A transfer that lands on day 20 does not count. That one sentence ends more British applications than any other rule in the system.
The United Kingdom is the largest and best understood study route, with the widest choice of programmes and the biggest international student community anywhere. It is also the most expensive year on our table, at $37,900 to $69,000 all in, and the money rule is the part that families get wrong. Not because it is complicated, but because nobody explains it in full before the fees are paid. This article does. Figures are from gov.uk and were checked in October 2026.
The rule in one box
- Living costs. £1,529 a month in London, £1,171 outside London, for up to nine months. Maximum £13,761 or £10,539.
- Plus tuition. Whatever part of year one you have not already paid, as shown on your CAS.
- 28 consecutive days. The full total in the account every single day of that period.
- 31 days. The statement’s closing date must be within 31 days of your online application date.
- £558 application fee from outside the UK, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is charged per year of the visa.
Step one: work out your number
Two parts. The first is living costs, and the Home Office does not care what you will actually spend. It uses a flat monthly figure, times the number of months in your course up to nine. A twelve-month master in Manchester is treated as nine months: £1,171 times nine is £10,539. A one-year master in London is £1,529 times nine, which is £13,761.
The second part is tuition. Your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, the CAS, states your first-year fee and records any amount you have already paid to the university. The difference is what you must show. If the fee is £18,000 and you paid a £5,000 deposit, you show £13,000 of tuition plus the living figure.
So a Manchester master with a £5,000 deposit paid needs £13,000 plus £10,539, which is £23,539, held for 28 days. In London with the same deposit it is £26,761. Those are the figures that quietly decide whether a family’s plan works.
Step two: understand what “28 days” means
The money must be in the account for 28 consecutive days, and the balance must not drop below your number on any day in that period. Not the average. Not the closing balance. Every day. If the balance dips £50 below the line on day 11 because a standing order went out, the 28 days start again on day 12.
Then the clock. The last day of the 28-day period, which is the closing date on the statement you submit, must be no more than 31 days before the date you submit the online application. In practice that means you print the statement and apply within the same month.
Step three: whose account counts
Your own account. The cleanest option. A current or savings account in your name, in any country, at a bank the Home Office recognises.
A parent or legal guardian. Accepted, with two extra documents: your birth certificate or adoption papers proving the relationship, and a signed letter from the parent confirming the relationship and consenting to you using the money. The statement must still show 28 clear days.
A joint account you hold with a parent counts as your own.
Anyone else does not count directly. An uncle abroad, an older sibling, a family friend, an employer. Their money must be transferred into your account, or a parent’s, and then the 28 days run from there. This is the single most common reason a well-funded family fails: the money existed, it was simply in the wrong name.
A sponsor or scholarship. If an official financial sponsor, a government, your employer or a university covers your costs, the sponsorship letter replaces the bank evidence for whatever it covers. It must state the amount and the period in writing.
Step four: what the statement must show
Bank statements, or a bank letter confirming the funds, must show your name or the account holder’s, the account number, the bank’s name and logo, the dates covered, and the balance on each day in the period. Online statements are fine if they carry all of that. A screenshot of a balance is not. If the account is in a currency other than pounds, the Home Office converts it on the day using the published rate, so leave a margin for the rate moving between the statement date and the decision.
Large deposits that appear shortly before the 28 days are not forbidden, but they attract questions. If a parent sold land to fund this, have the sale documents ready. Money with a documented source is never a problem. Money that appears from nowhere is.
Who does not have to show it
Three groups are exempt from the financial requirement. People who have lived in the UK on a valid visa for at least twelve months before applying. Student union sabbatical officers. And nationals of a list of countries the Home Office treats as low risk, who are exempt from submitting the evidence up front but can still be asked for it after applying, so the money should exist either way. Most African and South Asian nationals are not on that list and should plan to submit the evidence in full.
Dependants, since 2024
Standard undergraduate and taught master students cannot bring a partner or children. Only students on a government-funded scholarship or in a postgraduate research programme, such as a PhD or research master, can. For those who can, each dependant adds £845 a month in London or £680 outside, for up to nine months, held under the same 28-day rule.
The four ways families fail it
- The right money in the wrong name. Fix it by moving the money to your account or a parent’s early enough for 28 clean days before you apply.
- Counting from the first deposit, not the last. Fix it by writing the date the total was first complete on a calendar and adding 28 days.
- Applying too late after the statement. Fix it by applying within a week of printing the statement, not within a month.
- Showing living costs but forgetting the tuition balance. Fix it by reading the CAS line that says how much you have paid, and showing the rest.
Is Britain the right year for you?
The Graduate Route gives two years of work after a bachelor or master, three after a PhD, and that is worth a great deal. But the money bar is the highest on our table, and a family that can show £23,000 for a British application can show the funds for almost every other country we cost, several of them at a third of the price. The Route Finder puts Britain next to thirty four other countries against your actual figures, and it is worth four minutes before you pay a deposit.
