Student route: applying in the UK

Applying for the Student route inside the UK is a different process to applying outside of the UK. Check if you’re eligible and find out how to apply from inside the UK. 

Last updated on February 14, 2025

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Introduction

Last updated December 13, 2024

You may be eligible to apply for the Student route in the UK if you currently have immigration permission in the UK, and if you are not on immigration bail.  

It is important that you check first if you are eligible to apply in the UK.  

There are some key differences between applying for the Student route from inside the UK, where you apply for ‘permission to stay’, or outside of the UK where you apply for ‘entry clearance’.  

Most Student sponsors offer information and advice on making a Student route application in the UK and can be an additional source of support. 

Applying for the Student route inside the UK

Last updated December 13, 2024

You should normally be able to apply for the Student route in the UK, unless you hold one of the following types of permission:  

  • visitor 
  • short-term student 
  • parent of a child student 
  • seasonal worker 
  • domestic worker in a private household 
  • permission outside the Immigration Rules 

There are certain requirements you need to meet to successfully apply for the Student route in the UK. 

Students who have previously been granted permission under the Student route or Tier 4 (General) must also meet, or be exempt from, the academic progression requirement to apply in the UK.
 
In general, the academic progression requirement requires you to have successfully completed your previous course of study for which you were granted Student permission, should you wish to study a further course in the UK using Student permission. Your next course of study should normally be at a higher level. Academic progression only applies when you wish to extend your Student permission in the UK. It does not apply if you are applying for entry clearance from outside the UK.
 
There are a number of exceptions to the academic progression requirement, which include being permitted to extend your Student permission in the UK for the purpose of completing resits, without first having completed your course of studies. For more information about the academic progression requirement and the full range of exceptions, access the Student and Child Student guidance.  

There are some concessions to the Immigration Rules available for certain nationalities. These include nationals of Afghanistan and nationals of Ukraine:

Concessions to the Immigration Rules for Afghan nationals for work and study routes

Ukrainian nationals on work and study routes: concessions to the Immigration Rules

These concessions may apply to certain nationals of these countries and their dependants applying for permission to stay in the UK under certain specified immigration routes. These concessions often require a national to have entered the UK either on, before, or after a certain date, so it is important that you review these documents carefully to check if they apply to your situation. 

If you have any questions about these concessions and whether they may apply to you, please call our student advice line. 

Where, when, how to apply

Last updated October 16, 2024

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Once you have received your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from your Student sponsor and you have checked you meet the requirements, you can start your Student route application. Make sure that you are applying while your current permission is still valid and that you have all the required documents prepared. 

Most Student sponsors offer information and advice on making an application for the Student route. They may offer online guidance, workshops, and one-to-one advice. Additionally, if you have difficulties with the online form, you can contact your Student sponsor.


You should apply online from inside the UK, either to extend your existing Student permission or to switch onto the Student route from another type of immigration permission inside the UK.
 
During your application, you will be informed if UKVI are able to re-use your biometric information from a recent immigration application. If this is not possible, you may be asked to provide your biometric information at a UKVCAS service point in the UK. These centres are run by a third party, TLScontact, and are booked via a separate website which is provided at the end of the online application.
 
You will normally not be asked to provide biometric information if previous information can be reused, or if you are an EU/EEA national with a biometric passport.   

We advise you start preparing for your application at least two months before your current immigration permission ends, and longer if you will need an ATAS clearance certificate. Some of your supporting evidence may take some time to obtain and you must be able to provide evidence that you meet all relevant requirements on the date of application, which is the day on which you pay the immigration fee as part of your online application.
 
If you are applying for a new course of study on the Student route, your Student route application must not be made more than three months before the start date as stated on your CAS for the new course.
 
If you are applying for more time to continue a course that you are already studying (for example, a PhD) you can submit your application as soon as you meet all the requirements.
 
28-day requirement
 
The gap between the end of your current immigration permission and the start of your new course must not be more than 28 days.
 
