Who can sponsor a student?
There are several different ways that you can show you have the funds available for your studies.
Self Financing & Education Loan
A self-funded student is someone who plans to pay their course fee and living costs from their own money. They can show their own personal bank statements or education loan as financial evidence when applying for a visa.
Parent/Guardians
A parent or legal guardian can show financial evidence for your visa application. You must include evidence of their relationship to you. This can be:
- Your original birth certificate, showing the name of your parent(s) whose bank account you are using.
- An original certificate of adoption, showing your name and the name of your parent(s) whose bank account you are using.
- If you have a legal guardian, an original court document, which shows the name of your guardian(s) whose bank account you are using. This must have been issued when the student was still considered a child. An affidavit is not accepted as evidence of guardianship.
In addition to this you will also need to provide:
- A letter of support from your parent/legal guardian indicating that they are happy to provide their funds to you.
- Copies of their financial evidence which meets all UKVI requirements.
Other family members or friends
Anyone can pay money directly to your student sponsor on your behalf, for example to pay your deposit or remaining tuition fees.
However, you cannot use evidence of money held in any other person's name if they are not your parent or guardian. If another family member or friend wishes to sponsor your study in the UK, they can transfer the funds to your account, and you will be treated as a self-funded student.
You can use a joint account with another person, provided you are named as one of the account holders.
You can use an account from your spouse or partner alone but only where:
- They are applying for a UK visa at the same time as you, or,
- They already hold a UK visa.
Official financial sponsor
You can also be sponsored by an official financial sponsor, which includes:
- The UK government,
- Your national government,
- The British Council,
- Any international organisation,
- An international company,
- Any university,
- An Independent School.
If you receive funding from any of the named sources, you will need to provide a letter from the sponsor confirming how much money they will contribute towards your tuition fees and living costs. The letter must show:
- Your name,
- The name and contact details of the official financial sponsor,
- The length of the sponsorship,
- The amount of money the sponsor is giving to you, or a statement that all course fees and living costs will be covered.
The date of the letter must be no more than 6 months old when you use it to apply for your visa.
If your sponsor is not covering your full tuition fees and living costs, you must show financial evidence for the remainder when you make your visa application.
Company Sponsorship
The UKVI have strict rules about being sponsored by a company. Only International Companies can sponsor student visas. This means the company must have a trading presence in more than one country.
The company must be able to prove this by showing evidence such as registration certificates, licence numbers, or VAT/Tax letters.
The UKVI will verify the evidence both online and via access to internal resources.
If the company cannot meet the above requirements, they can transfer money to you for your tuition fees and living costs, but you will be regarded as a self-funded student.
Further information
Please do not send any documents until these are asked for by the Admissions Department or Immigration Team. When we ask for documents, unless we tell you otherwise, do not send original documents, send scans of them or very good quality photographs where all the details on the document can be seen. Keep original documents for your visa application.
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