Study for less than 6 months

If you are coming to Oxford Brookes to study for less than 6 months you may be able to 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 or retaking modules. Please use the links below to decide which is the right option for you and contact ISAT if you are not sure.

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 are a 

  • visa national, or
  • non-visa national/EU/EEA/Swiss national. 

You can do this by seeing if the country you are a citizen of is on the Visa national list or EU/EEA country list.

Visa nationals

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 £100 for a 6 month Visitor visa.
  • Provide documents to show the reason for your visit (see Documents needed below).

Non-visa nationals/EU/EEA/Swiss nationals

If you are a non-visa national or EU/EEA/Swiss national, you do not have to apply for a visa before you travel to the UK - you can request entry as a visitor upon arrival. 

If you request to enter as a visitor upon arrival, you still might need to present all the documents to support your application to a Border Force Officer when you arrive in the UK. 

If you are a non-visa national from a specific country who can use the e-gates, you should still have these documents ready in case you are asked to present them. See Use of the e-gates and Documents needed in the sections below.

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 £1023 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

Non-visa 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.