This is an eligibility requirement in the Immigration Rules, and there are no exceptions. This rule applies to all types of immigration permission in the UK. For example, if you are switching from the Skilled Worker route to start a course of study, that course of study must start within 28 days of your Skilled Worker route permission expiring.
 
Overstaying
 
Staying in the UK after the end date of your immigration permission without making a new application means you become an ‘overstayer’, which is a criminal offence. Becoming an overstayer can have serious consequences for any future immigration applications that you make, including applications for countries other than the UK.
 
If you are unable to make an immigration application before your current permission ends, you should leave the UK before its expiry date. You can then apply for entry clearance to return to the UK as a student on the Student route once you meet all the requirements. If you think that you will be unable to submit a Student route application before your current permission expires, you should speak to an adviser at your institution as soon as possible.
 
The Immigration Rules have a limited provision for an overstayer making a late Student route application in the UK, but only within 14 days of becoming an overstayer, and where you can demonstrate a ‘good reason’ for not applying in time. However, your Student sponsor must first decide whether they are willing to issue a CAS for such an application and, if they are willing to do that, what conditions they will attach. For example, they may not allow you to attend your course while you are an overstayer, and they may insist on you utilising the super priority service, at your own expense, for you to resume your studies with new permission as soon as possible.  
 
Some Student sponsors have a policy to not support applications by overstayers under any circumstances. They can withdraw your CAS if you have become an overstayer without using it in an application, and they may not be willing to issue a further CAS until you can show you have left the UK. It is important to understand your Student sponsor's policy on overstayers.  

This checklist is a summary of the steps involved in making a Student route application in the UK:
 
  1. Apply for an ATAS clearance to submit alongside your application (if applicable). This can take 8-10 weeks.
  2. Receive your Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) from your institution (check all the details are correct when you receive it, it can only be used once).
  3. Check that the gap between the end of your current permission and the course start date on your CAS is no more than 28 days. If it is, you must leave the UK and apply from outside the UK.
  4. Check that you meet the Student route requirements.
  5. Complete the Student route application form online, pay the application fee, immigration health surcharge, and any applicable biometric enrolment fee.
  6. If you are not eligible to use the UK Immigration app to re-use your biometrics, book an appointment to attend a UKVCAS service point to provide your biometrics. Scan and upload your documents in advance of your appointment or at your appointment (there will be a charge for this). Make sure that all your evidence shows that you met the requirements on the day on which you submitted your online application.
  7. Prepare and upload your supporting documents to the application system.
  8. Attend a credibility interview if you are asked to do so.  

Submitting your application

Last updated April 03, 2025

If you want to make a successful application for the Student route, it is important that you plan in advance and think carefully about when to start the process. 

You should make sure to answer all questions on the application form honestly and accurately. If you have been given any guidance from your Student sponsor on your application, make sure you follow that guidance. If you have any questions after your application is submitted and pending, you should speak with your Student sponsor. 

 

The application fees for the Student route are:
 
  • £490 for the standard service (this fee is due to rise to £524 on 9 April 2025) (the processing time to receive a decision is within eight weeks of applying)  
  • £990 for the priority service (this fee is due to rise to £1,024 on 9 April 2025) (the processing time to receive a decision is within five working days).
  • £1,490 for the super priority service (this fee is due to rise to £1,524 on 9 April 2025) (the processing time to receive a decision is the next working day).

There is a further option called the ‘VIP service’ where a group can apply at the same time, and the Home Office comes to you to handle your application process. You should receive a decision within 24 hours using this service.

If your case is more complex, you may choose to use either the standard or priority service where more time and consideration will be given to your case, rather than with the super priority service. We advise you to speak to an adviser at your institution before deciding on your mode of application so that they may be able to assist you further with your decision.

There are other additional services available that you can select at an extra cost after you have submitted your application online. Some of these services include document checking, an interpretation service and an SMS confirmation service. If you require assistance with your application, please contact your institution as you will incur additional charges if you seek support on your application by selecting any additional services.  

