Student route: eligibility and requirements

Education providers listed as higher education providers with a track record of compliance (HEPs) in the Register of Student sponsors may sponsor part-time postgraduate study (courses leading to a qualification at RQF level 7 or SCQF level 11 and above).

Students on the Student route, studying part-time are subject to certain restrictions: no work, no work placements, no dependants.

Since 10 January 2019, part-time Students have been able to apply to extend their permission under this route in the UK.

Study abroad means you are currently studying a course outside the UK which is equivalent to a UK degree (contact UK ENIC), and as part of that course you come to the UK for a short period of full-time study.

Courses below degree level must involve at least 15 hours a week of organised daytime study and lead to an approved qualification. These qualifications include, but are not limited to, A levels, Scottish Highers, Foundation degrees, Higher National Diplomas, Higher National Certificates.

The qualification must normally be at RQF level 3 / SCQF level 6 or above. If you will be studying at an institution which is a Probationary Sponsor and you are 18 or older, the minimum course level is RQF level 4 / SCQF level 7 or above. The Home Office's Register of Student sponsors lists Probationary Sponsors.

A pre-sessional course prepares you for your main course of study. It need not lead to an approved qualification but it must be at the same minimal level as courses below degree level (above) or English language courses below).

English language courses must involve at least 15 hours a week of organised daytime study and must lead to an approved qualification at level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

If you want to study an English language course which is below level B2 and between 6 - 11 months in duration, or if you want to learn English at an institution which does not have a Student sponsor licence, you can normally come to the UK as a short-term student instead.

If you are 16 or 17 years old and you want to study an English language course, you must apply for a Student visa, or a short-term student visa if your course is between 6 - 11 months in duration. You cannot apply as a Child Student.

Your institution may be able to to issue a CAS so you can apply as a Student to re-sit an exam or to repeat a module as part of your current course. You will be granted enough permission to re-sit the exam or repeat the module.

In practice, your institution may not be able to issue a CAS for a Student extension application in the UK if there is too long a period when you have no required participation on the course.  In this case, they will expect you to leave the UK once you are no longer required to attend your course, then return either with a new Student visa or as a visitor for the re-sit.

Either a Student visa or a visitor visa are fine for the re-sit itself, but if you then need more time to complete your course, it is important to understand that only someone with a Student visa can apply in the UK to extend their stay. If you had a visitor visa for the re-sit or repeat you will need to return overseas to make any Student route application. We advise you discuss in advance with your institution what will be the best way for you to return to the UK for your re-sit.

We have heard reports that Health Education England no longer sponsors postgraduate doctors and dentists in training under the Student route. Reports suggest that such individuals will either require sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route or the Graduate route. As this is not yet reflected in the Immigration Rules, we are currently querying this with the Home Office. In the meantime, if you have any questions on this yourself, you may wish to contact Health Education England. For information about the Skilled Worker and Graduate routes, see Working after studies and Graduate route.

The Erasmus programme is open to anyone who is studying for a degree at a registered institution, and includes people studying in the UK with a Student visa. Talk to your university's international office or Erasmus co-ordinator for more information.

For information about the requirements for student visas in the country where you will study, use this list of foreign embassies in the UK. Select the website for the UK embassy of the country in which you want to undertake your period of Erasmus study.

If you are likely to need more time to complete your UK studies as a result of doing an Erasmus placement, check with your UK education provider before you set off whether you will be able to apply in the UK or in the country where you will be doing your placement, or whether you will have to return to the country where you usually live.

If you continue to have valid immigration permission as a Student during your time abroad on an Erasmus or study abroad programme, this time will be included in the Home Office's study limit calculations. You should talk to a student adviser at your university about this before undertaking study abroad if you think that the extra time might take you over the limit which applies to you.

