Short-term study visa
Changes to Visa Rules for Short-term Students
Starting from rom 1 December 2020, Short-term Study is open for new applications only to students who wish to study English language courses. For all other short-term study purposes (like the ones listed below) students are now expected to apply for Standard Visitor visa that will allow study for up to 6 months. We have updated our Standard Visitor visa page, so if you have not yet made a visa application please refer to this webpage for up-to-date information instead. The below information is only relevant for those students who have a Short-term study visa already and are continuing to study the course which their letter was issued for. If you are not sure how this change affects you, please feel free to contact us.
The Short-term study visa is for people who want to come to the UK to study or do research for a short period of time on a course that does not include a work placement or work experience (with the exception of medical electives). It is a route for students who wish to enter the UK for 6 months or less. If your research or study period is likely to exceed 6 months, you should explore applying for a Tier 4 visa instead.
Travelling to Bristol via Ireland
If you are coming on a Short-term study visa and have not secured your visa before travelling, do not arrive via Ireland.
The UK and Ireland have a Common Travel Area and you will not go through UK immigration after transferring in Dublin. You will not have a valid visa to study.
Using eGates on arrival
If you are eligible to obtain a Short-term study visa at the UK border, please do not use eGates on arrival. You will be admitted as a Visitor and not as a Short-term student, and you will not have a valid visa to study. You must make sure you see a border officer on arrival in the UK to receive a Short-term study visa stamp. Once your passport has been stamped, please check that you have been given the correct stamp before you leave the terminal. It must state 'STS' or 'short term study' to be registered for your course. If it is incorrect please return to the border officer and ask them to re-stamp your passport.
Who can come to the UK as a Short-term student?
Information about different categories of students who can come to Bristol on a Short-term study visa are contained in the dropdown menu below. Information about using a Short-term study visa to study a pre-sessional course at the University can be found on this page.
Study Abroad students
The Short-term study visa is suitable for students studying on a part-time or a full-time course that lasts less than 6 months, including the shorter Study Abroad programmes. If you are likely to stay for two semesters, you should apply for a Tier 4 student visa to come for a year as STS visa cannot be extended.
If you are on an STS visa and you later decide you want to extend your stay, you will have to return home and apply for a Tier 4 student visa before you can return to the UK.
Please note that even if UKVI issue your STS visa for 6 months, you must leave the UK within 30 days of the course end date on your STS visa letter or before the visa expiry date, whichever is soonest.
Visiting researchers
You can apply for a Short-term study visa if you are coming to the UK to complete a short period of research or to learn how to conduct research. To be eligible to use this route you should be studying a course overseas that is the equivalent of a UK degree-level course. You will be required to provide a letter from your home institution confirming what course you are studying, and that your proposed research at the University of Bristol relates to it.
You will not be allowed to do any other research or be classed as a sponsored researcher. Any individual seeking to come to the University as a sponsored researcher must do so through the Tier 5 (Government Authorised Exchange) route of the point-based system. To explore this route, you should contact your hosting School in the first instance who would then liaise with the relevant HR Employee Services Team who can issue a Tier 5 Certificate of Sponsorship if you are eligible.
If you are applying to do postgraduate study or research in one of the subjects listed in appendix 6 of the Immigration Rules, you will need to obtain an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate to provide it with your visa application. It will also be required for your registration at the University. Please visit our ATAS webpage to learn more.
Please note that even if UKVI issue your STS visa for 6 months, you must leave the UK within 30 days of the course end date on your STS visa letter or before the visa expiry date, whichever is soonest.
Registered students returning to resit an exam or retake a module
If you are registered on a full-time University of Bristol programme, for which you have already received the majority of the teaching, you can come back on a Short-term study visa to resit exams and repeat modules. Please see our Exams Only webpage for more information on this mode of study. All your study commitments for that period must not exceed the 6-months limit and should be stated on the Short-term study visa letter that you submit as part of your visa application.
