Apply to SRUC | Student visas

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 visa before booking any non-refundable travel tickets.

Apply for your Student visa on the UK Government website.

How to apply for a Student visa

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:

Complete the application form (For a video tutorial on how to complete the online form, watch the video below)
Pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and the visa application fee (more information on costs below).
Make an appointment at your nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC)
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

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:

Complete the application form to extend your Student visa (if you are currently in the UK with a Tier 4 or Student visa); or switch to a Student visa from another type of visa
Pay the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge (more information on costs below)
Upload your visa application documents on the UKVI partner website (UKVCAS)
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.

It costs £363 to apply for a Student visa outside the UK and £490 to extend or switch to a Student visa from inside the UK.

You will also have to pay for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as part of your application. The charge is £470 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'.

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.

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?

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.
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, and we are satisfied that you are likely to apply for your Student visa successfully.
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)
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 £1,023 for each month of the course, up to a maximum of nine months. This financial evidence must meet Home Office requirements (see below).
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.
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.
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.
Evidence of qualifications listed on your CAS For each qualification listed, you must provide either:
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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.
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.
Police registration certificate: If you previously studied in the UK and were required to register with the police, you must submit your up to date police registration certificate.
Current BRP: If you are applying inside the UK and have a Biometric Residence Permit, you must submit this with your application.
‘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 £1,023 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 application is successful, you’ll get either:

Access to view your immigration status information online - if you used the smartphone app to prove your identity (EU/EEA/Swiss citizens only); or
A 30 days vignette (sticker) in your passport. You should travel to the UK within these 30 days and collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). You must collect your BRP before the vignette expires or within ten days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later. When you receive your visa vignette, double-check that everything is correct (your name, date of birth, work conditions, sponsor license). If anything is incorrect, ask the visa application centre to change it immediately, ideally before you travel to the UK.

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 for your Tier 4 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.

Visa holder responsibilities

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

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.

A Student visa is only valid for the institution that it was issued for. However, it may be possible to change the course of studies within SRUC or enrol on a supplementary study course while 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.

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'.

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

Other helpful information

Study requirements for international students

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Student visas

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

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

Fees

Credibility interviews

Documents you will need for your Student visa application

What documents are required?

Financial documents

Cash funds

Official financial sponsorship letter

Loan letter

What happens next?

If your visa is granted

If your visa is refused

Visa holder responsibilities

Attendance

Study only at SRUC

Work in the UK

No recourse to public funds

SRUC's responsibilities under the visa points-based system