While you are studying the course for which your Student immigration permission was issued you can take extra courses at any level, with any course provider. This includes short courses during vacations and in the period between the end of your course and the end of your visa. The provider of the extra course is not required to have a Student sponsor licence. There is no need for either the provider or you to notify the Home Office about the supplementary study. While there are no immigration restrictions on supplementary study, you should check that the academic regulations at your sponsor institution allow you to take an extra course.

While you are studying the course for which your Student immigration permission was issued you can take extra courses at any level, with any course provider. This includes short courses during vacations and in the period between the end of your course and the end of your visa. The provider of the extra course is not required to have a Student sponsor licence. There is no need for either the provider or you to notify the Home Office about the supplementary study. While there are no immigration restrictions on supplementary study, you should check that the academic regulations at your sponsor institution allow you to take an extra course.

Both your Student sponsor and the Home Office use the same system to calculate the cap in years and months. Individual days or weeks are rounded up or down to the nearest month. For example, three months and ten days is rounded down to three months while three months and three weeks is rounded up to four months.

The Immigration Rules make it clear that the whole duration of your Student permission (your visa) is counted, including the extra periods of time added to your visa before and after your course. There are no deductions: vacations, time spent outside the UK, any time spent not studying, and any time spent on a different level course are all included. However, the Home Office's Student and Child Student guidance confirms that if your visa is curtailed only the period before the new expiry date is counted.

Time previously spent studying on the Student route (including on Tier 4) will also be included.

If you are under 18, there is no limit on your Student immigration permission.

From your 18th birthday you can spend up to two years on a Student visa studying courses that lead to a qualification below degree level. You can spend the two years studying a single course or several courses.

The limit applies, whether you apply for your Student permission inside or outside the UK. Time you have spent studying with any other type of immigration permission is not counted.

The two-year cap is extended to two years 11 months if:

• you have never studied in the UK as a Student before; and
• you are applying for permission to study a two-year course

If you are applying for permission to study a course that requires you spending up to 12 months at sea, speak to your Student sponsor directly to check whether the course is one which attracts a longer limit, of three years or three years six months.

The limit on study on degree-level courses applies to Student permission and pre-Student immigration permission. Only permission you have been granted to study degree-level courses will be counted. From 6 April 2019, Student permission you had before your 18th birthday will not be counted.

In most cases, this limit is five years. However for students studying at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance (HEP), this may be increased to five years and 11 months.

Some courses are exempt from the five-year limit when you apply for permission to study them, including medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, architecture and some legal qualifications. If you later make another application to study a different course, the time you were granted to study these usually exempt courses will be counted.  

For Student applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020, there are no longer any time limits on study at postgraduate level and above.

You can find full details of these time limits in the Home Office's Student and Child Student guidance.

The Covid-19: Guidance for Student sponsors, migrants and for Short-term students confirms that the time limits for those studying courses at degree level and below degree level as discussed above, will remain the same. Discretion may be applied in the future however by the Home Office if the length of permission granted to you would take you over the time limit as a result of Covid-19.

You must have a CAS before making an application as a Student. A CAS is an electronic document that your college, school or university issues when they make you an unconditional offer. It is stored on a database the Home Office can see.

Your Student sponsor will send you a unique CAS reference number, which you will need to enter onto your online Student application form. Your Student sponsor should also provide you with the information used to generate your CAS, usually called the 'CAS statement'. The CAS statement itself is not required for your Student application, but it gives you all of the information about your course and Student sponsor, and some of the information about money, that you need to complete your Student application form. Your application may be refused if there are any discrepancies between the information used by your institution to generate the CAS and the information on your application form, so contact your sponsor before you apply if you notice any details which might cause a problem.

If you currently have a Student visa for the UK, or if you previously had one (including a Tier 4 visa), or a pre-Tier 4 student visa, your CAS needs to confirm that you are making academic progress in your studies.  For information about this, see the Student and Child Student guidance.

