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  • Standard Visitor visa for short courses, periods of study and returning for graduation

Standard Visitor visa for short courses, periods of study and returning for graduation

The information on this page was last updated in May 2025.

Ask us a question about visas

When do I need a Standard Visitor visa for study reasons?

Visitor visas can be used to study for less than six months. The most common reasons are:

  • For a short course of less than 6 months such as English Language.
  • Study as part of a Study Abroad or Exchange Programme.
  • An agreed short period of research or research tuition that forms part of your postgraduate overseas degree.
  • To undertake an ‘Elective’ in the UK that is relevant to your medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, midwifery, or dentistry overseas degree course.
  • To come to the university for a short period if you are studying a degree course via Distance Learning.

If you are coming to the UK to study a full-time degree course at the University of Brighton, you will normally need to apply for a Student visa, unless we have advised you otherwise.

  • How to apply for a Student visa from outside of the UK
  • How to extend your Student visa if you are already in the UKK

If you are unsure if you need a Student visa or a Standard Visitor visa, please contact us using our visa enquiry form.

Conditions of Visitor visas

There are some restrictions on what you can do in the UK if you enter as a visitor. These include:

  • Work is not permitted while you are in the UK. This includes unpaid work that is part of your course. If your course includes a work placement, you will need to contact us to check your eligibility for a Student Visa.
  • Not being able to extend the Visit visa or apply to switch to another immigration category from within the UK.
  • Not having full and free of charge access to all NHS services; you should therefore hold comprehensive travel insurance when you come to the UK as a visitor. See our healthcare guidance for more information.

How to apply for a Standard Visitor visa

You can find information on the requirements for a Standard Visitor visa for study purposes on the UK government website as well as information on how to apply for a visitor visa.

If you are a “visa national”, you *must* apply for and obtain entry clearance as a Standard Visitor before you travel to the UK. Find out if you are a visa national.

If your application is successful you should be granted a visa that is valid for six months.

Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)

If you are *not* a “visa national” you do not need to apply for a Visitor visa before coming to the UK as you can seek entry upon your arrival at immigration at the UK border. However, you *must* apply for and obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before you travel to the UK.

Find out more about the ETA scheme, including the application fee and how to make an application on the ETA website.

An ETA is valid for two years but if you are granted ‘permission to enter’ the UK as a Standard Visitor it will only be for six months. Please note that should you leave the UK during this period the visit permission you have will lapse. You will need to seek permission again on your return.

Using eGates at the UK border

If you are a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA you will usually be able to use the eGates when you enter the UK. This means you will not receive a stamp in your passport that shows when you entered the UK. It is important you keep evidence of the date you entered the UK as the university will need this as proof of when your permission to enter expires.

Requirements and evidence

Please note that you must provide the relevant and required documents with a Standard Visitor visa application as explained in the UKVI guidance. If you need to obtain a visa, you provide the documents with your application; if you seek entry at the border, you show your documents to the immigration officer.

  • The university will provide you with a Study visit visa letter. To request this letter please email us at Non-T4@brighton.ac.uk.
  • If you are coming to study at postgraduate level or undertake research in certain sensitive subject areas you may need an ATAS Certificate in order to be able to start your course or period of research.
  • You do not need to submit this with your visa application, but you will need to provide it to the university in order to enrol.
  • You also need to provide evidence that you can afford to pay for your tuition fees (if applicable), accommodation and other living costs while you are in the UK.
  • There is no fixed amount of money you need to show, although as a guide, the requirements for a Student visa are that you have £1,136 for each month of your course plus any tuition fees.
  • If you are coming to undertake research or research tuition, Study Abroad or Exchange or an Elective please note that you must provide a letter from your home university that confirms it consents to the visit and that the study is relevant to your course.

Returning to the UK for your graduation

If your Student visa is due to expire before your graduation ceremony and you are not applying to remain in the UK in another immigration category (for example the Graduate Route or Skilled Worker), you will usually need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa in order to attend the graduation ceremony.

You will need to do this from outside of the UK. It is *not* possible to extend a Student visa for the purpose of attending your graduation ceremony or to apply for a Visitor visa from within the UK

For advice on whether you need to apply for a Standard Visit visa before you return to the UK or if you can travel to the UK without a visa, but with an ETA, and seek entry upon your arrival, please see the guidance above under Visit visa for study purposes.

You will need to contact the ceremonies team by email ceremony.administration@brighton.ac.uk to ask for a letter confirming that you are invited to the ceremony and provide this with your visa application or when you arrive at UK immigration.

If you are inviting guests to the ceremony who need to apply for a Visitor visa, please note the Ceremonies team cannot provide an ‘invitation letter’ specifically for your guests, but the letter they issue will confirm the details of your graduation ceremony and that you are able to invite guests.

We are not able to name guests on the letter. You should, however, provide your own invitation letter with your guests’ details, and confirm you are inviting them to attend your ceremony and provide this with their application.

Please note that you and any guests applying for Visitor visas should provide all the documents mentioned above *and* the relevant documents listed in the UKVI guidance.

Further information

  • UKCISA Visitors

This guidance is for the sole use of University of Brighton applicants and students. It is a guide only and must be used in conjunction with the information referenced on the gov.uk website. The information in this guidance is given in good faith and has been carefully checked. However, the University of Brighton accepts no legal responsibility for its accuracy.

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