Student visa

You must prove that:

• you’ve been accepted onto a course provided by an accredited UK institution listed on the GOV.UK website
• the course is no more than 6 months long (unless it’s a distance learning course)

The accredited UK institution cannot be an academy or state-funded school.

Distance learning courses

If you’re doing a distance learning course, your course can last longer than 6 months. This is because most of your study will happen outside of the UK.

You can visit the UK to do certain activities as part of your course, for example:

• attend induction weeks
• do face-to-face intensive learning
• have progress checks
• sit exams or assessments

You must prove that:

• you’re at least 16 years old
• you’re already enrolled on a course overseas that is the equivalent of a UK degree
• you’ve been accepted by a UK higher education institution to take part in research that’s relevant to the course you’re studying overseas

You can visit for up to 6 months to do your research.

You must prove that you’re:

• at least 16 years old
• already enrolled on a course overseas that is the equivalent of a UK degree - the course must be in medicine, veterinary medicine and science, nursing, midwifery, or dentistry
• doing an elective at a UK higher education institution as part of your course

You must not treat patients.
You can visit for up to 6 months to do your elective.

You can visit for up to 6 months to take the OSCE or PLAB test.

If you do not pass the PLAB test, you can apply to stay in the UK for a further 6 months to retake the test.

If you pass the PLAB test, you can apply to stay in the UK to do an unpaid clinical attachment or dental observer post. You can stay in the UK for up to 18 months in total.