You may obtain a CAS from several different institutions. However, before you apply for your Student visa you must decide where you intend to study and use the CAS from that institution in your application. At this point any other CAS that you have been issued with will become 'obsolete', and you cannot use them in a Student route application. When your Student visa is granted and you use it to enter the UK, you must study at the institution that issued your CAS.

'Financial requirements' refers to the need to show that you have enough money to pay for your course fees and your living costs. The Home Office calls this the 'financial requirements'.

For Student permission applications made in the UK from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020, you will be exempt from meeting the financial requirements if you have been living in the UK for 12 months or more with permission at the time of your application.

Similarly, if you apply from either inside or outside the UK under the Student route as a Student Union Sabbatical Officer or as a doctor or dentist in training on a recognised foundation programme, you also will be exempt from meeting the financial requirement. This also applies to applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020. Please refer to paragraph ST 12 of Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules for further details.

If you are applying from outside the UK or if you have been living in the UK with Student immigration permission for less than 12 months, you must meet the following financial requirements:

Course fees

You must have enough money to pay for the course fees for the first year of your course, or the entire course if it is less than one year long. If your CAS has been issued for further study on a course that you are already part-way through, the 'first year of study' means the first year of this new period of study. The Home Office will use the details in your CAS to confirm how much money you need for your course fees.

If you have already paid all your course fees, or for study abroad or other course with no fees, your CAS will confirm this.

Living costs

The Home Office uses fixed amounts, which may or may not reflect your actual living costs.

If you wish to study in London and submit your application after 9.00 am on 1 December 2020, you need £1,334 for each month of your course, up to a maximum of nine months. This means that if you will be studying in London for a course that lasts one month only, the amount that you will need is £1,334. If you will be studying in London for a course lasting nine months or more, the amount that you will need is £12,006. If you are not sure whether you will be studying in London, ask your Student sponsor.

For study elsewhere in the UK, the monthly amounts are lower: you need £1,023 for each month of your course, up to £9,207 for a course lasting nine months or more if you submit your application after 9.00 am on 1 December 2020.

Use the course start and end dates on your CAS to calculate the length of your course and therefore how many months' maintenance you will need. If the length of your course includes a part of a month, round it up to a full month.  For example if your course dates are 30 May until 1 October, this is four months and two days so you would need to show five months' of funds.

Deductions

You can deduct the following from the total amount of money that you need as part of your immigration application:

• money that you have already paid to your Student sponsor towards your course fees, and
• up to £1,334 that you have already paid to your Student sponsor for your accommodation fees, if you will be living in university or college accommodation.

You cannot deduct any advance payment for any other type of housing, nor can you adjust the amounts if you will have no housing costs (for example if you will be living with a relative free of charge).

Your CAS may include details of any money paid to your institution. If not, you will need to provide a paper receipt confirming how much you have paid towards your course fees and/or your accommodation fees.

Low-risk applicants who have a receipt do not need to include it with the application.

Student sponsors are required to assess your ability to read, write, speak and understand English. The method of assessment will vary. For example, there are special arrangements if you are a national of a majority English-speaking country, have a qualification taught in an English-speaking country, are spending no more than six months in the UK as part of a USA degree-level course, or plan to study at degree level at a UK higher education provider with a track record of compliance. Your Student sponsor will tell you how it will assess your English and the level of English you must have, which is subject to minimum levels set by the Home Office.

For applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020, nationals of Ireland and Malta will also be regarded as being nationals from majority English speaking countries. This means you will be able to rely on your nationality to satisfy the English language requirements if you are a national of one of those two countries. Similarly, you will be able to satisfy the English language requirements if you have a degree or degree level qualification taught from an institution in Ireland or Malta.

The English language requirement can also be satisfied in one of two new ways for applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020:

• If you have already met this requirement successfully in a previous application made either inside or outside the UK. This requirement can only be satisfied if the level of English in the previous application was at the required level for the current application.
• You have obtained either a GCSE, A Level or Scottish equivalent in English language or literature following education at a UK school whilst below the age of 18.

