If you are not a UK citizen you will need to apply for a student visa in order to study in the UK higher education system. Regardless of whether you are already resident in the UK, it is important that you apply for your student visa if you are hoping to start studying at university.
Platinum Education Services are here to guide you through every step of applying to university in the UK - including visa processes. We’ve put together an overview of UK student visas below to help you understand the requirements.
You can apply for a student visa in the UK if:
- You are over 16 years of age
- have evidence of consent from your parents if you are under 18 years of age
- You have enough money to pay for your course and support yourself
- You can speak, read, write, and understand English language
If you are an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen and already live in the UK, you can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme which may change your visa requirements for higher education study. The deadline for this is 30th June 2021. For more information, see the gov.uk website.
The earliest you can apply for a UK student visa is 6 months before you are due to start your university course. You will usually hear back from your visa application and learn whether you have been accepted within 3 weeks of submitting. You will be subject to pay a small fee alongside your visa application. Current fees can be found on the gov.uk website.
The length of time you will be allowed to stay resident in the UK using your student visa will depend on which course you are applying for and what (if any) studying you have already completed. If you’re over 18 years of age and your chosen course is a university degree, you will normally be allowed to stay in the UK for up to 5 years. You can extend your stay in the UK by continuing to study or by switching to a different visa type after you have completed your course.
Keep in mind that you will need to pay a healthcare surcharge in addition to the charges for your visa application. This is because the UK offers a National Health Service (NHS).
Full guidance about what you can and can’t do in the UK on a student visa will be sent to you once your student visa application has been accepted. For more guidance about the process you can consult the gov.uk website.
Get in touch with the Platinum Education Services team today for full guidance about student visas in the UK. Our friendly and professional team can talk you through every step of the application, and help you to work out exactly what paperwork you will need in order to apply to study at a UK university. If you’re thinking of studying for a degree, we would love to hear from you.