Immigration Rules Appendix Child Student
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-11)

Immigration Rules for Child Students

The Child Student route is for a person aged between 4 and 17 who wants to study at an independent school in the UK, which is a student sponsor.

A person aged 16 or 17 who wants to study a course at or above Regulated Qualifications Framework level 3 or Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 6, can choose either to apply as a Child Student at an independent school or as a Student under Appendix Student.

Validity requirements for a Child Student
- (a) for applicants outside the UK applying for entry clearance, form “Child Student visa”; or
- (b) or applicants in the UK applying for permission to stay, form “Child Student”.
- (a) any fee and Immigration Health Charge must have been paid; and
- (b) the applicant must have provided biometrics when required; and
- (c) the applicant must have provided a passport or other travel document which satisfactorily establishes their identity and nationality; and
- (d) the applicant must on the date of application have a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies reference number that was issued to the applicant no more than 6 months before the date of application.
- CS 1.3. The applicant must be between 4 and 17 years old at the date of application.
- CS 1.4. If the applicant has, in the last 12 months before the date of application, completed a course of studies in the UK for which they have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a Government or international scholarship agency covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK, they must provide written consent in relation to the application from that Government or agency.
- CS 1.5. If applying for permission to stay, the applicant must be in the UK on the date of application.
- (a) as a Visitor; or
- (b) as a Short-term Student; or
- (c) outside the Immigration Rules.
- CS 1.6. An application which does not meet all the validity requirements for a Child Student may be rejected as invalid and not considered.
Suitability requirements for a Child Student
- CS2.1. The applicant must not fall for refusal under Part Suitability.
- (a) in the UK in breach of immigration laws, except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded; or
- (b) on immigration bail.
Eligibility requirements for a Child Student