If you are required to take one of the Home Office's approved secure English language tests (SELTs) as evidence of your English language ability, your SELT must show that you achieved the required score in each of the components during a single sitting of that examination (unless you are exempt from a component due to a disability).

Only five test providers are considered to offer secure English language tests for UK visa purposes - IELTS SELT Consortium, Trinity College London, LanguageCert, Pearson and PSI Services (UK) Ltd. Trinity College London tests must be taken in the UK only. PSI Services (UK) Ltd tests must be taken overseas only. The three other providers' tests may be taken in the UK or overseas. A list of approved test centres can be found on the Home Office website.

Trinity College London tests can be booked online.  If your Student application requires a CEFR level of B1 then you should select an 'ISE I (B1)' test.  If you need CEFR level B2 for your Student application then you should select an 'ISE level II (B2)' test.  You may find it easier to book a test by selecting the type of test and the location from the drop down menus at the top of the page.

IELTS offer a number of different tests but a test will only be considered to be a SELT if it was taken at an approved test centre and is an 'IELTS test for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) purposes'.  These tests will have a 'UKVI number' on the results certificate.  If you have any questions about whether the test you are taking is a SELT then you should check this when you make your booking. You cannot use an IELTS Life Skills test as a SELT for a Student application; instead you should check with your institution whether they require you to take an Academic or General IELTS test.

Note: IELTS results certificates state a CEFR level, however this is the CEFR level of the overall band score and is not necessarily confirmation that you have obtained this level in each of the four components. If in doubt, check with your Student sponsor.

You can book an IELTS test online by selecting the relevant country.

Many approved secure English language test (SELT) centres have now resumed their services.

IELTS, Trinity College London, Pearson PTE, LanguageCert and PSI Services (Skills for English), the secure English language test providers, and all other test providers have information on their websites about their arrangements and any test centres that have re-opened.

For details of test centres, see Applying for a UK visa: approved English language tests.

The application form requires you to declare any criminal convictions, including traffic offences, that you have obtained in any country, and to provide details. This is because the Immigration Rules include provision to refuse the application of someone with certain criminal convictions, under the general grounds for refusing (see next section). The Home Office's Student and Child Student guidance states that Home Office staff should check the Police National Computer to see if you are listed on it.

You are not required to obtain or include any specific evidence relating to the convictions.

For further details about the types of convictions that you must declare, see the Home Office document Naturalisation as a British citizen - a guide for applicants.  This guidance is aimed at those applying for British nationality, but the information about criminal convictions is relevant to those applying for a visa.

If you have ever lived in Northern Ireland, you will need to confirm this when you complete your application and the Home Office will contact you and ask you to complete a DAT1 form. The form is an authorisation to run a criminal records check with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The Immigration Rules include provision for an application to be refused under the 'general grounds for refusal'. The Home Office has detailed internal guidance on the general grounds for refusing, with separate guidance for applications in your home country (entry clearance) or applications in the UK (permission to stay). The guidance for permission to stay applications summarises that Home Office staff should be checking applications for:

“...evidence of any adverse

• behaviour (using deception including false representation, fraud, forgery, non-disclosure of material facts or failure to cooperate)
• character, conduct or associations (criminal history, deportation order, travel ban, exclusion, non-conducive to public good, national security)
• immigration history (breaching conditions, using deception in an application).”

The Home Office can also refuse your application if you have an outstanding debt for NHS treatment of £500 or more - see Health and Healthcare for information about receiving NHS treatment in the UK.

Other general grounds for refusal include staying in the UK beyond the end of your immigration permission (being an overstayer); health issues; not attending an interview if you are asked to do so; breach of conditions, which means doing something your immigration permission does not permit you to do, for example working more hours than allowed. The application form has questions about these matters and it is very important to answer them honestly, as not doing so can have very serious consequences including accusations of deception and the refusal of any future, as well as this, application.