Please note that even if UKVI issue your STS visa for 6 months, you must leave the UK within 30 days of the study period end date on your STS visa letter or before the visa end date, whichever is soonest. Please see the ‘How long you can come for’ section below for more information. If you need to extend your stay in the UK to do extra study, you must leave the UK and obtain another visa. You may not be able to come back in the same category and may have to apply for a Tier 4 visa. Please contact us to discuss your options.
If your course requires Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance, you must obtain a new certificate before applying for a Short-term study visa to come back for resits/module retakes. Your original Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) should confirm if your course requires ATAS, but please check our ATAS webpage for further information.
Postgraduate research students returning for a viva
If you have submitted your postgraduate research thesis and have left the UK, you could apply for a Short-term study to return for your viva examination. You will need to request a Short-term study visa letter confirming your viva date issued your Faculty. Please note that you will need to leave the UK within 30 days of viva date stated on the letter, even if your visa validity dates are longer.
Non-visa nationals are able to apply for a Short-term study visa stamp at the UK border as opposed to having to return to their home country to apply for an entry clearance.
If your course requires Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance, when you apply for a STS visa, you may reuse the original certificate you obtained to study the doctorate for which you are now having a viva.
Distance learning students
If you choose to study through distance learning, the University cannot offer sponsorship for a Tier 4 student visa. You will instead need to secure an STS visa for every visit to the University, throughout the duration of your course.
There are risks and limitations associated with doing this, which should be carefully considered:
- Students of nationalities not eligible to apply for a STS visa stamp at the UK border will have to pay a visa application fee for each visit.
- UK immigration rules and policies change often and with little notice. The University cannot guarantee that the STS visa rules in place when you begin a distance learning course will remain in place throughout the duration of your course. The rules in place at the time of each visa application will apply, not those in place when you begin your course.
- If at any point your STS visa application is refused, this may affect future visa applications.
- You will only be allowed to enter the UK for limited periods, totalling no more than 56 days in the UK in any 6 month period. Study completed during visits can include induction weeks, short periods of intensive face-to-face learning and exams or assessments.
- This route should not be used 'frequently and successively'. For example, if you are seeking a second period of leave under the STS route where less than 2 months have passed since you last visited the UK as an STS student, or you are applying for more than 5 periods of STS leave within a 5-year period.
For those courses where we offer the choice of full-time residential study or distance learning, the full-time residential mode with a Tier 4 student visa carries significantly less risk.
Read the UKVI Short-term study visa eligibility information to check if your proposed study is eligible for STS.
Please contact us before you travel if you are unsure if you are eligible for an STS visa.
Some nationalities are required to apply for an STS visa before travelling into the UK, whilst others can be stamped in under STS on entry into the UK at the airport (see 'how to apply' heading below for more information).
Medical elective students
If you are coming to study a medical elective, you can come on a Tier 4 student visa or on an STS visa.
An STS student can come to the UK for up to 6 months to complete one or more elective courses linked to their overseas study, where they are studying medicine, veterinary medicine and science, or dentistry as their principal course of study equivalent to at least degree level study in the UK. Those studying electives are unable to do any other type of work. You will require an STS visa letter issued by the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Please note that even if UKVI issue your STS visa for 6 months, you must leave the UK within 30 days of the course end date on your STS visa letter or before visa expiry date, whichever is soonest.
When applying for a visa you will be required to provide a letter from your home institution confirming what course you are studying, and that the medical elective you plan to take at the University of Bristol relates to it.
Summer school and other short course students
Short-term study visa is suitable for students studying on a part-time or a full-time course that lasts less than 6 months, including summer school programmes organised by the Global Summer Schools team.
Please note that even if UKVI issue your STS visa for 6 months, you must leave the UK within 30 days of the course end date on your Short-term study visa letter or before the visa expiry date, whichever is soonest. The Global Summer Schools team will issue your STS visa letter once your offer of study has been confirmed.
