Study in the UKfrom Nepal

“Sponsor” has two different meanings in the UK Student visa system.

Your immigration sponsor is normally the UK university or education provider that holds a Student sponsor licence and issues your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).

Your financial support can come from permitted sources: your own funds, a parent's funds, a qualifying partner's funds, an eligible student loan, or an official financial sponsor such as a government or a university.

If you rely on a parent's money, the account must be controlled by that parent, and they must provide a letter confirming you may use the funds for your studies.

An official financial sponsor can include a national government, the British Council, an international organisation, an international company, a university or a qualifying school, subject to the immigration rules.

For Student visa financial evidence, the question is whether the bank and the account satisfy UKVI's requirements. You cannot rely on accounts held with banks that are not regulated by the financial authority in the country where the bank operates, or on accounts that do not use electronic record keeping.

Permitted personal accounts can include current or savings accounts, provided the money is immediately accessible. Bank statements may be paper or electronic downloads. Bank letters, building society passbooks and certain certificates of deposit can also be accepted where the conditions are met. UKVI may contact the bank to verify the evidence. If it cannot, the application may be refused.

You generally cannot use evidence based on:

• Overdrafts
• Cryptocurrency
• Stocks or shares
• Funds that cannot be withdrawn immediately
• Unregulated accounts
• Accounts without electronic records

The requirement normally has two parts: outstanding course fees, plus living costs. The course fee is the amount on your CAS for one academic year, up to nine months, after qualifying payments that are properly recorded.

UKVI defines London, for this purpose, as the City of London and the 32 London boroughs.

Example, outside London. The CAS shows tuition of £18,000 for the year, of which £6,000 is already paid and recorded. Outstanding tuition is £12,000. Living costs are £1,171 × 9 = £10,539. The funds to show are £12,000 + £10,539 = £22,539.

The money normally has to have been held for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days before the visa application date. If it is held in another currency, UKVI converts it using the OANDA spot rate on the application date. Some applicants do not have to submit financial evidence at first, but they must still meet the requirement, and UKVI can ask for the evidence later.

For the standard UK Student visa, there is no universal rule that a parent or financial supporter must earn a particular annual salary. The Student route looks at whether the required funds are available in an acceptable form and meet the evidence rules — outstanding course fees plus maintenance, normally held for 28 days.

UKVI can still consider financial circumstances when assessing whether someone is a genuine student, including whether the funding looks credible and consistent with the rest of the application. A university may also run its own pre-CAS financial or credibility checks, and those can be stricter than the immigration minimum.

Students under 18 have extra consent requirements. On the standard Student route, an applicant under 18 must normally provide written consent from both parents or legal guardians, or from one parent where that parent has sole legal responsibility.

The consent must cover:

• The Student visa application
• Travel to the UK
• Living and care arrangements in the UK

You also need a birth certificate, or another government-issued document, showing the relationship to the parent or guardian. The wider application can also require a passport, a CAS, financial evidence where it applies, a TB certificate where required, ATAS where it applies, and other documents relevant to the student.

There is a separate Child Student visa for children aged 4 to 17 who want to study at an independent school. Students aged 16 or 17 entering further or higher education may use the Student route where they meet its requirements. Care and accommodation for minors should be confirmed with the school or university before the visa application.

There is no single UK-wide academic grade for international undergraduate admission. Each university sets its own requirements, and they vary by course. A university may look at school-leaving qualifications, subject prerequisites, grades, a portfolio, an audition, an admissions test or an interview. An international qualification can often be accepted as equivalent to A levels, but the university decides what it accepts.

English requirements also vary. For immigration, degree level or above on the Student route generally needs English equivalent to CEFR B2. Below degree level, the immigration level is normally CEFR B1. B2 is not one universal IELTS score. Universities set their own admissions bar and may ask for more for medicine, law or other language-intensive courses. A higher education provider sponsoring degree-level study may also be allowed to assess English itself, rather than requiring a SELT in every case.

As of September 2026, the standard UK Student visa application fee is £558 per applicant. The same fee applies to the main Student application made outside the UK and to qualifying Student applications made from inside the UK.

That fee is separate from the Immigration Health Surcharge. Most students applying for longer Student permission also pay the surcharge, and the amount depends on the length of permission granted, not simply the advertised length of the course. Optional priority processing, where it is offered, is an extra charge and is not included in the £558.

If you find an error after submitting, and before a decision, do not ignore it. GOV.UK tells applicants who need to change something after submission to contact UK Visas and Immigration. That covers a spelling error, incorrect information, or a change in circumstances.

What happens next depends on the error and how far the application has gone. UKVI may tell you how to send a correction, and in some cases withdrawing and applying again has to be considered. A small typo and a materially wrong declaration are not treated the same way.

Accuracy matters most for:

• Passport details and previous names
• Previous visa refusals and immigration history
• Criminal-history questions
• Travel history, academic history and financial information

Correct it as soon as you can, rather than waiting for UKVI to find the gap. Immigration history is one of the things UKVI may consider when deciding whether a Student visa applicant is genuine. That can include previous UK and overseas applications, refusals, and whether you complied with earlier conditions.

The rules also allow a refusal where false information is given or relevant facts are not disclosed. If the application is already in, GOV.UK says to contact UKVI when something submitted needs to change.

Do not assume an old refusal is irrelevant because it was in another country or several years ago. Answer the questions on the form as they are asked. Where a previous refusal exists, give the information and the explanation that were requested, rather than leaving it out.