Seek help and advice from your Student sponsor before you make your application if you think any of the general grounds for refusal might apply to you.

Your Student application must normally include your valid passport and all the documents listed in the application forms and guidance. Your passport must contain at least one full page that is blank on both sides.

Unlike many other countries, the UK does not require that a passport is valid for any particular period of time after arrival in the UK, but it must be valid when you make your application and when you arrive in the UK. UKVI web information for people arriving in the UK does say that your passport must remain valid for the full length of your stay, but this has no basis in any law or guidance and we do not know of any student who has been refused entry to the UK on this basis. It would be very common for someone's passport to expire during a long stay in the UK. We have asked UKVI to amend this information which we feel is causing confusion.

However, if your passport will expire very shortly after you arrive in the UK, it is advisable to renew it before you apply for your Student visa, if there is time to do so.  If your passport will expire at any other point during your time in the UK, you should check with the passport issuing authority in your home country if you will be able to replace it in the UK. This is possible for most nationalities, but not all.  

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Some Students do not need to submit evidence of their qualifications or to submit evidence that they satisfy the financial requirements with their applications. The Home Office calls this the 'differentiation arrangements' for 'low-risk applicants'.You are a low-risk applicant if you apply for Student immigration permission (inside or outside the UK), and you have a passport issued by one of the countries or territories listed in paragraph ST 22.1 of Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules.

Nationals from the EU,EEA and Switzerland were added to this list from 5 October 2020. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals can benefit from these provisions from 1 January 2021 when making Student applications in the UK. Such nationals can also benefit from these provisions from 5 October 2020 when making Student applications from outside the UK for entry to the UK from 1 January 2021.

In our guidance, we provide specific information for low-risk applicants where appropriate. If we do not refer to low-risk applicants when talking about a specific matter, this means the requirements are the same for all applicants, including low-risk ones.

It is very important that as a low-risk applicant you still obtain the evidence of your qualifications and your money, even though you do not need to send them. This is because the Home Office can request this evidence as part of its decision-making process and will refuse your application if you are unable to provide it by the given deadline.

Send the certificate or transcript of results for all qualifications listed in the 'Evidence used to obtain offer' section of your CAS. You also have the option of submitting print outs of your qualification or transcript results from the awarding body’s online checking service. The print outs must clearly show your name, the title and date of the award, and the name of the awarding body. If you submit a print out of your qualification or transcript, the Home Office reserves the right to request the certificate of qualification, or transcript of results.  

If you submit any certificates or transcripts that are not in English (or Welsh), you must also include a translation of each. Read the section on Translations for more details.

Low-risk applicants do not need to submit these documents, but should have them available in case the Home Office asks to see them.

For applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020, you will also not be required to submit these documents if you are studying at degree level or above, and are sponsored by a higher education provider with a track record of compliance.

Your Student sponsor must confirm on your CAS that it has either assessed your level of English language in reading, writing, speaking and listening, or that it is not required to do so.

Whether and how you need to provide evidence of English language in your Student application depends on what your Student sponsor has entered in this field of the CAS.  

National of a majority English-speaking country  
Evidence: your passport

You have a degree-level qualification taught in a majority English-speaking country or taught or researched in English
Evidence: certificate or results transcript plus a statement of comparability from Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) confirming that the qualification meets or exceeds the level of a UK degree.

You have completed a degree in the UK
Evidence: certificate or results transcript

Study abroad student
Evidence: confirmed on the CAS, plus a statement of comparability from Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) confirming that the course of studies overseas will lead to an academic qualification at UK Bachelor's degree level or above.

GCSE, A Level or Scottish equivalent qualification
Evidence:  certificate or transcript

Met in a previous application

Evidence: although the Appendix English language and the Student and Child Student guidance do not specify how this will be evidenced, confirmation on the CAS/self-declaration on the Student application form should be acceptable.

'Gifted' degree student at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance
Evidence: confirmed on the CAS. You must also carry a letter from your institution with you when you enter the UK.