Applying for a Short-term study visa
How long you can come for
An STS visa/entry stamp is given for a 6-month period, but an immigration condition of the STS visa is that you must leave the UK within 30 days of the end of your study/research or before the end of the 6-month period, whichever is soonest.
This means that you cannot add further periods of study/research within the 6-month visa period if they were not included in your original visa letter. When you apply for an STS visa the UKVI assess if you are a genuine student, and this includes an assessment of whether or not you have given a true account of how long you intend to study in the UK. Therefore, if you do not leave within the period expected, this could affect visa applications in the future.
STS visa route should not be used 'frequently and successively'. For example, if you are seeking a second period of leave under the STS route where less than 2 months have passed since you last visited the UK as an STS student, or you are applying for more than 5 periods of STS leave within a 5-year period. Different time limits apply to students on distance learning programmes: please read the Distance Learning section above.
For further information, please read the UKVI Short-term students guidance.
Documents you must provide
- Short-term study visa letter which states your study dates. This should only be issued by the relevant School/Faculty Office (not by supervisors or academics).
- Financial documents evidencing that you can pay any course fees and support yourself during your stay in the UK. This can be bank statements and payslips covering the last 6 months, or a letter from an official financial sponsor confirming funding.
- Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate, if applicable. Please see the ATAS section below and our ATAS webpage for further information.
- Visiting researchers and medical elective students will also need a letter from their home institution confirming their course of study and that their research/electives at the University of Bristol relate to it.
The above list is not exhaustive and other documents may be required depending on your individual circumstances. Plead the UKVI list of documents you must providewebpage for further details of additional supporting documents.
How to apply
Some nationalities are required to apply for an STS visa before travelling into the UK, whilst others can be stamped in under the STS route on entry into the UK at the airport. Even if you are not required to apply for an STS visa before travelling to the UK, you must ensure that you can meet the eligibility requirements of this visa category. You will also need to travel with the required documents and show your STS visa letter to the border officer, so that you can be stamped in as a Short-term student when you arrive in the UK. See the 'Documents you must provide' section above for more information about that. It is important that you are not stamped in as a Visitor because you would not have permission to study with that type of leave.
Please use the UKVI's check if you need a UK visa tool to see whether you need to apply for the visa before travelling or instead bring the supporting documents with you to show at the UK border.
If you are eligible to receive a stamp at the border and are either a Registered Traveller, or a national of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea or the USA, please do not use eGates as you will be admitted to the UK as a Visitor and not as a Short-term student. You will need to make sure that you see a border officer on arrival in order to receve an STS stamp. Once your passport has been stamped, please check that you have been given the correct stamp before you leave the terminal. It must state 'STS' or 'short term study' to be registered for your course. If it is incorrect please return to the border officer and ask them to re-stamp your passport.
If you do need to apply before travelling to the UK, please see the UKVI's how to apply webpage.
Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)
If you are studying a course or doing research in one of these subject areas, you may need an ATAS certificate to come to the UK as a Short-term student. The offer letter issued by the relevant School/Faculty Office (not by supervisors or academics) should state if you require it. If you require ATAS clearance, you will need to have an ATAS certificate before you can apply for a Short-term study visa. Holding an ATAS certificate is also a requirement of registration at the University.
It can take up to 20 working days to obtain an ATAS certificate, so please allow enough time for your application to be processed. Waiting times can be longer during peak time in the summer months. Your faculty will be able to provide you with the information regarding your course/research that you require to make your online application for your ATAS certificate. Please see our ATAS information for more details and the link to the application form.
Working
You cannot work on a Short-term study visa. This includes voluntary (unpaid) work. The only exception is work undertaken as part of medical elective for those students who obtained an STS visa for this purpose.
A short-term study visa cannot be extended. If you want to study a full-time course which lasts more than six months you will need a Tier 4 student visa.
Health insurance
If you enter the UK on a Short-term study visa, you will not entitled to National Health Service (NHS) treatment. We advise that you take out private medical insurance.