Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026

UK Student Visa Eligibility: The Offer, the CAS and the Basic Requirements

NEW Published 30 October 2026

Illustration of an applicant checking an eligibility list beside a university gate

Who can apply for a UK Student visa, what counts as an eligible course and sponsor, and the requirements GOV.UK states — including the ones with no published exceptions.

UK Student visa eligibility is not a points score you can optimise in the abstract. GOV.UK defines it as a short set of conditions that must all be true at once: the right age, an offer from a licensed sponsor proven by a CAS, enough money, and English at the level your course demands. This guide works through those conditions in GOV.UK's own order and wording, and flags the two eligibility questions applicants most often get wrong — dependants, and applying from inside the UK.

Quick answer

You are eligible to apply for a Student visa if you are 16 or over and: you have been offered a place on a course by a licensed student sponsor (proven by a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies — a CAS); you have enough money to support yourself and pay for your course; and you can speak, read, write and understand English. If you are 16 or 17 you also need your parents' consent, with evidence. Everything else on this route — the money amounts, the English levels, the dependant rules — is a working-out of those three conditions.

The route opens at 16. GOV.UK states you can apply if you are 16 or over, and adds a condition for the youngest applicants: if you are 16 or 17, you need consent from your parents, and you will need evidence of it when you apply. The documents are specific — written consent from both parents or legal guardians (or one parent with sole responsibility) covering your visa application, your living and care arrangements in the UK, and your travel to the UK — plus a copy of your birth certificate or another government-issued document showing your parents' names.

GOV.UK also notes that 16 and 17 year olds may be eligible for a Child Student visa instead. The two routes are different products for different school situations; this guide covers the Student visa only.

The offer must come from a licensed student sponsor — an education provider the Home Office has licensed to sponsor students. An offer from an unlicensed provider cannot support a Student visa application, whatever the course. Your provider proves the offer by issuing your CAS, and GOV.UK's sequence is strict: you need the CAS before you can apply, and you must apply within 6 months of receiving it.

What the provider must be also matters later: if you go on to apply for a Graduate visa, GOV.UK requires that your education provider be a licensed sponsor "with a track record of compliance" — its status column on the official register reads "Student Sponsor - Track Record". Checking your provider's licence status before you commit fees is therefore not a formality. Our CAS guide explains the reference itself.

SECTION 03Which Courses Qualify

GOV.UK lists the courses you can take on a Student visa by level on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF):

a full-time course leading to a qualification at degree level or above (RQF level 6, 7 or 8)
a full-time course below degree level (RQF level 3, 4 or 5) with at least 15 hours a week of organised daytime study
a full-time course at degree level or above that is equivalent to a UK higher education course and is delivered as part of a longer course overseas
a part-time course leading to a qualification above degree level (RQF level 7 or above)
an English language course at CEFR level B2 or above
a course at RQF level 2 or above if you are on an Erasmus+ programme with a participating licensed student sponsor

GOV.UK notes the qualification levels are different in Scotland. You can also apply if you are taking up a full-time elected position as a Student Union Sabbatical Officer. What is not on the list matters as much: a part-time course at or below degree level, or a short course below B2 English level, does not fit this route — short study has its own visitor-based route on GOV.UK, outside this cell's scope.

SECTION 04The Money and English Conditions

Eligibility includes two conditions that have their own guides in this cell, stated here in headline form. Money: enough to pay your course fee for one academic year (the amount on your CAS) plus £1,529 a month in London or £1,171 a month outside London for up to 9 months, held for 28 days in a row — see the financial requirement guide. English: CEFR B2 at degree level or above, B1 below degree level, proven by qualification or an approved Secure English Language Test unless an exemption applies — see the English requirement guide. Both conditions are eligibility, not paperwork detail: an application that fails either fails outright.

SECTION 05Eligibility to Bring Dependants Is a Separate Test

Your own eligibility does not extend automatically to your family. GOV.UK allows dependants only where the student is a government-sponsored student starting a course over 6 months, or a full-time student on a postgraduate course at RQF level 7 or above lasting 9 months or longer — and for postgraduate courses starting on or after 1 January 2024, only a PhD or other doctorate (RQF level 8) or a research-based higher degree qualifies. Undergraduate and taught-master's students starting now are not eligible to bring dependants. The full test, the money dependants need, and the position for children born in the UK are in our dependants guide.

SECTION 06Applying from Inside the UK: Extend or Switch

Eligibility also depends on where you apply from. Inside the UK, you may be able to extend a Student visa or switch to one from another visa. GOV.UK lists the visas you cannot switch from: a visit visa, a short-term student visa, a Parent of a Child Student visa, a seasonal worker visa, a domestic worker in a private household visa, or leave outside the immigration rules. To extend, you must be in the UK on a Student or Tier 4 (General) visa, hold a CAS for an unconditional offer, and show academic progress — your studies at a higher academic level than your current course, with exceptions GOV.UK names (resits, completing a PhD you started, intercalated medical courses, and others). Inside-UK applicants who have held a valid visa for under 12 months must still prove their money; at 12 months or more, they do not.

SECTION 07How Long the Visa Lasts

Eligibility is also time-bounded. GOV.UK states that if you are 18 or over and your course is at degree level, you can usually stay for up to 5 years, and below degree level usually up to 2 years — the total depends on your course length and the study you have already completed in the UK. A student planning consecutive courses should treat those "usually" caps as a real planning constraint and check the official guidance for their exact position.

FAQFrequently Asked Questions

Can I apply before I have an offer?

No. GOV.UK's sequence requires an unconditional offer from a licensed student sponsor first, proven by a CAS — and you need the CAS before you can apply.

Is there a minimum age, and what about 16 and 17 year olds?

You must be 16 or over. At 16 or 17 you also need your parents' consent, with evidence, and GOV.UK notes you may be eligible for a Child Student visa instead.

Can I study part-time on a Student visa?

Only above degree level: GOV.UK lists a part-time course leading to a qualification above degree level (RQF level 7 or above). Part-time study at or below degree level is not on the Student visa course list.

I am already in the UK on a visit visa. Can I switch to a Student visa?

No. GOV.UK lists the visit visa among the visas you cannot switch from. The same bar applies to short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, seasonal worker and domestic worker visas.

Does my university need a special status?

It must be a licensed student sponsor. For a later Graduate visa application, GOV.UK additionally requires the provider to be a licensed sponsor with a track record of compliance.

Editorial note: This AllVisaUpdates guide is general educational information — not legal advice, and it does not predict any decision. Every eligibility condition above comes from the official GOV.UK sources below, checked on 30 October 2026. Sponsor licensing and course eligibility are decided case by case by the Home Office and your provider — confirm your provider's status on the official register before relying on it.

Official references and verification status

These official references were accessed and checked on 30 October 2026, and this guide's claims were verified against them (see the accompanying sources file). Two honest limits apply. First, GOV.UK's plain-language pages summarise the Immigration Rules; where a case turns on the rules' exact text — academic progress exceptions are the common example — the rules and your sponsor decide, not this guide. Second, the register of student sponsors changes as licences are granted and revoked, so a provider's status must be checked live, not from any guide.

General educational information, not individualized legal or immigration advice. Follow the official GOV.UK instructions for your own situation, and consult a qualified UK immigration adviser regulated in the UK for advice about an individual case.

General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.