Visas & immigration

Student visa

To attend a full-time course for longer than six months, you must apply for a Student visa. 

The course must meet UKVI requirements, such as being a SCQF level 6 or above. Not all SRUC courses are eligible to be sponsored under the Student Visa route. Please check with us. 

This guide gives you some helpful information to make a straightforward Student Visa application. However, the ultimate responsibility lies with you. You must start preparing your application early and pay lots of attention to detail. 

It would be best if you waited until you have obtained your Student Visas before booking any non-refundable travel tickets. 

Apply for your Student Visa on the UK Government website.

 

How to apply for a Student visa

Applying for a Student visa from outside the UK

You can apply up to six months before the course start date stated in your CAS. You will usually get a decision within three weeks.

You will need to:

1. Complete the application form (For a video tutorial on how to complete the online form, watch the video below)
2. Pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and the visa application fee (more information on costs below).
3. Make an appointment at your nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC)
4. Attend your appointment with the documents (in some countries, you will be able to pre-upload documents before attending the appointment)
   You will also need to submit your passport and biometric information (your digital fingerprints and photograph). Some applicants may need to pass an interview (more information on interviews below)

EU/EEA/Swiss nationals with a biometric passport are not required to attend a Visa Application Centre. They can use the UK Immigration ID check app to scan and upload their passport and a photo. 

Watch an instructional video on how to complete a Student visa online application form when applying from outside the UK

 

Applying for a Student visa from inside the UK

You can make a Student visa application from inside the UK if:

• You have a valid UK visa which allows you to extend or switch into the student route; and
• Your new programme will start no more than 28 days after your current visa expires; and
• You have successfully completed the course you studied in the UK (if applicable); and
• Your new course is at a higher academic level than your previous course; or at the same academic level but complements your previous studies or career aspirations (if applicable); and
• You have enough time remaining under the student route time limits to complete your studies

You can apply up to three months before the course date stated in your CAS. You will need to:

1. Complete the application form to extend your Student visa (if you are currently in the UK with a Student visa); or switch to a Student visa from another type of visa 
2. Pay the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge (more information on costs below)
3. Upload your visa application documents on the UKVI partner website (UKVCAS)
4. Provide your Biometric information: you will receive an email from UKVCAS explaining how to do this

Note: You will retain your passport and supporting documents throughout the application process. However, you should NOT travel outside the UK and Common Travel Area until you receive a visa decision and your BRP. If you travel outside of the Common Travel Area while your application is being processed, it will result in your application being withdrawn.

 

Fees

It costs £524 to apply for a Student visa.

You will also have to pay for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of your application. The charge is £776 per year. This payment is in addition to the visa application fee and is not optional. Paying this fee means that you will be entitled to use the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK.

The form will automatically calculate the correct IHS fee from your course dates.

Note: Remember that the day you pay for your visa application will be your official 'date of application'. Your documents used as proof of funds must have been issued no more than 31 days before the 'date of application'.

 

Credibility interviews

During your visa application process, you may be asked to attend a Skype or telephone interview with a UKVI officer. The purpose of this interview is to make sure that you are a genuine student and that you can hold a conversation in English. Some prior preparation will help you relax when talking to the UKVI staff member.

How to prepare for the interview?

• Immigration History: The UKVI member of staff will ask you if you have had any previous UK visa refusals or if you have breached your visa conditions in the past.
• Education history: They may ask you about your previous education and its relation to the course you want to study in the UK. If your previous studies are not related to the new one, you should explain why you have decided to change your study fields.
• Your course and SRUC: You should talk confidently about your course content, dates, modules etc. You should also be able to explain what you know about SRUC and your chosen campus.
• Future plans: Think about how your course will help you achieve your future career plans.
• Personal and financial circumstances: Ensure that you are very clear about the availability of your funds, and if your family covers these, make sure you know your parents' financial circumstances well. If you are financially sponsored, you should know what is covered with your scholarship and when the funds will be available to you. If you have a loan, you must confidently explain how you will pay this back. You should also know the cost of living in Scotland (i.e. accommodation, transport, etc.)
• Why the UK as a study destination: If there are similar courses offered in your country of origin, think about why you have chosen to incur extra costs to study in Scotland and how a UK degree may help you achieve your goals.

You can request a copy of your interview transcript, and we suggest that all students do this.

 

Documents you will need for your Student visa application

It is your responsibility to collect the documents you need for your visa application. You should make sure that you understand the Student visa requirements as stated in the UKVI guidance.

What documents are required?

