The UK student visa financial requirements trip up more applicants than weak grades or a thin personal statement ever do.
Once you have your offer letter, the next hurdle is maintenance funds, the 28 day rule, and CAS statements. It can feel like a second exam you never studied for.
Here is the good news. The money rules are not complicated once someone explains them properly.
Most refusals do not happen because a student lacked enough cash.
They happen because a bank statement showed the wrong dates, or the balance dipped for one afternoon three weeks before the application.
This guide explains exactly what you need, in plain English, so you can prepare your documents once and get them right the first time.
Quick snapshot: what you need to know in 30 seconds
If you only have a minute, here is the whole guide in one place.
- You need enough money for one year of course fees (whatever is left unpaid on your CAS) plus living costs.
- Living costs are £1,529 a month if you study in London, or £1,171 a month if you study anywhere else. This runs for up to 9 months.
- That works out to £13,761 for London or £10,539 outside London.
- Your account, or a parent’s account with the right paperwork, must hold this money for 28 days in a row.
- The 28 day period must end no more than 31 days before you submit your visa application.
- You also need to budget separately for the £558 visa fee and the £776 a year Immigration Health Surcharge.
- If you bring a partner or child, each of them needs an extra £845 a month in London or £680 a month outside London.
Read on for the detail, the examples, and the mistakes to avoid.
London vs outside London at a glance
Where you study changes the number a lot. Here is the comparison in one table before we go any further.
| Requirement | London | Outside London |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly living cost | £1,529 | £1,171 |
| Maximum months counted | 9 | 9 |
| Total living costs required | £13,761 | £10,539 |
| Plus dependant (partner or child), per month | £845 | £680 |
| Plus dependant, total for 9 months | £7,605 | £6,120 |
Add your outstanding tuition fees from your CAS to whichever living cost column applies to you.
Who actually needs to prove the UK student visa financial requirements?
Not every applicant has to submit bank statements. The official Student visa money page confirms you do not need to prove your funds if either of these applies to you:
- You have already lived in the UK on a valid visa for at least 12 months on the date you apply.
- You are applying as a student union sabbatical officer.
The Home Office also runs a differential evidence requirement for certain nationalities. Students from countries such as the United States, Canada, most of the EU, Australia, Japan, and Singapore do not need to submit financial evidence upfront.
UK Visas and Immigration can still ask for it later if they want to check.
If you do not fall into one of those groups, you need to show the money, and you need to show it correctly.
UK student visa financial requirements: how much money do you need?
The total figure has two parts: course fees and living costs.
Course fees
You need enough to cover the first academic year of your course, or the whole course if it runs for less than a year.
Your CAS, which stands for Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, states exactly how much you have already paid and how much remains outstanding.
Only the outstanding amount counts toward your financial requirement. A deposit your university has already received reduces the figure you need to show.
Living costs
This is where most of the confusion happens, because the number depends on where you study, not where you come from.
As the table above shows, you need £1,529 a month if your course sits inside London, and £1,171 a month everywhere else, both capped at 9 months.
London” here means the physical location of your course, not the location of your university’s head office.
The official financial evidence guidance confirms that if your college runs a campus outside the city but keeps its head office in London, you should use whichever location your CAS shows.
A worked example
Say your tuition for the first year comes to £16,000 and you have already paid a £5,000 deposit. You plan to study in Manchester, so the outside London rate applies to you.
- Outstanding tuition: £16,000 minus £5,000, which comes to £11,000
- Living costs: £10,539
- Total you need to show: £21,539
If the same student studied in London instead, the total would be £11,000 plus £13,761, which comes to £24,761.
The 28 day rule, explained properly
This single rule causes more refusals than anything else in the UK student visa financial requirements process, so it is worth slowing down here.
Your required funds must sit in an eligible account for 28 consecutive days. The balance cannot drop below the minimum on even one single day during that period.
The last day of those 28 days must fall within 31 days of the date you actually submit your visa application, not your biometrics appointment, and not the day you gather your documents.
Here is a simple way to picture it. Say you plan to apply on 20 August. Count back 28 days to find your earliest safe starting point, then check that the money has sat there without dipping at any point since.
Do not top up the account the week before you apply. Caseworkers are trained to look more closely at a sudden large deposit shortly before an application.
A few practical tips consistently help students avoid trouble:
- Order your bank statement only after the 28 day window closes, not before.
- Keep every transaction visible, including small ones, so the daily balance stays clear.
- If your income currency fluctuates, keep a buffer above the minimum so a bad exchange rate day does not push you under the line.
- Avoid moving money between accounts during the 28 days. Shuffling funds from savings to current can look like a fresh deposit if you do not document it well.
Acceptable accounts under the UK student visa financial requirements
UK Visas and Immigration wants to verify your money quickly, so the account type matters.
Appendix Finance of the Immigration Rules sets out these rules, and the gov.uk financial evidence guidance explains them for applicants in plain terms.
Acceptable options generally include:
- A personal current account
- A personal savings account
- A parent’s account, provided you can prove the relationship and supply a signed consent letter
Funds tied up in things like stocks, shares, cryptocurrency, pension funds, or fixed deposits that you cannot access within 28 days do not count. The rule exists so that the money stays genuinely available to support you.
