This section of the website explains the responsibilities of a full-time student sponsored by NSCD for a Student Route visa and provides guidance on protecting your immigration status in the UK. It is important that you understand and comply with the responsibilities of your Student visa and co-operate with the School in fulfilling our shared sponsorship duties. Any breach could have serious implications on your studies and continued stay in the UK. In using the School’s CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) to apply for your student visa, you agree to the requirements outlined on this page.
If you currently hold a Student visa for a different institution, you cannot use that visa to study at NSCD. A Student visa allows you to study a course with a particular sponsor only. If you wish to make your new student visa application for NSCD inside the UK, you can only start your course after you have presented either a new Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) showing NSCD’s sponsor licence number or having provided evidence of submitting an in-time application for a new student visa for NSCD.
If you have already completed a course at NSCD and are continuing to a further course of study here, in line with Home Office policy you must apply for a new Student visa within six weeks of the official new course start date or before your current permission expires, whichever is earlier. You must provide evidence to NSCD which confirms you have submitted your new visa application.
Important Information:
Please see further details below.
The Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is the documentary evidence of your immigration permission in the UK. It is a credit-card-sized document and contains your personal and biometric information. It is very important you keep it secure. If you travel overseas, you must take it with you as you will require it to re-enter the UK and may need it for flights within the UK. Note that there is no requirement to carry ID in the UK, so it is advisable not to carry your passport/BRP inside the UK other than where necessary for formal identification purposes. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, and certain nationalities that are eligible to apply for a student visa inside the UK, are not issued with a BRP as outlined in the relevant section below.
When you receive a successful decision on your visa application, you will be issued a time-limited entry vignette in your passport. You must ensure that you enter the UK within the validity of the vignette. You cannot enter on your Student visa before the ‘valid from’ date on your entry vignette. In addition, you cannot enter the UK earlier as a standard visitor (tourist) and then ‘switch’ inside the UK to your student immigration permission even if the entry vignette is in your passport. If you enter the UK as a visitor, you will need to leave the UK and re-enter to activate your immigration permission as a student. If the vignette expires before you are able to travel, contact Admissions (by email: admissions@nscd.ac.uk) for further guidance.
You will need to collect your BRP after arriving in the UK from the local Post Office. This will be confirmed in the decision letter you receive after your visa application has been processed.
If you apply for further permission to stay in the UK and use the phone app to verify your identity as part of the process, you will be issued a digital status which can be verified online. When asked to provide evidence of your status, for example by NSCD, you can obtain a ‘share code’ at www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status to enable verification. In addition, students of certain nationalities will also be issued a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). This will be sent to the address you use in your application form. You should check your eligibility to apply in the UK before doing so.
You must take your BRP with you if you travel overseas, as you will require it to re-enter the UK, and may need it if you travel by airplane within the UK. You do not need to carry your BRP around with you inside the UK and should keep it safe. If you lose your BRP, you will need to apply for a replacement (at an additional cost) and you will not be able to travel overseas until you have received your replacement. You must also notify NSCD if you lose your BRP, and present your new BRP for your student record, as soon as you receive it.
At present, if you apply for your student immigration permission as an EU or Swiss national and use the phone app to verify your identity as part of the process, you will not be issued a BRP. You will be granted a digital status which can be verified online. You will be able to enter the UK with your passport, having been granted your student immigration permission. When asked to provide evidence of your status, for example by NSCD, you can obtain a ‘share code’ at www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status to enable verification.
It is a Home Office requirement to have any errors on your visa corrected.
The duration of immigration permission granted depends on the course. You should check the course end date on your CAS and ensure you have been granted the correct length of leave:
Your BRP should usually contain the following information:
If this information is missing or there are any other errors on your BRP including your name, personal details or the length of permission granted, please contact Admissions@nscd.ac.uk who will be able to advise you on getting it corrected.
You will need to provide evidence of your immigration status to NSCD once you arrive in the UK and before you start your studies. You will also need to provide evidence of when you entered the UK. NSCD will ask you to provide a copy or screenshot of your boarding pass.
Instructions will be sent to you by Admissions prior to you starting your studies.
ACTION: Send Admissions a copy/screenshot of your boarding pass
ACTION: If your passport expired and you have a new passport between applying for the course and arrival in the UK, show your new Passport to admissions during induction week so we can take a copy for your file.
In the early part of registration and induction week we are required to prove that we have seen you and received all up-to-date information governing your right to study in the UK.
ACTION: Submit your online Registration form, prior to enrolment, and confirm your UK contact details. NOTE: returning students in subsequent years must check and update details in their re-enrolment forms as requested by Student Services.
ACTION: Present your original passport and BRP (for verifying and updating your student record)
ACTION: Enrol on your course
If you obtain a new passport, BRP or UK immigration status during your studies, you are required to provide this to NSCD immediately for checking so a copy can be uploaded to your record.
If you lose your visa/BRP, or it is stolen, you are required by the Home Office to apply for a replacement at an additional cost if it is valid for 3 months or more, or if it is valid for less than 3 months and you plan to travel overseas and re-enter the UK on your student immigration permission. Admissions@nscd.ac.uk can be contacted for further guidance in these circumstances.
