Child Student Visas

The Child Student Visa

Who needs to apply for a Visa?

Overseas pupils who do not hold a British passport or who do not have settled or pre-settled status in the UK need to apply for a visa before they start at Uppingham. The visa is ‘course based’, and so:

• one application will be needed for the GCSE course, and
• an additional application will be required for the A Level course.

You cannot apply for a visa until six months before the start of the academic course, or three months if you are applying from within the UK.

What documents will I need?

• A current passport
• A Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS)

This is an electronic document issued by Uppingham to you and is generated for us by the UK Visas and Immigration. This will provide you with a reference number which you will need to enter on your visa application. The CAS is valid for six months and is valid only for studying at Uppingham.

• A letter of parental consent which
  • confirms the relationship between the parents and the child
  • confirms the parents’ permission for the visa application
  • confirms the parents’ permission for the child to travel to the UK
  • confirms the parents’ permission for the child to be a boarder at school
  • is signed by both parents (or by just one parent if they have sole responsibility for the child)

There is a template letter on the Uppingham website that you can use.

How much will this cost?

You will need to pay:

• £490 for the visa
• £776 per year of the visa (so £1552 for a 2-year visa) for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Please be aware that this is an annual charge but, significantly, it provides full access to the National Health Service at no extra cost. You will be given a reference number once the payment has been made. Comprehensive guidance can be found on the Government Website.

Will I be asked to provide anything else?

• You may be asked to provide proof that you can pay for the first academic year of the course. This can be done either by paying the first year’s school fees in advance (please note, the Additional (overseas) Deposit does not count as part of this) or by a bank-slip, bank statement or certificate of deposit that shows you have held enough money to cover the first year’s school fees. This must show that you have held the required money for (at least) a consecutive 28 day period which ends within the 31 day period before you paid your visa fee online. It is this detail that most commonly causes an application to fail and thus we encourage families to pay a year’s fees in advance whenever possible. Please note that this is in addition to paying the Additional (overseas) Deposit equivalent to a term’s fees. There is a list of countries which do not normally need to provide evidence of funding in this link.
• You may be asked to provide your tuberculosis (TB) test results. You will find the 3 conditions for a TB test and a list of countries in the link below that are likely to require a TB certificate which must be obtained before the application: https://www.gov.uk/tb-test-visa
• Please keep the original offer letter of a place at Uppingham and the letter confirming that we have received the Acceptance Form and your Overseas Entry deposit, as useful supporting documents if needed.
• As part of the application your child will need to prove their identity. How you do this depends on where you are from and what type of passport your child has. They will either have their biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) taken at a visa application centre, or you will use the “UK Immigration: ID check” app to scan their passport. You will be told what you need to do when you apply.

What will a successful application look like?

There are two possibilities.

A) If your child has had their biometrics taken (which is normally the case outside the EU):

• they will be issued with a BRP card (Biometric Residence Permit). The card itself is collected after you arrive in the UK.
• You must arrange for this BRP card to be delivered to Uppingham School in the application. You will be given the option for the BRP to be delivered to a Post Office (in Leicester) (don’t choose this) or to your sponsor (Uppingham) (do choose this). When you are asked for Uppingham’s ACL (Alternative Collection Location) code please put: 2SC242.
• If you do not put Uppingham School as the delivery point, the BRP card will be delivered to the Post Office in Leicester. Unfortunately, we will then have to charge you £125 for us to go and collect it, and there is a very limited number of staff with the Home Office permission to do this. This is a hassle for you and for us!
• This BRP card is proof of the holder’s right to study in the UK. It is a very important form of identification and it must be shown at borders together with the passport when travelling from, and when returning to, the UK.
• The UK government is planning to phase out BRP cards by January 2025 and replace them with a digital visa, although the final details of this have not yet been publicised. Therefore, do not be surprised if the BRP card states it is only valid until 12/2024. At some stage later this year you will be required to set up an online account so that you can update the visa to a digital one, and we will send out more information about this in due course.

B) If your child was asked to use the “UK Immigration: ID check” app to scan their passport (which is normally the case inside the EU):

• They will get a digital immigration status which they can view and prove online.
• In order to do this they will need their passport number, date of birth and access to their mobile phone number or email address that were used on the application, so that a code for logging in can be sent to them.
• EU pupils given a digital immigration status should not enter the UK for the purpose of starting at Uppingham until they have received this digital Child Student visa.
• Please inform us when your digital visa has been granted by the Home Office so that we can then initiate the final step of checking your digital visa before the start of term.

Short Term Visas

These are not relevant for Uppingham as this visa only applies to English language courses between 6-11 months. However, if you are from the EU and planning to study at Uppingham for under 6 months then no visa is required. There is certain advice about what you may need to provide at the border which can be found via this link.

Further help

The UK immigration process sometimes feels difficult to navigate. If you would like to employ expert help, we do recommend the firm Fragomen, which has a dedicated child student visa team that specialises in assisting applicants navigate the visa process. If you are interested in using their services, please contact:

Naomi Goldshtein: +44 (0)207 090 9276 or [email protected]

New Passports

If you are planning to obtain a new passport at the time of the visa application or have recently obtained one, please make sure that the Uppingham School Admissions Office is aware of this and that the details of any new passport are sent to the Admissions Office.

Who should keep my passport and BRP?

It is important that parents and guardians do not take your passport and BRP and decision letter away from Uppingham School as they will need copying for files here at School. During term time we recommend that these documents are handed over to the Housemaster or Housemistress for safe keeping.

Lost BRPs

Please report a lost BRP to the police immediately and keep the police record. The loss should also be reported to UKVI and the Uppingham Admissions Department must also be informed. Please do be aware that obtaining a replacement BRP is complex, very time-consuming and expensive, so a BRP must be taken care of, just like your passport.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us as follows:

Child Student Visa Information | PDF 490KB