For details, see our Student visa and Studying for less than 6 months pages.
This page provides a comparison between a Student visa and Visitor visa for those students who are studying on a course that is less than 6 months.
| Student visa route | Visitor visa route |
|---|---|
| Allowed to work part-time during semester time and full time out of semester time. | Not allowed to work at all. |
| The visa lasts until 7 days after the course end date - unless it is a pre-sessional course, in which case the visa should end one month after the course end date. | Valid for a maximum of 6 months. |
| ISAT will be able to advise you whether you can apply for your visa in the UK or whether you must apply from home. | You cannot apply in the UK. If you are a visa national, you need to apply for a visa from your home country. If you are a non-visa national, you can enter the UK as a visitor or apply from you home country. |
Application fee: £363 outside of the UK and £490 inside the UK. You do not need to pay the Immigration Healthcare Surcharge (IHS) for a course which is less than 6 months. Only some treatment provided by the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is free for everyone, so we recommend you get private insurance. More information is provided on the UKCISA Health and Healthcare page. | £100 for a 6 month visa if you are a visa national and need to apply for a visa before you travel. If you are a non-visa national you can enter the UK as a visitor and will not need to pay a fee. |
| See above. | Only some treatment provided by the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is free for everyone, so we recommend you get private insurance. More information is provided on the UKCISA Health and Healthcare page. |
| You can normally extend this visa. In some cases this can be in the UK. Check with ISAT regarding your situation. | You cannot extend this visa. If you need additional time to study, you would need to leave the UK and apply for another visa. However, the UKVI may refuse your application if you are making frequent visitor visa applications. You should contact ISAT if you need another visitor visa to complete your studies. |