Studying in London next year? The UK now wants £14,130 in your account
From 30 November, Student visa applicants for a London course must show £1,570 a month for nine months, £369 more than today. Outside London it is £1,203 a month. The same rule change also prepares for the UK's return to Erasmus+ in 2027, when short exchanges can skip the Student visa.
Anyone heading to a London university next year will need a bigger pile of money sitting in the bank. From 30 November, the UK Student visa asks for proof of £1,570 a month to live in London, up from £1,529. Outside the capital the figure moves from £1,171 to £1,203.
That sounds like small change until you multiply it.
The sum the caseworker will check
The UK asks for living costs for up to nine months of the course. In London that comes to £14,130, against £13,761 now, so £369 more. Outside London the total rises from £10,539 to £10,827, an extra £288. All of it sits on top of any first-year tuition you have not already paid.
The money has to stay in the account for at least 28 consecutive days, and that window must end no more than 31 days before you apply. People who have already lived in the UK on a visa for 12 months before applying do not have to show it.
The new figures sit in paragraphs ST 8 to ST 10 of the HC 584 statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, which sets 30 November as the start date. Applications made on or before 29 November are decided on the old amounts, so anyone with the savings ready has a month to get in first.
The Erasmus+ part
The same document carries a second change that matters more to students going for a term rather than a degree. The UK rejoins Erasmus+ in 2027, and HC 584 has already built the legal route, in force since 8 October: studying under the programme now fits inside the visitor category, as long as the course is run by an accredited institution taking part in Erasmus+ and the student can show they are genuinely on a mobility project.
In plain terms, a Portuguese student on a short Erasmus exchange would no longer need a Student visa, with its fees and its proof of funds. Erasmus traineeships and job shadowing are covered by the visitor rules too, and work placements on Erasmus courses are freed from the usual length limits.
Under-18s coming for a traineeship need written permission from a parent or legal guardian, and from their home institution.
Who feels it now
For full-degree students none of this softens the bill. EU citizens have needed a Student visa since Brexit, and the cost of getting there already includes the visa fee and the health surcharge before this larger deposit. It lands in the same week as the Budget decision to take the Graduate visa back to two years for some universities, which changes what happens after graduation.
If your application is close, the practical advice is short: file by 29 November and the old figures apply.
Illustration: Tugadaily