1. Your current passport: It must be valid when you make your application and when you arrive in the UK. It must also contain at least one full-page that is blank on both sides.
2. CAS: The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is a virtual document similar to a database record. SRUC will issue you with a CAS once you have an unconditional offer, passed all SRUC compliance checks, and we are satisfied that you are likely to apply for your Student visa successfully.
3. Evidence of English language proficiency: If you have applied to study a degree-level course, you do not have to send an English certificate with your visa application. However, if your course is below degree level, you will need to submit a Home Office approved English certificate (SELT)
4. Financial documents: To meet the Student visa requirements, you must be able to prove that you have enough money to cover for the first year of your course fees plus set maintenance of £1,171 for each month of the course, up to a maximum of nine months. This financial evidence must meet Home Office requirements (see below).
5. Official financial sponsor's consent to complete studies: If a Government or international scholarship agency paid your tuition fees and living costs during the last 12 months, you must provide written permission from them to make your application.
6. Tuberculosis test: You'll need to have tuberculosis (TB) test if you're coming to the UK for more than six months and you have been in any of the listed countries for more than six months immediately preceding your Student visa application.
7. ATAS Certificate: The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) requires all international students studying postgraduate qualifications in certain sensitive subjects to apply for an ATAS certificate. If you are required to apply for an ATAS, SRUC will inform you during the application process.
8. Evidence of qualifications listed on your CAS For each qualification listed, you must provide either:
   • The original certificate of qualification (the original not a copy) clearly showing:
     • Your name
     • The title of the award
     • The date of the award
     • The name of the awarding institution
     • (UKVI will not accept provisional certificates whether original or a copy); or
   • The transcript of results (the original not a copy) clearly showing:
     • Your name
     • The name of the academic institution
     • The course title
     • The confirmation of the award; or
   • A print out of the qualification or transcript results from the awarding body's online checking service (showing the exact details as above). Please be aware that the visa officer may require you to provide the certificate of qualification or transcript of results.
9. Translations of any documents that are not in English or Welsh: If a document is not in English, it must come with a fully certified translation. It must contain confirmation from the translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document, the date, the translator full name and signature, and the translator/translation company's contact details.
10. Current BRP: If you are applying inside the UK and have a Biometric Residence Permit, you must submit this with your application.
11. ‘Low risk applicants’: If you are applying for entry clearance in your country of residence or leave to remain in the UK, and you are a national of one of the countries on paragraph ST 22.1 of the Appendix ST of the Immigration Rules you are not required to include the financial and qualification documents with your application. However, you must confirm on the form that you meet the requirements and hold documentary evidence in the manner required. The UKVI may request these documents at any time during the application process.

Note: ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE ORIGINAL

Financial documents

Students must show that they can cover the first-year course fees and living costs for up to nine months at £1,171 per month (£9,207 for nine months). The evidence of money that you use must be:

• Cash funds in the bank (savings, current, pensions or investment accounts) that allows you immediate access; or
• An official financial or government sponsorship or grant; or
• A loan letter (provided by a government or a regulated student loans scheme)

You cannot use as evidence of money:

• Overdrafts
• Bitcoin savings
• Stocks, bonds and shares
• Pensions from which the funds cannot be withdrawn immediately
• Bank accounts that are not regulated by the financial regulatory body in the country you're applying from
• Bank accounts that don't use electronic record keeping

Cash funds

The statements should show information like:

• Your name or your parent's/legal guardian's name
• The account number
• The date
• The financial institution's name and logo
• The money in your account
• That you have held the money for a consecutive 28 day period ending no more than 31 days before the date of your application

If you are using money held by your parents or legal guardians, you will also need to provide:

• Your original birth certificate showing the name of the parent providing the funds
• An original signed and dated letter from your parents confirming the relationship between you and that the money in their account is for your studies

The following documents are acceptable as proof of cash funds:

• Personal bank or building society statement (example)
• Letter from your bank confirming funds (example)
• Chinese Certificate of Deposit (example)

Official financial sponsorship letter

The letter must show:

• Your name
• The name and contact details of your official financial sponsor
• The date of the letter
• The length of your sponsorship
• The amount of money the sponsor is giving to you or a statement that your official financial sponsor will cover all of your fees and living costs

Example of financial sponsorship letter

Loan letter

The letter must be the original (not a copy) and must:

• Show your name
• Show the date of the letter (no more than 6 months before your application)
• Be on official stationery
• Show the money available as a loan
• Show that the loan is provided by your national, state or regional government, a government-sponsored student loan company or is part of an academic or educational loans scheme.
• Confirm the funds will be available to you or paid directly to the sponsor before you begin your course
• Confirm there are no conditions on the release of the loan funds other than a successful application to study.

Note: If you are applying for your Student visa from inside the UK, and have been living in the UK with a valid visa for 12 months or more before the date of application, you will meet the financial requirement and do not need to provide any evidence of this.

 

What happens next?

