Studying in the UK: Funding, Visas, and How the Money Works

Studying in the UK: funding, visas, and how the money works

UK tuition costs more than most of continental Europe but less than the US. The visa system is specific and unforgiving about paperwork, and several of its numbers change on fixed dates rather than drifting gradually. Because UK undergraduate tuition is capped by law only for Home students, international students pay whatever the university’s own overseas rate is, and that rate varies enormously by institution and subject.

Tuition costs for international students

Fees at Russell Group universities sit well above the national range you’ll see quoted for “most UK universities.” Oxford’s own course fees page states overseas annual course fees for 2026/27 run from £37,380 to £62,820, with clinical medicine priced higher again. Cambridge publishes its 2026 entry tuition by subject group, from £29,052 for arts and humanities up to £70,554 for Medical and Veterinary Science. On top of that, Cambridge charges a separate annual College fee for most international students, covering educational, domestic and pastoral support from your college; the exact amount varies by college and is published each year in Cambridge’s own tuition fee documents, so check your specific college’s current figure rather than a single number that applies everywhere.

Contact your target universities directly to confirm their exact fees for your subject and level. University fee pages for 2026-27 entry are the only reliable source; aggregator sites routinely quote stale or averaged figures, and fees typically rise each year.

Living costs

The figures that matter for your visa application are set by the Home Office, not by cost-of-living estimates. UK government guidance states you need £1,529 per month for courses in London, or £1,171 per month outside London, for up to 9 months, to meet the student visa’s financial requirement. Your actual spending may differ from this figure depending on your city and lifestyle, but this is the number your visa application is assessed against.

Budget realistically above the visa minimum if you can. London is consistently the most expensive city to study in; smaller university towns like Oxford and Cambridge carry their own cost pressures despite not being London; and other major cities are generally cheaper. Research your specific target city’s actual costs rather than relying on a single national average.

Visa fees and the requirements you need to meet

A Student visa application costs £558, whether you’re applying from outside the UK or extending or switching from inside the UK, according to gov.uk. You’ll also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS): £776 per year for students, so a two-year master’s degree means roughly £1,552 in IHS on top of the £558 visa fee, a total of about £2,110.

To qualify for a Student visa you need, in gov.uk’s own words: an offer from a licensed student sponsor, enough money to support yourself and pay for your course, and the ability to speak, read, write and understand English. There isn’t a separate published points breakdown on the current student visa guidance, but all three of those requirements are non-negotiable: falling short on any one of them is enough to fail the application, regardless of how strong the others are.

The visa brake: four nationalities cannot currently get a Student visa from abroad

One rule sits above everything else in this guide for a small group of applicants. Since 26 March 2026, the UK government refuses Student visa applications made from outside the UK when the main applicant is a national of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar or Sudan. Gov.uk calls this a “visa brake”. It applies to any application submitted online after 12:01am on that date, and it includes people who already hold a valid Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). An offer from a university, or a scholarship you have already won, does not change the outcome.

Three details matter. The brake depends only on the main nationality you give on the application form, not on where you live. It does not cancel a visa that has already been granted, and people who already hold a valid UK visa can still apply to extend or switch from inside the UK. And it is not permanent: gov.uk says it will be reviewed regularly and will end only when the government considers it appropriate, with no end date announced. A separate brake on Skilled Worker visas applies to Afghan nationals only.

If you hold one of these four nationalities, read the current gov.uk page before you spend months on a UK application, and check it again close to your deadline, since it can change. The UK-hosted scholarships in our directory that are open to these nationalities and lead to Student visa study carry the same note in their eligibility section.

Proof of funds: the 28-day rule

Your visa application will fail if you can’t prove you have enough money. Gov.uk is specific about the mechanics: you need to show your qualifying funds sat in your account for at least 28 consecutive days, and the last day of that 28-day period must fall within 31 days of the date you submit your application. If you submit on 1 January, your funds need to have been in place for the 28-day period ending on 1 December, as gov.uk’s own worked example puts it.

The amount required is capped at 9 months, regardless of how long your course actually runs. A one-year master’s and a longer course both use the same 9-month cap for the living-cost calculation; only your course fee itself, shown on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), is charged in full.

Acceptable proof includes your own bank statements, evidence from a student loan or sponsorship company, and money from family members with the right supporting evidence of your relationship. Gov.uk maintains a specific list of countries exempt from proving this financial requirement at all under a “differential evidence requirement,” so check whether your own nationality is on that list before assuming you need 28 days of statements.

One error catches out real applicants: letting your balance drop below the required amount at any point during the window resets the clock. Leave the money untouched for the full 28 days.

English language requirements

Gov.uk requires proof of English at CEFR level B2 for degree-level study, provable in one of several ways: a UK school qualification (GCSE, A level, or the Scottish equivalent), a degree taught in English and awarded by a UK institution, a non-UK degree taught in English (verified through an Ecctis equivalency assessment), or passing an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT).