Your Student application is for degree-level study at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, and you don't meet any of the previous provisions
Evidence: your CAS confirms that your Student sponsor has assessed your English language ability to be at a minimum of CEFR level B2 in each of the four components. Your CAS must also state the method of assessment that your Student sponsor used. If a SELT was used to determine your English language ability, enter the test reference number on your Student application form so that the Home Office can verify your SELT results online.

Your Student application is for degree-level study at an institution that is not a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, and you don't meet any of the previous provisions
Evidence: your CAS confirms that your Student sponsor has assessed your English language ability to be at a minimum of CEFR level B2 in each of the four components, using one of the Home Office's approved secure English Language tests (SELTs). Enter the test reference number on your Student application form so that the Home Office can verify your SELT results online. No further evidence is required.

Your Student application is for study below degree level and you don't meet any of the previous provisions
Evidence: your CAS confirms that the Student sponsor has assessed your English language ability to be at a minimum of CEFR level B1 in each of the four components, using one of the Home Office's approved secure English language tests (SELTs). Enter the test reference number on your Student application form so that the Home Office can verify your SELT results online. No further evidence is required.

If you are a 'low-risk' applicant, you should obtain the evidence of your money in the format explained here, but you do not need to include it with your initial application. All other applicants (except those who are exempt from meeting the financial requirements - see Financial requirements) must include this evidence with their application.

Evidence of your money must meet specific requirements. If it does not, your immigration application is likely to be refused.

If you have already paid money to your institution for your course fees or accommodation, submit paper receipts with your application as evidence of this, unless this information is included in your CAS.  See Deductions for more information.

As evidence of your money, you can use any one or more of these forms of evidence:

• personal bank statements
• certificate(s) of deposit [see below]
• letter from your bank, or a regulated financial institution
• letter from an official financial sponsor [see below]
• letter from a regulated financial institution confirming that you have a loan [see below] from the national government, the state or regional government, or a government-sponsored student loan company
• letter from a regulated financial institution confirming that you have a loan [see below] that is part of an academic or educational loans scheme
• statements of a passbook from a building society

Certificate of deposit

This is a certificate issued by a bank to confirm that the named person has deposited or invested a specific amount of money. Certificates of deposit are not listed as acceptable evidence in the Immigration Rules but the Home Office's Financial requirement casework guidance confirms that a certificate of deposit is accepted if it meets the following requirements:

• the certificate of deposit must have been issued by a bank that confirms that an individual has deposited or invested a sum of money
• the funds have been held for the required 28 day period
• the applicant can access the funds at any time

There are no further requirements for the certificate. For example, there is no maximum time limit on how long you have held the funds, and a certificate is acceptable even if it has wording that says the funds are frozen or inaccessible.

Loans

If you are applying for your visa from overseas the loan must be available to you before you travel to the UK, unless it is a loan from your country's national government in which case it must be made available to you before you begin your course. Alternatively, the funds must be paid directly to your Student sponsor before you travel to the UK. In this case, the living costs part of the loan, must be made available to you by the time you arrive in the UK. Any other type of loan will not meet the Student route requirements.  If you wish to use money from any other type of loan, you need to transfer the funds to a bank or building society account in your name (or a parent's name) and use one of the other forms of evidence listed above.

It is very important that your financial documents contain all of the required information. Appendix Finance details all the information that must be included in any financial document that you use to support your application.

Maintenance must be in the form of cash funds. You cannot use evidence of other types of finances, such as shares, bonds, or a pension fund. You also cannot use an overdraft facility or a credit card.

Unless you are using a loan letter, your financial documents must show that the full amount of money that you need has been in the account for 28 consecutive days up to the date of the closing balance. This means that the account must not have dropped below the amount that you need to show at any time during the 28 day period. If it does your immigration application is likely to be refused. In addition, the final date of this 28 day period must not be more than 31 days old on the date that you submit your application.

