Transferring your course could affect your immigration status.  As your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) and Student visa were issued based on the dates and course stated in the CAS, UKVI will only permit some transfers on your current visa. Read all the information on this page carefully and if you have any questions, please contact us.

Transfers and your current Student visa

You are allowed to transfer courses on your current Student visa if:

• Your current visa is long enough to complete the new course AND
• Your new course is at degree level or above AND
• Your new course is not at a lower level than your current course AND
• Your new course is the same area of study as your current course AND
• You can complete the new course within the UKVI study time limits OR
• You are adding a study abroad or work placement year to your course, this is because the rules allow you to apply for a new visa in the UK or outside the UK, before or after the additional year  

If you do not meet the above requirements:

You must apply for a new Student visa before starting the new course

You must apply for the new Student visa in your home country if you:

• transfer to a new course and your current visa is not long enough to cover this (unless you are upgrading as part of an integrated course e.g. BEng to MEng, or you are adding a study abroad or work placement year to your course), OR
• transfer to a new course that is in a different area of study from your original course

If your transfer requires you to apply for a new Student visa in your home country you will only be able to transfer course mid academic year if your programme permits it, otherwise you will have to wait until the end of the academic year to allow time to secure the new Student visa overseas, please read below for further details

For a new Student visa you will need a new CAS and will need to meet the visa requirements again.  Please contact us to request a new CAS.

The process of transferring programme

As a student requesting the change, you should: 

• Contact your home school to let them know of your intention to transfer programmes. If you are transferring to a programme in a different school or faculty, contact the accepting school. Enquire if:  

• • The accepting school has space in the programme you want to transfer to.  

• • You meet the acceptance criteria of the new programme.  

• Wait until the request has been approved, before you start the new course. If you start the new course and the transfer is rejected based on your request, this will be a serious breach of your immigration status. 

School staff should: 

• Ask you to complete read carefully and sign a Word document form (designed to officially request the programme transfer request), which they will email to you.  

Student Visa Advisers should:  

• Student Visas will be CC’d in the email from the school. We will receive a copy of the request form so we can check the potential visa implications for your case.  

• A Student Visa Adviser will provide you with visa advice by email or in the form.  

Faculty staff should:  

• Check the form and all the details of the request and approve or reject the request. You should receive an email with the results from your request. 

• If approved, they will  process the request on the student system and you will receive information (if any) from your faculty on next steps.  

Timings of transfers

Course transfers can take place at the following times:

Start of the academic year

• if you are allowed to transfer course with your current Student visa OR 

• if you transfer to a course where you can apply for a new Student visa within the UK OR 

• if you transfer to a course where you need to apply for a new Student visa outside the UK and can apply for a new Student visa overseas in time to return for the start of term

Mid-academic year

• if you are allowed to transfer course with your current Student visa OR 

• if you transfer to a course where you can apply for a new Student visa within the UK OR 

• if you transfer to a course where you need to apply for a new Student visa outside the UK and your academic programme could allow a gap in studies to do this e.g. postgraduate research programme 

End of the academic year

• any transfers 

• if your transfer requires you to apply for a new Student visa from your home country the advisers will state on your transfer form that the transfer should be processed at the end of the academic year so you can travel home during the summer vacation and apply for a new visa before starting the new course without disrupting your studies 

Upgrading your course

This refers to cases when you are transferring from the lower level (e.g. BEng or BSc) to the higher level of an integrated Masters course (e.g. MEng or MSci), or from an integrated Masters to a PhD programme.  Please note an integrated PhD programme is where there is an integrated taught component normally with a taught Master of Science (MSc) or taught Master of Research (MRes) as an exit award.

You must apply for a new visa at the point of transfer as your course will be longer.

You may be able to apply for the new visa in the UK if it is an integrated programme e.g. BEng to MEng.  Please be aware that a Masters by Research (MScR) is not considered to be integrated with a PhD because it is a separate degree. Students can transfer between an MScR and a PhD but they are not formally integrated so transferring between the two would require a new visa application overseas.

Please contact us if you have any questions. 

Downgrading your course

This refers to cases when you are transferring from the higher level of an integrated Masters (e.g. MEng or MSci) to the lower level (BEng or BSc) course, or an integrated PhD programme.  Please note an integrated PhD programme is where there is an integrated taught component normally with a taught Master of Science (MSc) or taught Master of Research (MRes) as an exit award.

You are not required to apply for a new visa at the point of transfer, but instead may complete the lower level programme on your current Student visa. The visa will be curtailed to 4 months at the point of the lower level award being made, as the lower level course takes less time than the visa was originally granted for. During these 4 months you should be able to stay in the UK and retain your Student visa conditions if you are here when the report is made. Your remaining leave may lapse if you are outside the UK during that time or leave the UK in that period of 4 months.

If you are downgrading to an MPhil or MScR from a PhD, this is not an integrated programme so you will be required to apply for a new visa at the point of transfer and will need to make the new visa application overseas.  Alternatively, you could downgrade at the end of studies and exit with the lower level award so you will not be required to apply for a new visa.  However, if you do this you will not be eligible for the Graduate route visa as you will not be completing the course you had a CAS for and the transfer does not meet one of the exceptions for continued eligibility as it is not an integrated course.  If you wish to apply for the Graduate route visa you will need to secure a new Student visa before completing your course.

Please contact us if you have any questions. 

EU, EEA and Swiss students

If you started your current course before 1 July 2021 or if you have transferred from a course that began before 1 July 2021 (without suspending your studies), it is assumed that you will hold a status under the EU Settlement Scheme.  Please refer to our Brexit webpage for information on how to maintain your status under the EUSS and continue to be eligible to live and study in the UK.