The immigration health surcharge (IHS) is a fee that gives you access to the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. All Student route applications made in the UK will require you to pay the IHS irrespective of the length of permission you are applying for.
 
Applications for Student permission are charged at £776 per year of permission granted. If you are applying for less than six months of permission, you will be charged half the yearly cost (£388). If you are applying for permission that is more than six months, but less than a year, you will be charged the full yearly rate. It is important when preparing to pay the IHS that you are charged for the length of permission granted, not the length of your course of study.
 
As an example, a one-year master’s course of study would carry a charge of £1,164 for IHS (one full year of permission, plus the four months additional permission granted after the end of the course of study).
 
You can use the immigration health surcharge tool on the Home Office website to check how much you will have to pay in advance of completing an immigration application.
 
The Student route application form will calculate the amount that you need to pay and will ask you to pay it before you can complete your application. After you have done this, you will receive an email containing your IHS reference number. This number will automatically be included on your application form cover sheet. A very small number of people are exempt from paying the IHS, including British Overseas Territory citizens who live in the Falkland Islands. The Home Office website will tell you if you do not need to pay the IHS.
 
 

Refunds

There are limitations on when you are eligible for a refund of an immigration health surcharge payment if you are applying for permission to stay in the UK. These limitations are explained further in the Home Office's immigration health surcharge caseworker guidance. 

You will be able to claim a full refund for your immigration health surcharge if you meet one of the following criteria:

  • Your Student route application is refused (and your administrative review is unsuccessful, or you do not submit an administrative review)
  • Your Student route application is rejected 
  • You withdraw your Student route application before you receive a decision on it
  • You have paid the immigration health surcharge twice for the same visa application

You may receive a partial refund for your immigration health surcharge if you meet one of the following criteria:

  • You are granted a shorter period of immigration permission than you applied for
  • You are applying to extend or switch your immigration permission from within the UK and have paid the immigration health surcharge twice covering the same period (overlapping periods of temporary immigration permission)*
  • You have paid more immigration health surcharge than is required as part of your application
*This is explained in more detail (with practical examples) in the immigration health surcharge caseworker guidance, however you will only be eligible for a partial refund here where you are applying for further temporary immigration permission in the UK, and where you also have in excess of 6 months remaining on your current immigration permission. 
 
 
Immigration health surcharge refund for EU and Swiss nationals
 
If you are an EU or Swiss national, you may be eligible for either a full or partial refund of the IHS if you fulfil all the following criteria:
  • You’re a full-time student in UK higher education.
  • Your visa started on or after 1 January 2021.
  • You have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued in an EU country or Switzerland.
  • You do not work or do not intend to work in the UK.

Please refer to the gov.uk website for further details about the scheme.  

Most applicants must give their biometrics (a facial photograph and fingerprints) as part of the application process. You pay your biometrics fee (currently £19.20) when making your application online. If you have previously submitted your biometrics (photograph and fingerprints) to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) before, you may be invited to use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to complete your application. If you’re eligible to use the app, you will be instructed to download this after submitting your application.
 
If you are not eligible to use the UK Immigration: ID Check app, you will be directed to the TLScontact website at the conclusion of your online application to book an appointment at a UKVCAS service point. This should be completed as part of the online application process and you should receive emails from GOV.uk and TLScontact to begin the process of booking an appointment. 
 
After you have registered on the TLScontact website using your registration email and unique application number (UAN) for your visa application, you will be presented with the application centres across the UK and their available appointments. 
 
You can scan and upload your documents prior to your appointment (free) or with assistance at your appointment (this carries an extra cost of £50 for the "Assisted Service"). If you choose to scan and upload your documents prior to your appointment, we still recommend taking a hard copy of all your original documents to your appointment in case there have been any issues uploading your documents.
 