Be careful here, because this is where a lot of guides get specific tests wrong. The Home Office’s own approved SELT list is narrow: IELTS for UKVI or IELTS Life Skills, PTE Academic UKVI or PTE Home, specific LANGUAGECERT SELT products, and Trinity College London’s Secure English Language Tests. The Duolingo English Test is not on this list and is not a Home Office-approved SELT for a Student visa. Where Duolingo does come in is separately: if you’re studying at degree level with a Higher Education Provider, that university can assess your English itself using its own test, which some universities do accept as Duolingo, but that’s the university’s own decision, not a Home Office SELT approval. Confirm directly with your specific university which route applies to you, and don’t assume a test is accepted just because you’ve seen it listed on a scholarship blog.

If you already hold a degree taught in English, you may not need a fresh test, but for a non-UK degree this requires a formal Ecctis assessment, not just a note from your university, so start that process early if it applies to you.

University-specific scholarships

The University of Manchester’s Equity and Merit Scholarships fund 20 full-time, on-campus places (tuition, return airfare, living costs and visa costs) and 10 part-time distance-learning places (tuition only) each year, for applicants from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The August window that closes each year is for the following year’s entry, not the same year, so the 2026 window (1 to 31 August 2026) is for the 2027/28 academic year, not 2026 entry as some listings imply. You apply for the scholarship first; only successful applicants are then invited to apply for admission to their actual course.

The University of Leeds offers a tiered set of automatic international scholarships, worth £3,000, £6,000 or £16,000 depending on eligibility, as fee reductions rather than cash payments; the specific tier and eligible countries or regions depend on your faculty and programme, so check your own faculty’s scholarship page directly rather than assuming the same figure applies everywhere.

Oxford’s Clarendon Fund offers over 200 fully funded graduate scholarships a year, across all subjects, with automatic consideration if you apply by your course’s December or January deadline; there’s no separate scholarship application to submit. Cambridge’s Gates Cambridge Scholarship, in the Trust’s own words, “covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge” plus additional discretionary funding, for outstanding postgraduate applicants from outside the UK. Both are genuinely competitive; check each institution’s own scholarship page for current eligibility and numbers specific to your subject.

Government scholarships

Chevening funds one-year master’s degrees and requires a minimum of two years of work experience after your undergraduate degree. Chevening’s own page confirms the award includes tuition fees, economy travel to and from your country of residence, an arrival and departure allowance, visa costs, a contribution toward TB testing where required, and a monthly living allowance (stipend) that depends on whether you’re studying inside or outside London; Chevening states these rates are reviewed annually and confirms your specific rate in your Conditional Award Letter rather than publishing one fixed figure centrally, so don’t budget around a number you’ve seen quoted elsewhere without confirming your own rate directly.

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission funds postgraduate study for citizens of eligible low- and middle-income Commonwealth countries. Its own current page for Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships states the stipend (living allowance) is £1,712 per month, or £2,000 per month for scholars at universities in the London metropolitan area, plus approved airfare, full tuition fees, and a study travel grant. One detail worth knowing: you cannot apply directly to the CSC. Applications go through a national nominating agency or an approved NGO/charitable-body nominator in your own country, which then puts forward its own candidates to the CSC; the CSC does not accept direct applications. For the 2027/28 cycle, applications open 8 September 2026 and close 20 October 2026, with nominators submitting their own candidates to the CSC by December 2026.

The application timeline

For undergraduate applications through UCAS for 2027 entry, Oxford, Cambridge, and most medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry courses have a deadline of 15 October 2026. Most other undergraduate courses have an equal consideration deadline of 13 January 2027; you can still apply after that date, but without the same guarantee of consideration alongside earlier applicants. Apply by the earlier deadline where it applies to you, and by the equal consideration date otherwise, since a later application competes for whatever places remain.

Postgraduate applications don’t run through UCAS and have no single UK-wide deadline. Universities accept applications until places fill, which can mean popular programmes closing as early as December and others staying open into the summer. Apply earlier rather than later, and don’t assume a programme you’re interested in will still be accepting applications in June.

Once you have an unconditional offer, you can apply for your Student visa up to 6 months before your course starts if you’re applying from outside the UK (3 months if applying from inside the UK); you cannot apply earlier than that window opens. Build in at least 6 to 8 weeks before your intended arrival for processing.

Post-study work options

After graduating, you can apply for the Graduate Route visa without needing a job offer. Gov.uk confirms it lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, and 3 years if you completed a PhD or other doctoral qualification. The application fee is £937, plus the healthcare surcharge, which gov.uk states is usually £1,035 per year of the visa.

Bringing family members

Most Student visa holders cannot bring dependants (a partner or children under 18). Gov.uk is specific about the exception: you can only bring dependants if you’re a government-sponsored student on a course longer than 6 months, or a full-time postgraduate student on a course at RQF level 7 or above lasting 9 months or more, and if that postgraduate course starts on or after 1 January 2024, it must specifically be a PhD or other doctorate (RQF level 8) or a research-based higher degree. A standard taught master’s does not qualify you to bring dependants under the current rules, even though it sits at postgraduate level. If dependants matter to your plans, confirm your specific course’s eligibility with UKVI or your university’s international office before assuming either way.