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
• a separate (additional) application will be required for the A Level course for those staying for two or four years with us.

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:

• UKVI application fee of £490 for the visa
• Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) of £776 per year of the visa (so £1552 for a 2-year visa). This provides full access to the National Health Service and so all NHS medical treatment in the UK incurs 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.
• Administration Fee: We will make a charge of £475 on the first end of term bill. This charge covers the cost of preparing and issuing the CAS for each visa, and of carrying out our responsibilities as your child’s sponsor throughout their GCSE or A level course.

Will I be asked to provide anything else?

• You may be asked to provide your child’s birth certificate
• 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. To avoid this potential danger, families may decide to pay a year’s fees in advance. Please note that this is in addition to paying the Additional (overseas) Deposit equivalent to a term’s fees. For many of you this will not be a requirement, and there is a list of countries which do not normally need to provide evidence of funding in this link: https://www.gov.uk/child-study-visa/money
• 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 may depend 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?

• You will be notified via a GOV.UK email with the decision. This email will also tell you how to access the digital visa / eVisa. You will have to set up a UKVI account for your child. Your child will get a digital immigration status which they can view and prove online via the ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service.
• As you follow the steps in the above link you will be able to prove your child’s UK status by requesting a share code (a mixture of letters & numbers) which I would then ask you to send to [email protected].
• It is most important that we receive this share code before your child flies to the UK. so that we can then see and evidence the e-visa.

Comprehensive guidance can be found on the Government website; the overview can be found via this link: https://www.gov.uk/study-uk-child-student-visa

New Passports

If your child needs to obtain a new passport at the time of the visa application or has 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 [email protected].

If your child renews their passport in the future, then they will need to update their UKVI account so that the new passport is linked to their digital visa. This can be done via this link: https://www.gov.uk/update-uk-visas-immigration-account-details

Short Term Visas

If your child is planning to study at Uppingham for under 6 months, then from 5^th  March 2025 they will need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). You will find further information about the ETA application via this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta

Please note that your child will also need to travel with:

• a ‘confirmation of studies letter’ which Uppingham will provide.
• a copy of the ‘parents consent letter’, stating the parents’ consent for their child to travel alone and to live as a boarder at Uppingham. This letter should also contain the parents’ contact details.

Who should keep my passport at school?

During term time we recommend that the passport is handed over to the Housemaster or Housemistress for safe keeping.

Visas for parents travelling to the UK

Parents travelling to the UK may need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) or a Standard Visitor Visa. You can check which visa you need depending on your nationality via this link:  https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

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]

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

Child Student Visa Information | PDF 490KB