The UKCISA website is an invaluable resource for up-to-date guidance on visa and immigration related matters. We advise reading through their guidance thoroughly before deciding to travel to the UK to study as an international student.

A self-assessment can be undertaken via the UK Government’s Visas and Immigration website.

If your course is six months or fewer in duration (eg. if you are studying abroad for one term or will be an occasional student), you will not always require a Tier 4 visa.

Once you hold an unconditional offer, and once within 3 months prior to the start of the programme, we will begin to issue CAS. Once you receive your CAS, you should apply using the UK Government’s Visas and Immigration website under the Points Based System Form as a Tier 4 General Student.

You will be required to go to a specified centre and provide bio-metric details – as such it is advised to make arrangements to apply for the visa and comply with any requirements well in advance. You will typically be required to send your application to your nearest British Embassy or Consulate – as processing times can vary greatly, do ensure you allow for enough time.

You cannot apply for a visa more than 3 months prior to the start of the programme – doing so will result in your visa being automatically refused.

As per UKVI guidance, you may be required to provide the following as part of your visa application:

• a valid passport, and any old passports that were used to travel to the UK previously
• two recent passport photographs
• application fee
• your CAS number
• evidence used to obtain your offer of a place at the Courtauld (for example: original transcripts or certificates) as listed in your CAS. Your CAS should state whether or not you are required to include evidence of having taken a Secure English Language Test (SELT)
• evidence that you can afford your fees and maintenance as per UKVI requirements
• nationals of some countries are required to obtain a certificate confirming they are free from tuberculosis. You must ensure you get this before applying for your visa. More information can be found on the UKVI website
• nationals of some countries are considered to be “low risk nationals”. Please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/300949/Appendix_H.pdf . If you are a low risk national applying in your country of origin you may not need to supply your financial and academic documents at the time of application, but still should adhere and have the required documents available, as you may be asked to supply financial evidence at a later date.
• NHS surcharge

You will be issued with a visa grant letter and an entry vignette sticker once your visa application has been approved. The entry vignette will be provided in your passport – this will allow you to travel to the UK within a 30-day period. After arriving in the UK you will need to collect your Biometrics Residence Permit (BRP) – which is in effect your Tier 4 visa – from the UK post office selected on your application form at the application stage. This must typically be done within 10 days.

You must check the information (as indicated below) on both your entry vignette sticker and visa grant letter carefully and contact the issuing embassy if you suspect that a mistake has been made. If this problem results will delay your arrival/enrolment, please let us know immediately.

We recommend that you take a photocopy of your entry vignette sticker, visa grant letter and the information page of passport and store this is a safe place.

After receiving your Entry Vignette and Visa Grant Letter you should check the following:

• that the end date is what is expected – you should be granted a visa for the length of the course plus an additional 4 months if your course lasts for more than 12 months, the length of the course plus 2 months if the course lasts for between 6 and 12 months, and the length of the course plus one week if your course lasts for less than 6 months
• that it includes the Courtauld’s licence number of B57DU3E99 – you will not be able to enrol if this number is incorrect
• that it includes the correct work conditions – ie. “20 hours a week”
• that all your personal details are correct.

Information should be consistent throughout your Entry Vignette, Visa Grant Letter and BRP (details below).

Should your visa application be successful, you will be issued a temporary entry vignette in your passport valid for 30 days only from the date you intend to enter the UK.  Upon entering the UK you will be required to collect your BRP within 10 days of arrival. The BRP functions as your visa document representing your right to be in the UK.

As students cannot enrol without their BRP, it is essential that you plan to arrive in the UK in advance of your enrolment in order to allow enough time to collect your BRP.

Once you have your BRP:

You should contact UKVI immediately to resolve these issues if there are any mistakes on your BRP once you have picked it up: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/report-problem

Issues might include:

• unable to collect their permit within 10 working days of arriving in the United Kingdom;
• need someone to either collect their BRP on their behalf or accompany them to collect their BRP – because they are have a serious illness or disability, or they are under 18 and cannot collect their permit at the same time as their parent or legal guardian collects their own permit;
• lost their permit or it has been stolen; or
• identify a mistake on their permit.

Replacing a BRP could prove particularly costly.  Please read the information on the above website thoroughly and ensure you replace your BRP in the time allotted – failure to do so could result in a £1,000 fine.