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Can I come to the United Kingdom to study?

This page explains how you can come to the United Kingdom to study. You can come as a:

  • student; or
  • student visitor if you are undertaking a short course of study upto six months' long within the period of your permission to stay.

Student

If you are coming to the United Kingdom as a student, before you come here you will need to have been accepted onto a course of study by an organisation that is on the register of education and training providers.

The course should be at one of the following:

  • a publicly funded institution of further or higher education (a university) with maintained records of enrolment and attendance which are readily available to us;
  • a genuine private education institution; or
  • an independent fee-paying school;

and you need to be undertaking one of these:

  • a recognised full-time degree course;
  • a course run during the week that involves at least 15 hours of organised daytime study a week; or
  • a full-time course of study at an independent fee paying school.

You must also:

  • be registered with the United Kingdom awarding body if you are studying externally for a degree at a private education institution; and
  • be able to pay for your course and support and accommodate yourself and any dependants without working or help from public funds; and
  • plan to leave the United Kingdom when you complete your studies.

Student visitor

If you are coming to the United Kingdom as a visitor to study you must:

  • genuinely be seeking entry as a student visitor for the limited period you tell us you require that does not exceed six months;
  • have been accepted on a course of studythat will be provided by an organisation included on the Department for Children, Schools and Families' register of education and training providers;
  • leave the United Kingdom at the end of the visit you told us about;
  • support and pay for accommodation for yourself and any dependants without help from public funds; or
  • ensure that you and your dependants will be supported and accommodated by relatives or friends and not take employment; and
  • be able to meet the cost of the return or onward journey.

You must not:

  • take employment in the United Kingdom;
  • engage in business, produce goods or provide services within the United Kingdom, including selling goods or services direct to members of the public;
  • study at a government-funded school;
  • be a child under the age of 18;
  • undertake part-time (up to 20 hours), or full-time vacation employment;
  • undertake a work placement or internship (paid or unpaid) as part of your course of study; or
  • extend your stay in the United Kingdom.

For further information see Visitors.

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Terms explained

  • Degree

    Academic qualification given to someone who has successfully completed a course of study at a university. The first level of degree is a bachelor's degree, and this is normally the minimum qualification you will need for us to recognise you as holding a degree. A master's degree and a PhD (or doctorate) are higher levels of degree, known as postgraduate degrees (because they are normally obtained following further study taken after graduating with a bachelor's degree).

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