UK Student Visa Refusal Rate: How Hard Is It to Get Approved?

Show real reasons for this course and this sponsor, not a template answer.

1. Expect a caseworker to weigh your immigration history, past visa compliance, and whether this course is genuine academic progression from your last qualification.
2. Be ready for a Genuine Student interview. The Home Office generally cannot refuse on this ground without interviewing you first, except on repeat or near-identical applications.
3. Show a credible source of funds, and be able to explain who is paying and why, in your own words, matching your bank records.
4. If you plan to work part-time, or move onto a Graduate visa afterwards, say so. Wanting to stay on afterwards is not itself a reason to refuse you.
5. Keep your CAS, financial evidence and personal statement consistent. A mismatch between what you say and what your documents show is the most common credibility problem caseworkers flag.

Hold the exact amount for 28 days running, ending within 31 days of applying.

1. Budget £1529 a month if studying in London, £1171 a month outside London, for up to 9 months of the course.
2. A dependant needs £845 a month in London, or £680 a month outside it, for the same period.
3. Keep the money in place for 28 consecutive days, with the balance still there on the day you apply.
4. Check whether you’re exempt. Holding a UK visa for the last 12 months, or being from a country on the differential evidence list, can remove the need to show funds at all.
5. Match your bank records to your CAS. A deposit landing just before the holding period starts, or a mismatch with your CAS’s stated fees, is the most common financial refusal.

Confirm which CEFR level your course needs, and book an approved test if you’re not exempt.

1. Degree-level courses need CEFR B2, below-degree courses need B1.
2. A Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider is the usual route, unless you already hold a qualifying UK or English-taught degree, or UK GCSEs or A levels.
3. Nationals of majority English-speaking countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, are exempt.
4. If you’re using an overseas degree taught in English, expect an Ecctis equivalency check alongside it.
5. Check your result is still valid on the day you apply, not the day you sat it.

Get your CAS right, and check if ATAS or a TB test applies to you.

1. Your CAS must be valid, unconditional, and match the course, fees and dates in your application.
2. ATAS applies to Masters and PhD-level research in specified sensitive science and technology subjects, checked against your offer’s subject code. 38 listed countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, are exempt.
3. If you’re from a country on the TB testing list, you’ll need a valid TB certificate before you apply.
4. A false document or false statement anywhere in the application is a mandatory refusal ground, and a finding of deception blocks entry clearance for 10 years.
5. Declare every past visa refusal, for any country. Leaving one out counts as withholding a relevant fact.

Show your course is genuine academic progression, and your sponsor is fully licensed.

1. Explain any step down in level, for example moving from a completed degree to a lower qualification. This is one of the checks caseworkers make most closely.
2. Confirm your sponsor’s licence is current. A sponsor under Home Office investigation can delay or sink an otherwise strong application.
3. Make sure your CAS states the correct course, level and start date, and stays valid until your decision.
4. For a Child Student application, the school itself must hold a Child Student sponsor licence, separate from the adult Student route.
5. Keep evidence of why this course, this institution and this city, not a generic answer that would fit any course.

Find the exact sentence in your refusal letter naming the Genuine Student doubt.

1. Read the decision against the Genuine Student requirement closely. It names a specific doubt, not a general one.
2. Answer that doubt with new evidence, not a longer explanation of the same facts.
3. You have 28 days to request an Administrative Review, a deadline that is not extended. The fee is £80, not refunded if the review is unsuccessful or you withdraw it.
4. There is no tribunal appeal for an ordinary Student refusal. Administrative review, or a fresh application, are your only routes, unless a human rights or protection claim is also involved.
5. Do not resubmit a near-identical application. Caseworkers compare it against your last refusal.

Work out whether it was the amount, the timing, or the source of the funds.

1. Each cause needs a different fix: too low an amount, funds not held for the full 28 days, or an unexplained source.
2. If the source was doubted, get bank statements, income or loan documents, and a letter explaining who the money belongs to and why.
3. If it was the holding-period rule, restart the clock properly and apply again once it’s complete.
4. A loan counts if it is from a recognised bank or lender with clear terms, not an informal arrangement.
5. Budget the £558 fee again. It is not refunded, and the £80 review fee is separate and also non-refundable.

The easiest refusal to fix: retake an approved test, or supply the exemption evidence you missed.

1. Confirm whether the refusal was about your score, your test provider, or missing exemption evidence. Each is fixed differently.
2. Only a SELT from a Home Office approved provider counts. Retake it at an approved centre if yours wasn’t accepted.
3. If you’re from an exempt country, or hold a qualifying degree, submit that evidence directly instead of a new test.
4. Ask your sponsor to reissue your CAS if your course or level changes as a result.
5. Apply again once the new evidence is ready. There is no review route for a straightforward low score.

Check whether the refusal cites a document problem or a deception finding. They are very different.

1. A CAS that was withdrawn, invalid, or didn’t match your application is usually fixable: get a corrected CAS from your sponsor and reapply.
2. A missing ATAS certificate or TB test is also fixable: get the certificate, then reapply.
3. A deception finding under the Suitability rules is not fixable this way. It carries a mandatory 10-year refusal period on future applications, calculated from the refusal date.
4. If you believe deception was wrongly found, an Administrative Review, requested within 28 days, is still the route, not a tribunal appeal.
5. Get advice from a regulated immigration adviser or solicitor before doing anything else if deception is mentioned in your letter.

Change something real about the course or sponsor, not just the wording of your application.

1. A fresh application for the exact same course at the same sponsor rarely looks different to a caseworker.
2. Check your sponsor’s licence is still valid, and that your CAS survives the refusal. Get a new one in writing if it doesn’t.
3. If academic progression was the issue, consider a course that clearly builds on your last qualification, not one that repeats or steps down from it.
4. Use the time before reapplying to strengthen the parts of your application that were weakest, not just to resubmit faster.
5. An Administrative Review, within 28 days, is for cases where the caseworker got the decision wrong, not for changing your course.