A short-term student six (6) months can come to the United Kingdom for up to six (6) months for:
- studying a course;
- completing a period of research;
- completing research tuition (for instance, to learn about research/methods and techniques);
Applicants intending to apply for an entry clearance or leave to enter to either study or conduct research thesis as a short-term student (six months) are required to meet all the requirements of paragraphs A57C and A57D of the UK Immigration Rules.
Acceptance Letter from an Accredited Institution | Short Term Student Six Months
If a short-term student (6 months) is coming to the UK to study, he/she needs to be accepted for a course of study at an accredited institution. The applicant is required to furnish an acceptance letter from an accredited institution with the necessary details of the study program/course in the United Kingdom.
Research and Research Tuition | Short Term Student Six Months
If a short-term student (six months) is intending to visit the UK for completing a short period of research or for learning research methods and techniques i.e. how to conduct research, then an applicant is required to satisfy the following requirements for a successful visa application:
- the student must be studying a course overseas which is equivalent to a UK degree level course:
- the applicant may check if the overseas course is equivalent to a UK degree from UK NARIC;
- the research should be either part of the overseas course or is relevant to the overseas course;
- the applicant is required to provide confirmation of the course and relevance of the research to the course from his/her overseas education provider/institution;
- the applicant/student has been accepted by a higher education institution (HEI) in the UK. And the HEI is funded by one of the following funding bodies/councils in the UK for either conducting research or teaching research methods (i.e., research tuition):
- Wales – Higher Education Funding Council;
- Scottish Funding Council;
- Northern Ireland – Department for Employment and Learning;
- England – Higher Education Funding Council;
Links – Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK
The following links provide details of the institutions that are a UK higher education institution (HEI) as explained above:
- Department for Employment & Learning;
- England – Higher Education Funding Council;
- Wales – Higher Education Funding Council for Wales;
- Scottish Funding Council;
A short-term student (six months) is not allowed to:
- undertake a research assignment in any other circumstances;
- be employed as a sponsored researcher- to do so, he/she is required to apply either under Tier 2 or Tier 5(Government Authorised Exchange) of the points-based system (PBS).
