Financial evidence for your application

Announcement

Changes to maintenance (living cost) requirement from 1 November 2025

If you are applying for a Student visa or after 11 November 2025, the amount of money you will be required to show as evidence of meeting the maintenance (living cost) requirement is increasing to £1171 per month (up to a maximum of 9 months). Maximum £10,539 for nine months.

How much money do you need to have?

If your course is more than 9 months

Tuition fees for the academic year (minus fees you have already paid) + £10,224 for living costs
For example, if your tuition fees for a 1 year course are £17,650 and you have paid £1,000 deposit, you would need to show £17,650 - £1,000 + £10,224 = £26,874.

If your course is less than 9 months

Tuition fees for the course (minus any fees you have paid) + £1,136 for living costs for each month of the course.

We also recommend having an additional £500 to take into account currency fluctuations.

Please note

If you have paid Oxford Brookes money for accommodation, you can subtract £1,483 from your living costs. You will need to provide proof of what you have paid.
You must use the OANDA currency converter used by the UKVI when converting your currency to British Pounds (GBP). However, if you want to use the Syrian Pound or the Iranian Rial to meet the financial requirement, you need to use the FCDO Consular Exchange Rate (CER), not OANDA. Please contact ISAT if you are using the Syrian Pound or Iranian Rial to meet the financial requirement.
All students will need to prepare financial evidence as detailed below.
Students who are applying for permission to stay in the UK, and have been in the UK for at least 12 months with valid permission on the date of application do not need to show financial evidence to get their CAS or for their visa application.
If you are one of the countries listed under the differential evidence requirement, you do not need to provide proof you have the funds with your visa application. However, you must ensure you have the funds in place and your documents meet the UKVI requirements as the UKVI might still ask you to provide the evidence before you get your visa decision. If you cannot provide them, then your application will be refused. (In the link above, go to the section called 'Eligibility Requirements for a Student' and then to 'Differential Evidence Requirement' to check if your country is listed here.)

What evidence do you need to provide?

Below you will see what type of financial evidence you need to provide. If you do not have enough funds in one type of account, you are able to use a combination of different financial evidence.

Also see Other important requirements for financial evidence below for more information on what types of accounts you can use, translating documents into English, and what additional evidence you need to provide if using a parent's account.

1. Personal bank account

2. Official financial sponsorship

3. Student loans

1. Personal bank account: Bank statement or bank letter

Have you checked what type of account you can or can’t use? See the section below: What types of account can you use?

Your financial documents must show that the full amount of money you need to have has been in the account for 28 consecutive days up to the date of the closing balance. This account must not have dropped below the amount that you need to show at any time during the 28 day period.

The final date of the 28 day period must not be more than 31 days old on the date that you submit your application.

In addition to the financial evidence, we highly recommend providing the contact details of your bank's Head Office in a separate document and attach this to your visa application as the UKVI may try to contact your bank for verification of your financial documents. In the attachment it would be useful to include: the address of the bank's Head Office, the telephone number and email address. It is important to check with the bank that they are contactable using the contact details you are providing the UKVI.

Important information about your personal bank statement or letter

Your personal bank statement or letter must include the following information:

Your name or your parent’s/legal guardian’s name; joint account you hold with someone else; or the account can be in the name of the applicant’s partner who is applying for entry clearance or permission to stay at the same time or has been granted permission. If using a parent’s account, see section below: I am using my parent’s account, what else do I need to provide?
The account number.
The date of the statement or bank letter.
To be on official stationery
To include information about the bank, such as contact details or a branch code
The money you need to show has been in the account for 28 consecutive days up to the date of the closing balance.
For a bank statement, transactions going in and out must be seen.
For a letter, it must be signed by an official from the financial institution.
The documents must be translated into English. See section below: How can I translate my documents that are not in English?

Can I use more than one bank account?

Yes, but they would need to cover the same 28 consecutive day period. The total amount you need to show for each day (tuition fees + living costs) when adding together the total for each day over the different accounts, must not drop below the required amount over any of the 28 days.

2. Official financial sponsorship

You can only receive official financial sponsorship from:

your national government
an international organisation with offices in more than one country
one of the UK government’s sponsored programmes
the British Council
a university
a UK independent school.

If your financial sponsor is only covering some of your course fees or living costs, you must show that you have the rest of the money needed.

If you were previously sponsored

If you have, in the last 12 months before the date of application, completed a course of studies in the UK for which you have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a Government or international scholarship agency covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK, you must provide written consent in relation to the application from that Government or agency which confirms they have no objection to you continuing your studies in the UK.