A loan letter must not be dated more than six months before the date on which you make your application. The loan must be in your name only.

A bank account can be in your name or in one or both of your parent's or legal guardian's name, and it can be a joint account you hold with someone else. You can use more than one account if necessary, and you can use a combination of your account(s) and your parent's or legal guardian's account(s).

You can use an overseas bank account. If your funds are not in British pounds (GBP), you should convert the closing balance into GBP using OANDA and the conversion rate on the date on which you make your application. Write this sum on the statement.

The format requirements for a bank statement (either printed or online) can be found in the Financial requirement casework guidance. The requirement for online statements to either be stamped on each page or to be accompanied by a supporting letter from the bank or building society has been removed. You cannot use mini-statements obtained from automatic teller machines (ATMs).

Using funds from an overseas bank account is permitted. Funds from an overseas account will not be considered by the Home Office however if any of the following apply:

• The Home Office is unable to make satisfactory verification checks of the overseas bank; or
• The overseas bank is not regulated by the appropriate regulatory body in the respective overseas country; or
• The overseas bank does not use electronic record keeping

Please refer to FIN 2.1 of Appendix Finance of the Immigration Rules for further details.

You may use a personal bank account in your parent's or guardian's name (or names). Business accounts are not acceptable because the Immigration Rules (Appendix Finance) specify that accounts must be personal.

If you wish to use a personal bank account in your parent's or guardian's name (or names), you must also include evidence of their relationship to you. (If you are a 'low-risk' applicant you should obtain this evidence, but you do not need to include it with your application.) This evidence of your relationship with your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) can be:

• your birth certificate, or a copy, showing the name of your parent(s) whose bank account you are using for your immigration application
• if you are adopted, the certificate of adoption, or a copy, showing your name and the name of your parent(s) whose bank account you are using for your immigration application
• if you have a legal guardian, a court document, or copy, which shows the name of your guardian(s) whose bank account you are using for your immigration application

If you do not have any of the above, but you have a government-issued household register showing your name and your parent or parents' name(s), the Home Office's Financial requirement casework guidance confirms that this is acceptable evidence of your relationship, though this option is not listed on the application form.

The Student and Child Student guidance also identifies that 'regional variation' may occur when assessing proof of relationship documents. Home Office staff are instructed to accept documents that contain "the required information and is in English or is accompanied by a verified translation." Therefore you can use whatever official document your country of nationality issues as evidence of its nationals' birth and family relationships, even if it is not called a 'birth certificate'. However, this provision is only for people whose country of nationality does not issue birth certificates at all. If your country of nationality does issue birth certificates then you must submit this as evidence of your relationship to your parent(s).

You must also provide a signed letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s), confirming the relationship between you, and confirming that they consent to the funds being available to you for study in the UK.

Any other relative (or unrelated person) can pay money direct to your Student sponsor on your behalf, for example to pay your course fees or housing costs. If any other relative or unrelated person wishes to support you financially with your Student application, the financial evidence (such as a bank statement) must be in joint names – see Check your financial documents carefully. Alternatively, the money can be held in your partner’s name – see Using your partner’s funds

A ‘partner’ means either:

• your spouse;
• civil partner; or
• unmarried partner provided that you have lived together in a relationship similar to a marriage or civil partnership for at least two years.

If your partner is applying for immigration permission at the same time as you, the evidence of the funds used in your Student application can be in your partner’s sole name. This applies regardless of whether or not you and your partner are making entry clearance or permission to stay applications.

Alternatively the evidence of funds used in your Student application can be in your partner’s name only, if your partner already has some form of immigration permission. The immigration rules do not specify what type of immigration permission your partner has to have.

Together with the financial document in your partner’s name, you will be required to submit evidence to confirm the proof of your relationship with your partner. This will mean either a marriage/civil partnership certificate or proof of cohabitation (utility bills in joint names for example) to prove you and your partner have lived together for two years when it comes to an unmarried partner.