If your visa is granted

If your application is successful, you'll get an eVisa. This is an online record of your immigration status. You will need to provide us with a Sharecode so that we can check your visa details. This is part of document checks which you attend at your campus during induction week.

Get access to your eVisa by setting up a UKVI account.

You’ll need to link your travel document to your UKVI account. This should be the travel document you use to come to the UK.

You may have to prove your immigration status when you travel to the UK.

 

If your visa is refused

If your visa is refused, please do not panic. Contact us immediately as we may be able to help.

You should email us the refusal letter as soon as possible, along with a copy of the documents that you sent with your visa application. We may ask the UKVI for an 'administrative review'. The fee is £80 if you applied in the UK, or free if you applied from abroad. We must request an administrative review within 14 days of the date you received your refusal notice, so you must contact us immediately afterwards.

Standard Visitor Visa

For stays less than six months, you should apply for a Standard Visitor Visa.

This will likely apply to you if you are:

• coming to do a short course of studies, or
• enrolled on a distance learning course and are coming to the UK to do a short on-campus period (such as study weekends), or
• coming to conduct research or be taught about research and are enrolled on a course overseas that is equivalent to a UK degree level or above. 

If you are coming to the UK as a Standard Visitor, you will not be allowed to work in the UK (paid or unpaid), including work placements or internships. 

Apply for your Standard Visitor Visa on the UK Government website.

Visa holder responsibilities

Both you and SRUC have specific responsibilities as a Student visa holder.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend classes and complete all of the requirements for the course. SRUC has an obligation to inform UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) of any student who fails to engage with their course of study. Attendance is monitored according to the level of course you are studying. Undergraduate students must maintain a minimum of 85% attendance across the duration of the course. Postgraduate students are monitored via “contact points”. Both UG and PG students will be contacted by the International Compliance Lead if there are any concerns about attendance and engagement.

Authorised and unauthorised absence:

There are times when you may be unable to attend classes due to illness. We understand this. In such cases you are able to “self-certify” for up to one week (7 consecutive calendar days) and this is likely to be classed as “authorised absence”. However, any further sickness absence would need to be supported by additional documentation such as a GP’s note.

It is not possible to list all the situations and circumstances where absence will be authorised. However, it is very unlikely that we will authorise absence for anything other than:

• genuine illness, either self-certified or supported by documentation
• genuine emergencies (for example, close family in your home country)
• appointments that are fixed such as those for passport renewal.

We will not authorise absence for travel during term time such as for weddings or other events. Please note that documentation is not issued for travelling, even for genuine emergencies. Your travel documents (evisa and passport) are sufficient.

You can access SRUC’s attendance policy here: [coming soon]

Study only at SRUC

A Student visa is only valid for the institution that it was issued for. Changes of programme are only permitted in exceptional circumstances. Supplementary study is permitted while you are enrolled on your main course.

Work in the UK

Your student visa allows you limited working rights in the UK. Most students at degree level can work up to 20 hours per week during term-time. Students at below degree level courses can work up to 10 hours per week. You can work full time during your course vacation. Violating these restrictions can result in the cancellation of your visa, fines and/or a ban on entry to the UK.

Please see the Home Office guidance for further information about this:
Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules: Appendix Student - Guidance - GOV.UK

No recourse to public funds

Your immigration conditions prohibit you from accessing 'public funds', which means certain welfare benefits and local authority housing. Using the National Health Service or being exempt from Council Tax does not count as accessing 'public funds'.

As part of your conditions of sponsorship, most students will have had to demonstrate that you have met the “maintenance requirement”, as set by UKVI (currently £1,171 per month for up to 9 months; total £10,539). These funds should cover your living costs while you are studying. Visa sponsored students are not typically eligible for financial support from SRUC, for example hardship bursaries. If your finances change due to unexpected circumstances you should in the first instance contact our International Student Support Officer for advice and support.

SRUC's responsibilities under the visa points-based system

SRUC is required to:

• keep copies of your visa and passport
• keep up to date contact details for you (and keep a record of any address changes)
• report to the UKVI if you do not enrol on your course during the enrolment period stated on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)
• monitor your attendance and progression and report to the Home Office if you do not attend or progress
• notify the Home Office of any changes to your status. For example, if you suspend or interrupt your studies, if you change course while at SRUC, if you finish your course earlier than expected, or change visa category
• report to the Home Office if we suspect that you are breaking the terms and conditions of your visa.

If you have any questions about sponsorship or about your visa conditions while you are studying, please contact the International Compliance team on internationalcompliance@sruc.ac.uk

Further Information

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for the UK

The UK has a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system as part of its move towards universal permission to travel. This means that everyone travelling to the UK needs prior authorisation - including those who currently do not require a visa for short visits. If you already hold a valid UK visa (such as a Student visa), you do not need an ETA and should not apply for one.