If you switch to another visa category during your studies or change citizenship and wish to reside in the UK on the basis of the new citizenship, you must notify NSCD within 7 working days of the change and provide your updated visa documentation, share code or passport/national identity card. NSCD is required to report this change to the Home Office and cease visa sponsorship.
You must meet the attendance requirements of your full-time course; full details can be found in our Attendance Policy on NSCD Moodle. Non-attendance will mean that NSCD must report you to the UK border agency and you could potentially have your visa revoked. Under certain conditions you may be able to request authorised absence using our International Student Authorised Absence Form (use page 2 of the two forms available). You must submit this form in advance of any planned absence and await approval before making any travel arrangements.
It is your responsibility to update NSCD if any of your contact details change at any point during your course; for example your term-time address, phone number or personal email address. It is essential that NSCD holds current information on our student records system. You should notify Student Services promptly of any changes to your contact details (by email: studentservices@nscd.ac.uk). You must also update the Home Office of a change in address by using this online form: https://eforms.homeoffice.gov.uk/outreach/AddressUpdate.ofm
The Home Office restricts the number of hours a student can work in the UK on a Student Route visa and the type of work that can be undertaken. It is very important you understand the working conditions on Student visas and check with NSCD if you are unsure prior to commencing any work.
As of 2024 UKVI have updated their student work hours policy and now all students are able to work 20 hours per week during term time.
(Pre 2024) A Student Route visa allows you to work for up to:
The hours that you will be allowed to work will be stated on your BRP or on your digital immigration status account.
You must not:
Once you have completed your course, the Home Office allows you to work full-time until your Student Route visa expiry date but the restrictions on the type of work, as outlined in the section above, continue to apply. For postgraduate and undergraduate students, course completion means the course end date as stated on your CAS, provided you have completed all required assessments by this date.
If your Student Route Visa is still vaild and you have a pending Graduate Route Visa application you are able to work full-time in this interim period. You can provide your current immigration status details to your employer (BRP or digitial account) and explain you have a pending application for the Graduate Route Visa. If successful in obtaining the Graduate Route Visa then you will need to provide any necessary details to your employer. If unsuccesful you should inform your employer as soon as possible and must ensure you leave the UK by the expiry date listed on your BRP or digital account.
See Graduate visas should you be thinking of staying in the UK to work.
On a Student Route visa you are not eligible to claim access to public funds. This includes local authority housing benefits and welfare benefits.
If you complete your course on or after the expected date as stated on your CAS, then your visa expiry date does not change. Completion means unconditional approval of your degree.
Towards the end of your course the Head of Faculty may arrange an exit interview with you. As part of this and the exit survey you will be asked to provide information about your immediate future plans; i.e. whether you will return to your home country or progress to another course for example.
If you complete your course earlier than the course end date stated in your CAS, do not assume you can remain in the UK until the date your visa expires. The Home Office requires that we inform them if a student completes their course earlier than expected and normally reduces the standard post-study period of time you are entitled to remain in the UK.
If you leave the UK after early completion of studies, or are already outside the UK, you may require a new visa to enter the UK.
If you are studying on a postgraduate programme, you will not usually be allowed to intermit studies between the PG Diploma and the MA research project (unless there are exceptional personal circumstances).
If an overseas student on a Student Route visa is granted permission to take an intermission in studies, you will be given notice of 60 days to leave the country and return home (regardless of what your previous status and BRP allowed). NSCD must then cancel your visa and provide proof to the Home Office that you have left the country. You may need to complete a new visa application in order to return to the UK to complete your studies.
You cannot remain in the UK on a Student visa if you are not on a course of study or not in attendance ie. if you have intermitted study.
ACTION: You will need to provide NSCD with a copy of your return flight boarding pass as proof that you have left the UK within 60 days of exiting the programme of study.
You must leave the UK by the expiry date of your visa unless you have submitted a visa application to extend your permission in the UK. There is no ‘grace period’ following the expiry date of your visa. You will become an ‘overstayer’ if you are in the UK the day after your visa expires if you have not submitted a valid application for further leave or have not obtained other valid immigration permission.
Note: This is the case even if you are able to enter the UK as a visitor without a visa. You cannot switch from your student immigration permission to visitor status automatically from within the UK. You would need to leave the UK and re-enter as a visitor. Entry to the UK is at the discretion of Border Force officials.
NSCD is unable to allow you to continue your studies as an ‘overstayer’. You would also need to declare any periods of overstay on future visa applications to the UK.
The Graduate Route is an unsponsored visa enabling international students to work or look for work after their studies for 2 years following successful completion of their course. Detailed guidance, including the eligibility requirements, can be found here.
If you have any questions at any point during your course in relation to your Student Route visa status please contact Student Services in the first instance (by email: studentservices@nscd.ac.uk)
You may also find the UKVI Student Route Compliance Policy helpful.
Immigration rules and policy are subject to change. These webpages are updated as soon as possible following any changes but relevant pages of the Home Office website should be checked for the latest information. NSCD can only provide information and advice on current policy; it is not possible to speculate on future immigration changes or developments in relation to post-study visa options.