According to FIN 5.1 of Appendix Finance, this means that financial documents can only be held by the following people in order to make an application under the Student route:

• Solely by you;
• In joint names with you and with someone else;
• In the name of your partner solely (if your partner is applying at the same time as you); or
• In the name of your partner solely if your partner has some form of immigration permission

Official financial sponsors are defined in Appendix Finance and in the Student and Child Student guidance. The guidance sets out the requirements for an official financial sponsorship letter. If your official financial sponsor is your university, you do not need a letter if the details of your financial sponsorship are on your CAS.  

If your official financial sponsor is a government and they have sent you a sponsor letter by email, a print of this letter should be acceptable as evidence of the sponsorship. The entry clearance officer can still ask for an original letter, so it is a good idea to ask your government sponsor for a paper copy too.    

The list of acceptable official financial sponsors includes an 'international company'. The Home Office has not defined this but means a company with a trading presence (an office) in more than one country.

If you are a 'low-risk' applicant, you should obtain the sponsor letter and keep it safe, but you do not need to include it with your initial application.

If your official financial sponsor is not covering all of your course fees and maintenance, you must show that you have the rest of the money required.  You can use any combination of the forms of evidence listed above.

Your evidence of funds letter, if provided by a government or an international scholarship agency, must also specifically state that your financial sponsor consents to your Student application.

This consent letter is also required if you have previously received financial sponsorship from a government or international scholarship agency and the sponsorship ended less than 12 months ago.

For Student applications made from 9.00 am on 5 October 2020, nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA, are exempt from obtaining ATAS clearance for postgraduate study in relevant subjects. Please refer to Appendix ATAS for further details.

If your course leads to a qualification at Master's or doctorate level, or a postgraduate qualification abroad, ask the university whether you need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance certificate for the course. This is a certificate issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which gives you security clearance to study certain subject areas where the knowledge gained may have application in the development of weapons of mass destruction (for example, certain science subjects, mathematics, engineering, technology or medicine). You can check the list of subject areas that require an ATAS clearance certificate in the Applicants' criteria section of the ATAS website.

Your institution must confirm on your CAS whether you require an ATAS clearance certificate. If you do, you must apply to the FCO and obtain your ATAS clearance certificate before you submit your Student application.

When your ATAS clearance certificate is issued, it is valid for 6 months to use in a Student application. Once you have used it in your application, it gives you security clearance for the whole proposed period of study on your CAS. You will not need to apply again unless your original course end date is delayed or postponed by more than three months or your course contents or research proposal change.

Students who apply to study a course of any length in a relevant subject area require ATAS clearance. This includes short-term students - see Short-term student visa.

If you submit an application as a Student when you are 16 or 17 years old, you must include a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to show that they support your application. This letter must confirm all of the following:

• their relationship to you
• that they consent to your application as a Student
• that they consent to your living arrangements in the UK
• if you are applying for entry clearance, that they consent to your independent travel to the UK

If one parent (or legal guardian) has legal custody or sole responsibility for you, the letter must confirm this and be signed by that parent (or legal guardian). If not, then both parents (or legal guardians) must give their consent and the letter must be signed by both parents (or legal guardians).

If your application includes any documents which are not in English or Welsh, you must also include a translation of each document. Each translation must contain:

• confirmation from the translator / translation company that it is an accurate translation of the original document
• the date of the translation
• the full name and signature of the translator, or of an authorised official of the translation company
• the contact details of the translator or translation company; and
• (if you are already in the UK and are applying for further leave) certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials

On 4 August 2022, the Home Office announced the suspension from 1 August of police registration. This was extended on 5 August 2022 to respectively abolish this requirement altogether.

If you are concerned about what implications this may have for your Student conditions, please refer to Student conditions for further guidance.

The concession for Syrians has now expired and we have been advised, that this concession will not be renewed.