You can leave your appointment with all your original documents as you are no longer required to submit original documents with your application. Although your original passport will be returned to you at your appointment, you should not travel outside the UK until you receive a decision on your application, unless you want to withdraw your application (please see the section on travelling outside the UK before you receive a decision). TLScontact provide frequently asked questions on topics relating to appointment booking including cancellation, rescheduling, and refunds. 
 
If you are an EU or EEA national and you have a passport with a biometric chip in it, you will be able to use the UK Immigration ID check app to scan and upload your passport and a photo.  

Some Student sponsors offer a service where they can check your Student route application. If your sponsor offers this service, it is your responsibility to complete the application and gather all the supporting documents. Your sponsor may also ask you to provide copies of your application and documents, for their own records.
 
If your Student sponsor is acting as your correspondence address, then your student adviser will receive any correspondence about your application rather than it being sent directly to you. Speak directly to the international student support office at your Student sponsor to check whether they offer this service.
 
You may wish to seek advice independently through an immigration adviser or solicitor. The provision of immigration advice is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA). It is important that if you seek independent advice, you ensure that any adviser is registered with the IAA. You can check this by using the find an immigration adviser tool.  

The Home Office offers technical support via email for online applications being made in the UK. TLScontact also offers support and advice articles on their website. You should receive information about when you will receive a response. Please note that your enquiry will not be dealt with on weekends. The Home Office will not respond to any non-technical queries. Do not use this email to ask how to answer a question in the application, for immigration advice, to ask about the progress of an application, for refund requests, withdrawing an application, or anything other than technical problems with the form.  

Your application in progress

Last updated March 01, 2024

You may be asked to attend a credibility interview as part of the Student route application process. Interviews are normally carried out online, although some are via telephone or face-to-face at Home Office centres across the UK. The invitation letter will explain where your interview is and will offer an opportunity to change to a different centre if it is closer to your home.
 
During a credibility interview, a Home Office member of staff will assess whether you meet the English language requirements, and if you are a 'genuine student'. If you are asked to attend such an interview you must do so (unless you have a good reason as to why you cannot), otherwise your application is likely to be refused.  

You will retain your passport throughout the application process. If you leave the Common Travel Area (the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and travel on the passport you used in your Student route application before the Home Office decides the outcome of your application, you are automatically treated as having withdrawn your application. Your immigration health surcharge will be refunded, but your application fee will not be refunded. You will have to make another immigration application before returning to the UK.
 
It is important that you speak to an international student adviser at your Student sponsor before you withdraw your application, as doing so is likely to have consequences both for your current immigration status and for any future immigration applications you may make. 

As long as you make an application in the UK for Student permission that meets the validity requirements prior to the expiry of your current permission, you will be lawfully resident in the UK regardless of the length of time it takes for the Home Office to decide your application. This is called ‘section 3C leave’. It is called this because the law is taken from section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. Section 3C leave retains the rights of the previous permission while a decision is being made on the new application.
 
It is very important to note that you can lose section 3C leave by taking certain actions, such as withdrawing an application, or leaving the UK (please note this is not an exhaustive list). If you have any questions about your status before you receive a decision, please contact your institution or call our student advice line.  

You can withdraw or cancel a Student route application before you get a decision. For example, you may realise that your application is unlikely to be successful and you do not wish to have a refusal in your immigration history, or you may need to leave the UK for urgent travel, which you decide is more important than continuing with your application. 
 
However, it is very important to note that withdrawing a Student route application will have consequences. Therefore, before you withdraw a Student route application, we strongly advise that you speak with an international student adviser at your Student sponsor to discuss how this may affect you. You can also call our student advice line.  

Receiving your decision

Last updated April 03, 2025

If your application is successful, you will receive proof of your permission to stay in the UK. As of 31 October 2024, the Home Office stopped producing biometric residence permit cards (BRPs), therefore you should receive proof of your permission to stay as a digital status, an eVisa. This can be used to view and prove your immigration status online. If you currently have your permission in the form of a BRP, you should now set up a UKVI account and receive your eVisa. 

