How to Calculate UK Student Visa Financial Requirements

Calculate tuition and current Student visa maintenance funds, understand payment deductions and the 28-day rule, and avoid common financial-evidence mistakes.

Start with your own CAS and circumstances

For a standard Student-route calculation, separate unpaid course fees from living-cost funds. Use the course-fee information on your CAS and the applicable period in Appendix Student; do not substitute the amount advertised on a university marketing page. The normal course-fee requirement concerns the first academic year, or the whole course where it is shorter.

Determine whether the course is in London as defined for this rule: the City of London and the 32 London boroughs. A university’s name or your preferred accommodation address is not a reliable substitute for checking the study location. Boarding-school cases and Child Student applications follow different arrangements; this guide’s examples are not calculations for those routes.

Current maintenance figures and a working formula

The current Student figures are £1,529 per month in London and £1,171 per month outside London, for up to nine months. Under Appendix Student, a part-month is rounded up. Nine months therefore means £13,761 in London or £10,539 outside London.

For an ordinary self-funded case, start with unpaid qualifying tuition fees, add the maintenance amount for the relevant months, then apply only a permitted accommodation offset. Keep visa fees, travel costs and any immigration health surcharge in a separate practical budget: having enough to satisfy a maintenance calculation is not the same as funding every expense of the move.

Example: tuition already partly paid

These are hypothetical examples, not quotations of a university’s fees. Suppose first-year tuition is £18,000, the university has received £6,000, and the course requires nine months of maintenance. Unpaid tuition is £12,000.

For London, £12,000 + (£1,529 × 9) = £25,761. Outside London, £12,000 + (£1,171 × 9) = £22,539. Confirm that the payment is recorded on the CAS or supported by the student sponsor’s receipt. Do not deduct a payment merely because an agent says it has been forwarded.

Accommodation payments: not every rent payment can be deducted

Appendix Student permits an offset of up to £1,529 for an accommodation deposit paid to the student sponsor for accommodation arranged by that sponsor. It is not a general deduction for rent paid to a private landlord. Check the sponsor’s records and the relevant evidence before relying on it.

Using the London example above, an eligible £2,000 payment does not permit a £2,000 deduction: the stated cap is £1,529. The illustrative total becomes £25,761 − £1,529 = £24,232. If the payment does not meet the sponsor-arranged accommodation conditions, retain the original £25,761 calculation instead.

The holding period and evidence date are separate checks

Where the cash-funds holding rule applies, the required balance must be maintained for 28 consecutive days. The evidence must meet the timing rule: its most recent date must fall within 31 days before the application. Appendix Finance counts the holding period backwards from the closing balance on the most recent evidence.

Do not plan around the biometric appointment instead of the visa application date. Check every day in the required period, not just the final balance, and investigate any dip below the required total. Loans and qualifying official sponsorship have their own evidence rules; they should not be forced into the ordinary savings-account method.

Accounts, sponsorship and currency conversion

Use funds and institutions that satisfy Appendix Finance, including the control and access conditions. Parent or legal-guardian funds require relationship evidence and written consent. Qualifying partner funds, official sponsorship and regulated student loans are also subject to their specific conditions. A promise that someone will send money later is not the same as acceptable evidence now.

Statements, bank letters and other accepted records must identify the account holder, institution and balance as required. Appendix Finance normally uses OANDA on the application date for conversion to sterling, but specifies FCDO Consular Exchange Rate treatment for currencies not listed there and for Iranian rials. Do not assume a convenient retail or transfer-app rate is the immigration conversion rate. Allow a sensible planning margin for exchange-rate movement.

Exceptions and dependants

Some applicants do not need to submit ordinary financial evidence, including qualifying in-country applicants with at least 12 months’ valid permission, Student Union Sabbatical Officers and specified doctor or dentist training cases. Differential-evidence arrangements can remove the upfront document requirement without removing the requirement to hold the money; UKVI can request evidence. Check your precise category rather than assuming a nationality exemption means no financial requirement.

If eligible dependants are applying, add their separate requirement: currently £845 per month in London or £680 outside London, up to nine months for each dependant. That is £7,605 or £6,120 for nine months. Dependant eligibility is restricted, particularly for postgraduate courses starting from 1 January 2024; an ordinary taught master’s does not automatically allow dependants. Confirm eligibility and any dependant-specific evidence exception before adding family calculations.

Final financial-evidence check

Prepare a calculation sheet showing the CAS fee, evidenced payments, study location, maintenance months, any lawful offset and each eligible dependant. Match the sheet to the bank or sponsorship evidence and retain the underlying records. Common avoidable errors include using old maintenance figures, deducting private rent, missing a balance dip, choosing the wrong currency rate or treating an evidence exemption as a funding exemption.

Use the official pages below again immediately before applying. A correct arithmetic example cannot confirm that a particular bank account, sponsorship letter or application meets every rule.

General information, not individual immigration advice. Official sources were reviewed for this edition; check the linked guidance again before acting.

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