Guide to the Child Student Visa

The Child Student Visa is for children who are nationals of a country other than the UK or Ireland.

To be successful, applicants must:

• Have an unconditional offer on a course from an eligible independent school
• Demonstrate that they have adequate income to pay for the course and to support themselves during the course
• Have the written consent of their parent or legal guardian to study in the UK

The Tier 4 (Child) Student Visa is no longer in existence, having been replaced by the Child Student Visa.

You can apply outside the UK for the visa six months in advance of your course start date and you will likely receive a decision in three weeks.

If you are applying from inside the UK, you can apply three months in advance of the course start date and you are likely to receive a decision within eight weeks.

Child Student Visa holders aged under 16 years can stay in the UK for the length of the course (up to six years) plus four months.

Visa holders aged 16 or 17 years old are permitted to stay for the length of the course (up to three years) plus four months following the end of the course.

You may be able to extend the visa if you are eligible in order to continue studying in the UK.