The amount is the easy part. It is published, it is fixed, and you can work it out in about two minutes. What catches people out is the 28-day rule, and it catches them badly, because a file that fails on timing looks exactly like a file that passed right up until the refusal letter arrives.
The two numbers you need
Your application has to cover two things: whatever tuition is still outstanding on your CAS, and nine months of living costs.
Living costs are set by the Home Office, not by your university.
- Studying in London — £1,529 per month, capped at nine months. That is £13,761.
- Studying anywhere else in the UK — £1,171 per month, capped at nine months. That is £10,539.
The nine-month cap applies whether your course runs nine months or three years.
A worked example. Master’s in Manchester, tuition £18,000, and you have already paid a £3,000 deposit. Outstanding tuition is £15,000. Add £10,539 for living costs. You need to show £25,539.
The same course in London with the same fees: £15,000 plus £13,761 comes to £28,761.
The 28-day rule, which is where files fail
The money has to sit in the account for 28 consecutive days. Not 28 days on average. Not 28 days with a dip in the middle. If the balance drops below the required amount on day nineteen — because somebody paid a bill from that account — the clock resets to zero and nobody tells you.
The closing balance on your statement also has to be dated no more than 31 days before you submit. So you have a window: 28 days of holding, then 31 days to apply. Miss the back end and you start the whole thing again.
Whose account it can be in
Yours, or a parent or legal guardian’s. If you use a parent’s account you will also need your birth certificate and a letter from them confirming the money is for your studies and that they consent to you using it.
What does not work: an uncle, a sibling, an employer who is not an approved sponsor, a family friend. We see this regularly and it is a straightforward refusal.
What counts as money
Cash in a regulated bank or building society account. That is essentially the whole list.
Not accepted: shares, bonds, cryptocurrency, pension funds, property, an overdraft facility, or a fixed deposit you cannot access or have verified inside the window. An officially approved student loan does work, provided the letter is dated within six months and states the amount, confirms the funds are available before the course starts, and confirms the only condition on release is a successful visa.
Currency, which nobody warns you about
If your funds are held in Jordanian dinars, Kuwaiti dinars or Qatari riyals, they are converted at the published rate on the day you apply. Not the day you deposited them. If the rate moves against you and the converted figure lands below the threshold, that is a refusal on a technicality.
Keep a buffer. We normally suggest around ten per cent above the requirement rather than the exact figure.
The costs you actually pay
Separate from the funds you show, there are sums that genuinely leave your account:
- The visa application fee
- The Immigration Health Surcharge — £776 for every year of your course, paid upfront in one lump
A one-year master’s therefore carries £776. A three-year undergraduate degree carries £2,328 in a single payment, and that one surprises families who have budgeted only for tuition.
A timeline that works
Working backwards from a September start:
- Late April — the money is in the account and stays there, untouched
- Late May — 28 days complete, request the statement
- June — submit while the statement is still inside 31 days
- July onwards — decision, accommodation confirmed, flights booked
Leaving the deposit until July means applying in August, which is the busiest processing period of the year and the worst time to discover a problem.
If it goes wrong anyway
A financial refusal is usually recoverable. The reason is stated on the letter, and where it is a documentation fault you can often reapply with a corrected file rather than appeal. Universities will normally defer an offer to the next intake rather than withdraw it, provided you tell them quickly.
What does not work is reapplying with the same evidence and hoping for a different caseworker.
These figures are current for 2026 entry and are revised periodically. Before you move any money, ask us to confirm the current requirement for your university and your nationality. It takes a day and there is no charge. For tuition and living cost ranges, see our United Kingdom destination page.