Study for less than 6 months

If you are coming to Oxford Brookes to study for less than 6 months you can study on a Student visa or apply for a Standard Visitor visa/enter as a visitor to study. Studying on a Visitor visa or entering as a visitor could be the best route if you are studying for one semester on an exchange programme. Please use the links below to decide which is the right option for you and contact ISAT if you are not sure.

If you do not need a visa to enter the UK and do not hold a valid UK immigration status (eg. EUSS settlement), it is now mandatory to apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) before entering the UK. More details are given in the section, Nationalities who need to get an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) before travelling, below.

You must show that you are a genuine student and that you will leave the UK after 6 months. For further details, please see UKCISA’s guidance on showing you are a genuine student.

How to apply for a Visitor visa or enter as a visitor

Firstly, you will need to check if you:

Need a visa before travelling to the UK. You can do this by seeing if the country you are a citizen of is on the visa national list.
Need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). You can do this by seeing if the country you are a citizen of is on the ETA list.

Nationalities who need to get a visa before travelling

If you are a visa national, you will need to apply for a visa before you come to the UK by following the steps:

Complete the online application form. You will need to select 'short term study (up to 6 months)' as the main reason for your visit to the UK when you complete the application form.
Pay the application fees which is currently £127 for a 6 month Visitor visa. This will increase to £135 from 8 April 2026.
Provide documents to show the reason for your visit (see Documents needed below).

Nationalities who need to get an ETA before travelling

If you are one of the nationalities on the ETA list, you will need to apply online on the Government website or using the app. This will cost £16 per applicant (£20 per applicant from 8 April 2026) and once approved, the ETA will last 2 years or until your passport expires (whichever is sooner) and you can use it to make multiple visits to the UK.

If the ETA is refused, you will need to apply for a suitable visa such as Standard visitor visa or a Student visa.

You don’t need to apply for an ETA if:

you have a student visa,
you have another visa to enter the UK,
or you have permission to live in the UK due to a different immigration status (eg. EUSS settlement).

The ETA scheme is mandatory for all nationalities travelling to the UK as a visitor who does not need a visa. From 25th February 2026, everyone (except British and Irish citizens) wishing to travel to the UK will need a permission to travel.

The ETA gives you permission to travel, but it is not a permission to enter so you will still need to go through passport control, either by using the e-gates - if you are eligible (see section below, Use of the e-gates) - or with a Border Force officer if you are required to.

Documents needed

Documents needed with your Visitor visa application or when entering the UK as a visitor:

We advise that you use your Oxford Brookes unconditional offer letter.
Provide evidence that you have enough money to pay your tuition fees and you can support yourself while you are in the UK. As the UKVI does not give a specific amount, we suggest you use the Student visa maintenance requirements as a guide, which is £1,171 per month of your course. If you have already paid your tuition fees or accommodation cost, you should show receipts as evidence.
Please see the Home Office’s guidance for supporting documents for full details of what you should provide with your application.

Use of the e-gates

Nationals of the EU/EEA/Switzerland or Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA have the option of entering the UK via the e-gates if you have a biometric passport. If you enter this way, you automatically receive leave to enter the UK for 6 months as a visitor. You will not receive a stamp.

If you are from any of the countries listed above but do not have a biometric passport, you will need to see a Border Force Officer to enter the UK as a Visitor (see section above).

If you use the e-gates to enter the UK, you will need to keep documentation of your arrival into the UK as you will need to have a record of the date you entered. This could be your flight ticket/boarding pass/booking confirmation for the Channel tunnel. You will need to make sure you do not stay in the UK longer than 6 months after the date on this document. Please send this documentation to isct@brookes.ac.uk.

Healthcare

If you are in the UK on a Standard Visitor visa, only certain health services, for example accident and emergency services will be free for you. The UKCISA guidance on health and healthcare in the UK explains international students' entitlement to free medical treatment in the UK. As accessing medical treatment (other than emergency services described above) is prohibited as a visitor, we advise that you take out private medical insurance.

Visitor visa restrictions

You cannot:

apply for a Visitor visa in the UK.
extend your Visitor visa/stay as a visitor in the UK.
switch to Student visa in the UK.
do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person
claim public funds (benefits)
live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent or successive visits
marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership - you’ll need to apply for a Marriage Visitor visa.