Financial requirements for a Student visa
To make a Student visa application, you will need to show that you have enough money for your living costs (maintenance funds) and course fees, during your stay in the UK.
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You will need to show that you have the following:
- Any outstanding tuition fees (this means fees you have not yet paid to Goldsmiths), as stated on your CAS statement
- Money for your living costs in the UK, known as 'maintenance', which is currently £1,483 per month for up to a maximum of 9 months. The maximum amount you will need for your living costs is £13,347 for courses in London
Example
If you are studying a Masters Course, you will need to show the following:
Tuition Fees
Any outstanding tuition fees (this means fees you have not yet paid to Goldsmiths), as stated on your CAS statement. The advance fee payment of £4,000 is reduced from this.
If your tuition fee is £18,000, you will need to show £14,000 (£18,000 - £4,000)
Maintenance Expenses
£13,347 (£1,483 per month for up to a maximum of 9 months)
Total
In total, you will need to show - £27,347 (£14,000 + £13,347)
You must have this money for at least 28 consecutive days. The end date of the 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply for your visa.
Example
If you submit your visa application on 1 July 2025, you’d have to show that the funds were in your bank account for at least the previous 28-day period leading up to the date ending on 1 July 2025.
Currency conversion
For any currency conversion, please use oanda.com. This tool is used by the UKVI in most cases.
Some currencies are not supported by OANDA and it is not possible to use it to obtain a currency conversion.
Where OANDA cannot be used for currency conversion, the FCDO consular rate of exchange (CER) should be used. The FCDO CER is set centrally in the UK and reviewed each month in line with changes to exchange rates.
Currencies where FCDO CER should be used (at time of publication of this webpage)
- Iranian Rials (IRR) – due to a discrepancy with the available OANDA rate
- Syrian Pounds (SYP) – due to the currency not being supported by OANDA
- Mongolian Tugrik (MNT) – due to the currency not being supported by OANDA
You can check the current month’s CER on GOV.UK.
Exemption from meeting the Student visa financial requirements
If you have been living inside the UK for at least 12 months with a valid UK visa at the time of applying for your new Student visa from inside the UK (and not been absent for a total of 3 months), then you may benefit from being exempt in having to meet any further financial requirements. We will make this assessment from your CAS request form.
However, we may still ask you to provide financial documents to demonstrate that you are able to at least cover the cost of your tuition fees before we support your visa application. This will help us to ensure you are less likely to encounter financial difficulties during your studies, which could end up affecting your enrolment as well as your wellbeing.
If you’re from a country listed under the ‘differential evidence requirement’.
You do not need to prove you have enough money to support yourself if you’re a British national overseas or from one of the following countries or territories:
Nationals of countries not listed above will be requested to show their financial documents as a part of the CAS process. We cannot issue the CAS until the student meets all of the visa requirements, including the financial ones.
Dependants
If you are eligible to bring any dependents with you as part of your Student Visa application, then you will also need to demonstrate maintenance funds for them, which is currently set at £845 per month up to a maximum of 9 months for each dependent.
Example
If you have two dependents (for e.g.: a partner and a child) you need to show £7605 (£845 x9) for each dependent
Total - £15210 (£7605 x 2)
To see if you are eligible to bring dependents, please our Dependants on a student visa guide.
English translation
Any documents not issued in English must include an official translation. If you are providing us with documents that are not in English, you will need to send us the official translations before we can review the documents as we cannot review them without the translations.
Translations must include:
- The date of the translation
- Original signature of the translator
- The name of the translation company
- Confirmation that it is an ‘accurate translation of the original document’
Accepted financial documents
The documents you need depends on how you are funding your studies.
To learn more about each financial document and see examples, you can visit our Accepted financial documents page.
If you have a bank account in your name you can use this account to demonstrate the required maintenance funds. The account will need to be a current (cash) and the funds in your account must be available immediately.
Funds may be held in a Pension or Investment account provided the account allows the funds to be accessed immediately.
We might request an additional letter from the Bank to confirm that the funds can be accessed at any time. This is typically needed if the bank statement doesn’t include that information.
You will need to show your Parent's/ legal guardian's bank statements and:
- An original birth certificate, certificate of adoption. or court document showing the names of your parents/legal guardians
- Any document not in English will need to be officially translated
- A letter of your parents/guardians confirming the relationship, and consent for you to use their funds for studies in the UK
If you have been awarded a scholarship, you can provide a letter confirming the details of your scholarship when you apply for your visa.
You can be sponsored by an international company, government, scholarship provider or a university.
You might need to make an advanced payment of tuition fees, but if you have an official sponsor you could be exempt. Find out about advanced payment of tuition fees.
If you are using a US Federal Direct Loan, you can use this as evidence of your application. You should not apply for your visa until you have received your US loan letter as this is your official confirmation of funding.
Other types of student loan are acceptable but only if they are issued by your government as part of an educational loans scheme.
You can only use evidence of a student loan if it is provided by your Government, and it is a part of an educational loans scheme. Unfortunately, private loans are not acceptable for Student visa purposes. Even if your private bank operates a student loan scheme, unless its Government funded, it’s unlikely to be acceptable as part of your visa application.
You may be exempt from paying the advance fee payment if you have confirmation of the educational loan.
See our Acceptable financial documents guidance to find more about.