When you receive confirmation of your permission, you should also receive a decision letter. This should normally be sent via email. It is important that you keep this somewhere safe as it is proof of your grant of permission, and carries details of the conditions of your permission.

If you are unsure about your eVisa, how to access it, or you require some help troubleshooting a problem with your eVisa you can view our eVisa page for further information and guidance. 

Make sure you contact your Student sponsor immediately if you think you will have a problem enrolling before the latest enrolment date of your course. If you do not enrol as expected, your institution will be obliged to notify the Home Office. 

If you are changing institution and your new institution is a Probationary Sponsor, they will need to see your new permission to stay before you can enrol on your new course. They should tell you the latest date that you will be allowed to enrol on your course. This date might have been included in your CAS statement. Since standard applications can take many weeks to be decided, you might need to make a priority or a super priority application in order to obtain your new permission to stay before this latest enrolment date. 

As soon as you receive your new Student eVisa, you must check that all the information shown is correct, including:
  • Your name and date of birth.
  • Your picture.
  • That you are a student on the Student route.
  • That the start and end dates of the permission are correct.
  • The conditions (i.e., work conditions).

The Home Office requires you to have any errors amended and requires your Student sponsor to notify them if a student has been given the incorrect conditions. It is important to note that your eVisa is a digital representation of your immigration status. If your eVisa has an error, it is important to understand whether how your status is being displayed is incorrect, or whether a caseworking error was made on your application and your actual permission is incorrect. 

You should make sure you are familiar with how much leave you should be granted, what your work conditions are, and what route you are applying under to be able to make this distinction. If you received an email outlining your successful application, you should have also received a "decision letter". This may be an attachment in this email. This should outline the length of the permission and its conditions. If this is incorrect, you should submit an administrative review within 14 days of receiving your decision. This costs £80 but will be refunded if the Home Office agrees they have made a mistake in caseworking your application. Note that as of 9 April 2025, administrative review will no longer be the method to correct errors in your conditions or length of leave granted. See our recent news item for details.

If all of the details of your permission are correct, but your eVisa is displaying something incorrectly, you should submit an eVisa correction. Our eVisa page provides more details on this.

Contact an international student adviser at your Student sponsor as soon as you receive your status if you think there are any mistakes.

Your permission to stay will start when the Home Office grant your Student permission. This means that you must comply with all the conditions attached to your immigration permission as a student on the Student route from the date on which the Home Office informs you that your application has been successful. 
 
The date that your Student permission ends will depend on the length and type of course. The Home Office will use the course dates listed on your CAS to calculate the length of your course. If you will be studying for part of a month, this will not be rounded up to a full month.
 
Course  End of immigration permission 
12 months or more  4 months after the end of the course 
6 months or more, but less than 12 months  2 months after the end of the course 
Pre-sessional course, less than 6 months*  1 month after the end of the course 
Other course, less than 6 months  7 days after the end of the course 
Postgraduate doctor or dentist on a Foundation Programme  1 month after the end of the course 
 
* If it is a pre-sessional course which will prepare you for degree-level study at the same institution (or at its partner institution), your sponsor may issue a single CAS for both courses. In this case, your immigration permission will end after the main course, not after the pre-sessional course.   

The Home Office will decide whether to grant or refuse your Student route application. If your Student route application is refused, you will usually have the right to apply for an administrative review of the refusal, which should be made clear in the decision notice. The Home Office will review its decision to see if a case working error was made.
 
You must meet the deadline for applying for the administrative review, so seek advice from a student adviser at your Student sponsor or an IAA registered adviser or solicitor as quickly as possible after you receive a refusal. Details of how to apply for an administrative review are in the Student and Child Student guidance.
 
When an application is refused, the Student route application fee is not refunded. However, if you paid the immigration health surcharge (IHS) as part of your application, this will be refunded in full.
 
You should tell your Student sponsor that your application has been refused so that you can receive help and advice about how this might affect your study and what your options might be.  

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