How to apply:

Apply for your ETA in advance using the official UK government app. You'll need to provide passport details and a facial image. If you can't use the app, apply online instead. Once approved, your ETA will be linked to your passport for easier travel.

More information: Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK

Faster Travel Through UK Border Control - Using eGates for Quick Entry

You may be eligible to use eGates if you:

• hold a biometric passport (with the chip symbol on the cover)
• are a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA
• have a Student visa or are entering as a short-term student (under 6 months).

EGates are available at 15 major UK airports and Eurostar terminals, using facial recognition technology for faster processing.

Important notes for students:

• If you use eGates, your passport won't receive an entry stamp.
• You must provide us with alternative proof of your UK arrival date, such as:
• Flight reservation/boarding pass (showing your full name and arrival date)
• Electronic travel itinerary
• Other dated transport tickets.

Useful resources:

UKVI: eGates information and video

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) Requirements

You must obtain an ATAS certificate if you are subject to UK immigration control and your course or research involves sensitive subjects (identified by a CAH3 code). Your research supervisor or admissions team will provide the specific CAH3 code for your course.

Exemptions:

You do not need an ATAS certificate if you are a national of an EU/EEA country, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA.

When to reapply:

A new ATAS certificate is required if:
✓ Your course/research end date is extended by 3+ months
✓ There are significant changes to your course/research content
✓ Your primary academic supervisor changes
✓ Your financial sponsorship arrangements change.

Important processing information:

• Standard processing time: Minimum 30 working days (6 weeks).
• No priority or fast-track service available.
• Peak processing period: April-August (allow extra time).

What to do next:

1. Check if you need an ATAS certificate.
2. Apply as soon as possible - ATAS application portal.
3. Notify SRUC and the ATAS team if your circumstances change.

EU Settlement Scheme

The EU Settlement Scheme is for EU nationals living in the UK before 31 December 2020.

SRUC is legally required to document all non-UK/Irish students' permission to study. If you are an EEA/EU Passport Holder (or relevant family member), who has been granted settled or pre-settled status, you must create a code from the UKVI service and share it with us. The share code is a 9-digit combination of letters and numbers starting with an S.

To get your share code, click on the link below. When asked 'why do you need a share code?', you should answer 'to prove my immigration status for anything else'.

View and prove your immigration status: get a share code.

Post-study visas

Graduate Visa

The Graduate Route is a post-study work visa introduced 1 July 2021 that will allow you to stay in the UK to work or look for work after your degree has been awarded.

International students who have successfully completed an undergraduate or master's degree will benefit from at least 18 months' work experience in the UK. Students who complete their PhD will be able to stay for three years. 

Graduates on the route can work flexibly, switch jobs and develop their career as required.

Eligibility

• A Graduate visa lasts for:
  • 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026
  • 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027
  • If you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it will last for 3 years.
• When you apply, you must have already completed your undergraduate, masters or PhD degree
• You must have a valid Student visa at the time of application
• Before you apply, SRUC needs to inform the UKVI that you have successfully completed your studies
• You can only apply from inside the UK.

What you can and cannot do with a Graduate visa

• It is not possible to extend your permission under the Graduate route
• While your Graduate route application is pending, you can continue to work under your Student visa conditions
• Once your Graduate route permission is issued, you can do any work, including self-employment, except working as a professional sportsperson or coach
• You cannot access public funds
• You cannot study any course which could be sponsored under the Student route, such as an MSc degree or a full-time BSc. You may enrol on some professional or recreational courses
• This scheme does not lead to settlement (permanent residency in the UK).

How do I apply for a Graduate visa, and how much does it cost?

• You must submit your application after you have successfully completed your programme and the completion has been reported to the UKVI by SRUC. We will report successful completion after June for BSc students and after October for MSc students
• You must submit your application before your current Student visa expires
• You can only apply from inside the UK
• You will need to know the CAS number you used to support your most recent Student visa application. You would have received this by email
• There is no requirement to show you have a certain amount of money ('maintenance requirement'). However, we recommend that you have enough money to support yourself until you find work. Remember that you will not have access to public funds
• The application fee is £880 per applicant. You will also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) at £1,035 per year of permission that you are applying for (3 years for PhD graduates, 18 months for others)
• You do not need to demonstrate your knowledge of English
• If a Government or international scholarship agency paid your tuition fees and living costs during the last 12 months, you must provide written consent from them to make your application
• If you apply in the UK to switch to the Graduate route, you should not travel until the outcome of the application. Travelling outside the Common Travel Area automatically withdraws your application.

More information

The government and UKCISA webpages provide up to date information on the new Graduate Immigration Route.

• Graduate visa: Overview - GOV.UK
• GOV.UK: Fact sheet
• UKCISA: post-study work visa
• UKVI statement on new immigration system

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