Using a parent’s or guardian’s account
Many students rely on a parent’s savings rather than their own account, and this is completely allowed. You typically need:
- A bank statement from the parent’s account covering the full 28 day period
- A birth certificate or other document proving the relationship
- A signed letter of consent confirming the parent agrees you can use the funds
Missing any one of these three documents is a common and entirely avoidable reason for refusal, so double check the paperwork before you submit.
Bringing a partner or children
Some courses allow dependants. This generally applies to PhD students, other doctoral routes, research based postgraduate degrees, and some government sponsored students.
If your course qualifies, each dependant needs their own pot of money on top of yours.
| Dependant type | Monthly rate (London) | Monthly rate (outside London) | Total for 9 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner or child | £845 | £680 | £7,605 (London) / £6,120 (outside London) |
The official guidance on bringing your partner and children confirms these figures, along with exactly which course types allow dependants in the first place.
If you apply together as a family, add this dependant money to your own course fees and living cost figure. It does not replace it.
Most taught master’s students cannot bring dependants under the current rules, so check your course category before you plan your budget around this.
Other costs people forget to budget for
The maintenance figure gets most of the attention, but two other costs catch people out because students focus so heavily on the bank balance.
The visa application fee costs £558 per person for applications made from outside the UK, whether you are applying fresh or extending or switching a visa from inside the UK.
The Immigration Health Surcharge, usually shortened to IHS, gives you access to NHS healthcare while you study. Students and their dependants pay a reduced rate of £776 per year, compared to £1,035 for most other visa categories.
You pay this upfront for the entire length of your visa, so a three year course means paying for three years of IHS in one go when you apply. Use the official IHS calculator before you apply so there are no surprises.
Neither fee counts toward your 28 day maintenance funds, but you still need to pay them, so build them into your overall study budget from day one.
Common mistakes that lead to refusal
The same handful of errors come up again and again.
- Printing the statement too early: If you print it before the 28 days finish, or so long afterward that it falls outside the 31 day window, caseworkers will not accept it.
- A balance that dips even once: One day below the minimum, even by a small amount, breaks the whole 28 day period.
- Forgetting outstanding tuition fees: Some students calculate living costs correctly but forget to add the unpaid balance from their CAS.
- Using an ineligible fund source: Shares, crypto, and locked fixed deposits do not count.
- Incomplete parental consent paperwork: Missing the relationship proof or the signed letter causes a common and completely avoidable refusal.
- Large unexplained deposits close to the application date: This tends to trigger extra scrutiny rather than automatic refusal, but it is best avoided.
UK student visa financial requirements checklist before you apply
Confirm whether you actually need to submit financial evidence, based on your nationality and immigration history
Check your CAS for the exact outstanding tuition figure
Confirm whether your course location counts as London or outside London
Calculate your total: outstanding fees plus the correct living cost figure
Keep the full amount untouched in an eligible account for 28 full days
Order your statement only once that window closes, and within 31 days of your planned application date
Gather parental consent documents in advance if you plan to use a family account
Set aside separate money for the £558 visa fee and the IHS, since these sit outside the 28 day requirement
Frequently asked questions about UK student visa financial requirements
Can I use two bank accounts?
Yes. You can spread your funds across more than one account, as long as every account meets the standard rules on its own. The combined total across all accounts must not drop below the required amount on any single day of the 28 day period.
Every statement must also cover the same 28 day window with the same closing date. If the dates do not line up across accounts, caseworkers will not accept the evidence.
Can I use a business account?
No. Only personal accounts count, whether that is your own account or a parent or legal guardian’s account.
Business accounts, corporate accounts, and joint accounts held with someone other than a parent or eligible partner do not qualify, since the funds need to be clearly personal money available for your studies.
What happens if my balance drops below the required amount?
This breaks the entire 28 day period, even if the balance only dips for a single day and only by a small amount.
There is no partial credit here. If this happens, you generally need to wait until the balance stays above the minimum for a fresh, uninterrupted 28 days before you apply. Check your statement carefully before you submit anything.
Can I use a sponsor’s account?
You can rely on an official financial sponsor, such as your home government, the British Council, an international organisation, or your university, if they confirm in writing that they will cover your fees or living costs, or both.
This differs from a private sponsor. You cannot use money from a friend, distant relative, or an employer that does not count as an official financial sponsor, and a letter from a business or local organisation acting informally as a sponsor will not work either.
If a sponsor only covers part of your costs, you still need to show the rest of the money yourself through your own or a parent’s account.
How long does the bank statement need to be?
It needs to cover the full 28 consecutive day period, ending on the closing balance date. That closing date must fall within 31 days of the date you submit your visa application.
The statement should show the running transaction history for the period, not just a single snapshot balance, so caseworkers can see the balance never dropped below the required amount on any day.
Do I need to translate bank statements?
Yes, if the statement is not already in English. Any document not written in English needs a certified translation, and the translator or translation company must confirm the translation is accurate and include their contact details and credentials.
Keep both the original and the translated version together when you submit your application.
Conclusion
The financial requirement for a UK student visa does not exist to trip people up.
It lets the Home Office confirm that students can genuinely support themselves without needing public funds.
Once you understand the actual numbers and the timing of the 28 day rule, the process becomes a straightforward paperwork exercise rather than a source of stress.
Start early, keep your documents clean, and check the official gov.uk student visa guidance directly before you submit anything.
The Home Office reviews these figures periodically, so always confirm you have the latest numbers for your intake.
If in doubt, ask your university’s international student office.
They have usually seen thousands of these applications before yours, and they often give you the fastest second pair of eyes on your documents before you submit.