Checked September 25, 2026. The UK Student visa application fee is currently £558 whether you apply from outside the UK or extend or switch from inside it. That number is only one part of a student’s budget. Most Student applicants also pay an Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), while tuition and required living-money evidence are separate. The official Student visa guide gives the current route and application charge.
Three amounts people often confuse
1. Government application fee: £558 for the Student visa application. This is not your university’s tuition or a payment for admission. 2. Healthcare surcharge: currently £776 per year at the student rate, generally paid as part of the application for the period of the visa. 3. Money to show: eligible applicants may need evidence that they can pay course fees and support themselves; those funds are not automatically paid to UKVI. Mixing these categories creates misleading “total visa cost” figures.
Why the IHS may exceed the course’s exact duration
The surcharge is assessed against the length of immigration permission, not simply the academic term dates printed on a prospectus. Student visas can include time before and after a course. A rough calculation of £776 multiplied by course years may therefore understate the actual charge. The government IHS page explains full-year and partial-year charging. Use the live application calculation for the final amount.
Illustrative example: if a Student applicant is charged for exactly two full years of permission, the simplified government payment would be £558 plus £1,552 IHS, or £2,110. This excludes tuition, possible extra visa time, optional services and living costs. It is not a quote for every two-year course.
What funds must be available?
The government normally asks for enough money for one academic year of course fees, up to nine months, based on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Where the maintenance requirement applies, the current monthly amounts are £1,529 for courses in London and £1,171 outside London, counted for up to nine months. That makes a nine-month living-funds illustration £13,761 for London or £10,539 outside London, in addition to the relevant unpaid course fees. These are amounts to evidence, not extra visa application fees. The Student visa guide’s “Money you need” section explains exceptions and how long funds normally must be held.
Some applicants do not need to submit financial evidence upfront because of their circumstances or nationality, but they may still be asked for it later. Do not interpret a lighter evidence rule as the university paying your living expenses. Scholarships and recognised loans have their own proof requirements. The amount already paid to the institution can affect the outstanding tuition amount shown on the CAS.
Dependants and different study routes
Not every international student can bring a partner or child under the Student route. Where a dependant is eligible, each person has a separate application fee and, ordinarily, a healthcare-surcharge calculation. A short English-language course may instead fall under a different visa route with a different fee; a brief permitted study visit can have different entry rules again. Start with the real course, its duration and the route named by your education provider rather than choosing the cheapest-looking fee row.
A payment checklist before you apply
Confirm the CAS details and course dates; check the current £558 application fee; estimate IHS using the actual expected visa duration; identify any tuition not yet paid; and establish whether you must show maintenance funds. Then allow for any currency conversion, document translation or optional appointment service. An intermediary’s quoted “student visa fee” should not conceal university charges or optional extras. Recheck official amounts at the payment stage: a published guide cannot guarantee that future government fees stay the same.