Important information about your official financial sponsorship

If you are being given official financial sponsorship, you must provide a letter of confirmation. The letter must:

show your name
be on the official letter-headed paper of your financial sponsor which include the name, logo and contact details of your sponsor
the date of the letter
the length of your sponsorship
the amount of money the sponsor is giving to you or a statement that your official financial sponsor will cover all of your fees and living costs.

Applying with dependants

If you are applying with dependants, then their names must also be on the letter.

3. Student loans

The loan is provided by:

your national government
a government sponsored student loan company
or is part of an academic or educational loan scheme which is provided by a financial institution regulated for the purpose of issuing student loans by either the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or, in the case of an overseas loan, the official regulatory body for purpose of issuing student loans in the country in which the financial institution is located and where the money is held.

If your loan is only covering some of your course fees or living costs, you must show that you have the rest of the money needed.

The following guidelines are for educational loan schemes, however if you have received a student loan from the government, please contact us so we can advise on what should be included in the letter.

Important information about your educational loan scheme

You must have a letter from the regulated financial institution confirming the educational loan scheme.

The loan letter from a regulated financial institution that you send us must be dated no more than 6 months before the date of your application. The letter must clearly show:

the loan is part of an educational loan 'scheme' and not just an educational loan.
the loan is in your name (you cannot use educational loans held in the name of your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) as evidence of money held by you).
the date of the letter.
the letter should be on official headed paper with the financial institution’s name, logo and contact details.
the money available as a loan.
the funds will be available to the applicant before they travel to the UK, or paid directly to the university before travelling to the UK with the living cost portion of the loan being made available to the applicant by the time they arrive in the UK.
There must be no conditions placed on the release of the loan funds to you, other than your Student visa application being successful.

Other important requirements for financial evidence

What type of accounts can you use?

You can use cash funds held in:

a personal bank or building society account (including current, deposit, savings, pensions from which the funds can be withdrawn, or an investment account) provided the funds can be accessed immediately
held in an account belonging to the applicant, their partner (ONLY if they are applying for permission at the same time or have been granted permission),
the account of a parent or legal guardian (except for dependant partners)

You cannot use:

an overdraft
an account where the funds cannot be accessed immediately (including pension funds), or financial instruments such as stocks and shares, bonds, credit cards
an account of any relative except your parent’s bank account
a statement showing yours or your parent's payslip
a friend's bank account

I am using my parent's bank account, what else do I need to provide?

You must provide 2 additional documents:

Your birth certificate showing the names of your parent(s)/legal guardian(s)
A letter that confirms your relationship with your parents and that they have given you their permission to use their funds to study in the UK
Example parental consent letter

If you do not have a birth certificate, the UKVI will also accept a certificate of adoption showing names of both parent(s) or legal guardian(s); or a Court document naming your legal guardian(s). The document used must be the original legal document or a notarised copy.

How can I translate my documents that are not in English?

Any document that is not issued in English (or Welsh) must be officially translated. The translation document must include the following:

the translator/translation company’s contact details
confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document
the name and original signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company
the date of the translation

If you are applying inside the UK, you must also provide details of the professional translator/translation company’s credentials.

If you are outside the UK, the translation must be able to be independently verified by the Home Office.

Can I use Certificate of Deposits?

Certificates of deposits can be used to evidence funds if the document is issued by a bank which confirms that an individual has deposited or invested a sum of money, held it for the required 28 day period, and that the applicant can access the funds at any time. If all of this information is not on the Certificate, then you will need to provide a supporting letter. See checklist below:

Deposit Account Checklist

Originals or copies?

You can use originals or copies of your financial documents.

All financial documents submitted for your visa application must be on the letter-headed paper or show the organisations name and logo.

Which exchange rate do I use?

You should use the OANDA currency converter rates on the day of making your application as this is what the UKVI use.. If you want to use the Syrian Pound or the Iranian Rial to meet the financial requirement, you need to use the FCDO Consular Exchange Rate (CER), not OANDA. Please contact ISAT if you are using the Syrian Pound or Iranian Rial to meet the financial requirement.

Financial evidence for your application

Announcement

Changes to maintenance (living cost) requirement from 1 November 2025

How much money do you need to have?

If your course is more than 9 months

If your course is less than 9 months

Please note

What evidence do you need to provide?

1. Personal bank account: Bank statement or bank letter

Important information about your personal bank statement or letter

Can I use more than one bank account?

2. Official financial sponsorship

Important information about your official financial sponsorship

Applying with dependants

3. Student loans

Important information about your educational loan scheme

Other important requirements for financial evidence

What type of accounts can you use?

I am using my parent's bank account, what else do I need to provide?

How can I translate my documents that are not in English?

Can I use Certificate of Deposits?

Originals or copies?

Which exchange rate do I use?

More information and guidance