconditional offer of a place on a course with a licensed student sponsor, shown by your CAS. You must also show that your studies are at a higher academic level than your current course, known as the academic progress requirement, though there are exceptions.

If you have been in the UK with a valid visa for less than 12 months, you will need to prove you have enough money to support yourself in the UK. Your partner or children will need to apply separately to extend their visa; they can apply at the same time as you or at any time before their current visa expires.

Academic progress exceptions

You do not need to show your studies are at a higher level if you are resitting exams or repeating modules, applying for the first time to a new institution to complete a course you started at an institution that lost its student sponsorship licence, applying after working as a student union sabbatical officer to complete a qualification you started under your last Student visa, completing a PhD or other doctorate you started under your last Student visa, continuing a medical, dentistry or medical science degree after completing an intercalated course, or applying to extend your stay to complete your studies because you have done or want to do a work placement or study abroad programme.

Your new course must otherwise be at a higher academic level than your current course, or at the same level and related to your previous course or career aspirations (it must be degree level or above at a Higher Education Provider), or intercalated to a medicine, dentistry or medical science course you started under your Student visa.

How to apply and what happens next

You must apply online. As part of your application you will need to prove your identity. How you do this depends on where you are from and the type of passport or resident permit you have. You will either use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to scan your identity document and create or sign in to your UKVI account, or have your fingerprints and photo taken at a UKVCAS service point. You will be told what you need to do when you apply.

You must not travel outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision. Your application will be withdrawn if you do.

A decision will usually be made within eight weeks for an extension. You may be able to pay to get a faster decision; you will be told if you can when you apply. You will be contacted if your application is complex and will take longer, for example because your supporting documents need to be verified, you need to attend an interview, or because of your personal circumstances such as a criminal conviction.

If your application is successful, you will get an eVisa, a digital record of your identity and immigration status. Your decision email or letter will tell you how to get access to your eVisa, and you will need to create a UKVI account. You will need to link your travel document to your UKVI account; this should be the travel document you use to come to the UK.

What to check next

Before you apply, verify the specific requirements for your circumstances on the official GOV.UK Student visa pages. Check the exact financial evidence you need, the English language requirement, whether you need a tuberculosis (TB) test, and whether you need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate if you are doing a masters degree or above. Confirm the current fee and healthcare surcharge amounts on the official pages, as these can change. If you are applying from inside the UK, check the academic progress rules carefully and ensure your new course begins within 28 days of your current visa expiring.