Entry requirements for a Child Student
- CS 3.1. A person seeking to come to the UK as a Child Student must apply for and obtain entry clearance as a Child Student before they arrive in the UK.
- CS 3.2. A person applying for entry clearance as a Child Student must, if Appendix Tuberculosis applies, provide a valid medical certificate confirming that they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.
Date of application requirement for a Child Student
- CS 4.1. An application for entry clearance as a Child Student must be made no more than 6 months before the start date of the course as stated on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.
- CS 4.2. An application for permission to stay must be made no more than 3 months before the start date of the course on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.
- CS 4.3. An application for permission to stay must be for a course with a start date no more than 28 days after the expiry date of the previous permission to stay.
Genuine Child Student Requirement
- CS 5.1. An applicant aged 16 or 17 years old must be a genuine student.
Care Requirement for a Child Student
- CS 5A.1. The decision maker must be satisfied that there are appropriate care, living and, where applicable, guardianship arrangements in place for the applicant’s safety whilst in the UK.
- (a) has been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or overseas for which they have received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more; or
- (b) is a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law; or
- (c) has committed a criminal offence, or offences, which caused serious harm.
- (a) has been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or overseas for which they have received a custodial sentence of less than 12 months; or
- (b) has been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or overseas for which they have received a non-custodial sentence, or received an out-of-court disposal that is recorded on their criminal record.
Points Requirement for a Child Student
- CS 6.1. The applicant must be awarded all 70 points in the table below
Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies requirement for a Child Student
- CS 7.1. The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies must have been issued by a student sponsor which is an independent school whose sponsor licence is still valid on the date on which the application is decided.
- CS 7.2. The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies must not have been used in a previous application which was either granted or refused (but could have been relied upon in a previous application which was rejected as invalid, made void or withdrawn).
- CS 7.3. The student sponsor must not have withdrawn the offer since the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was issued.
- CS 7.4. The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies must contain the necessary information to confirm that the course requirement is met.
- CS 7.5. The Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies must state the cost of accommodation and fees (and any payment already made) so that the financial requirement can be assessed.
Course requirement for a Child Student
- CS 8.1. The application must be for a single course of study that meets the requirements at CS 8.2, unless it is for a combined pre-sessional course that meets the requirement at CS 11.1.
- (a) taught in accordance with the National Curriculum; or
- (b) taught in accordance with the Recognised Qualification Framework (RQF), and is not a foundation course intended to prepare the Child Student for entry to a course provided by a higher education provider; or
- (c) accepted as being of equivalent academic status to (a) or (b) above by Ofsted (England), the Education and Training Inspectorate (Northern Ireland), Education Scotland (Scotland) or Estyn (Wales); or
- (d) provided in accordance with prevailing Independent School education inspection standards.
Parental consent requirement for a Child Student
- CS 9.1. The applicant must meet the parental consent requirement for applicant not applying as a dependent child in Appendix Children.
- CS 9.2. DELETED
- (a) a British citizen; or
- (b) settled in the UK.
- (a) a British citizen: or
- (b) settled in the UK
- (a) the name, current address and contact details of the intended carer; and
- (b) the address where the intended carer and the Child Student will be living in the UK, if different from the intended carer’s current address; and
- (c) confirmation that the accommodation offered to the Child Student is a private address, and not operated as a commercial enterprise, such as a hotel or a youth hostel; and
- (d) the nature of the relationship between the Child Student’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and the intended carer; and
- (e) confirmation that the intended carer agrees to the care arrangements for the Child Student; and
- (f) a list of any other people that the intended carer supports or has offered to support; and
- (g) where the Child Student will be cared for by a nominated guardian, details of the name, date of birth, registered address, contact details and, if they have one, national insurance number, of any adult regularly living with the nominated guardian; and
- (h) if the applicant is not boarding at a residential independent school and instead staying with a close relative or private foster carer, that the carer has at least £570 per month available to look after and accommodate the applicant, for each month of the course up to a maximum of 9 months; and
- (i) the intended carer’s signature and date of the letter of undertaking.
- • the name and contact details of a member of staff at the guardianship organisation who is a British Citizen or settled in the UK; and
- • the name and address of the guardianship organisation; and
- • the date the guardianship organisation was established; and
- • confirmation that all guardians that the organisation uses have a current enhanced Disclosure and Barring Check (England and Wales), Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (Scotland) or Disclosure and Barring Check (Northern Ireland).
- CS 9.5. If the applicant is staying in a private foster care arrangement and is aged under 16 years, the applicant must also provide:
- (a) a copy of the letter of notification from their parent, legal guardian or intended carer to the UK local authority, confirming that the applicant will be in the care of a private foster carer while in the UK; and
- (b) the UK local authority’s confirmation of receipt, confirming that the local authority has received notification of the private foster care arrangement and have given permission to the arrangement.
Living arrangement requirement for a Child Student
- (i) a nominated guardian (for a period of less than 28 continuous days) who is a British Citizen or settled in the UK; or
- (ii) a private foster carer who is a British Citizen or settled in the UK; or
- (iii) a close relative who is a British Citizen or settled in the UK; or
- (iv) their parent who has permission as a Parent of a Child Student; or
- (b) living full time with a private foster carer or close relative who is a British Citizen or settled in the UK; or
- (c) living full time with a parent or legal guardian who has permission as a Parent of a Child Student; or
- (d) aged 16 or 17 and living independently.
Financial requirement for a Child Student
- CS 10.1. If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.
- CS 10.2. If the applicant is applying for entry clearance or for permission to stay where they have been in the UK for less than 12 months on the date of application, the applicant must show the following funds:
If the length of the applicant’s course includes a part of a month, the period of time will be rounded up to the next full month.
- CS 10.3. Unless the applicant is relying on a student loan or an award from a Government or international scholarship agency, they must show that they have held the required level of funds for a 28-day period and as specified in Appendix Finance.
- CS 10.4. The applicant must not be financially responsible for anyone else.
Combined pre-sessional course requirement for a Child Student
- (a) the applicant has an unconditional offer of a place at the independent school; and
- (b) the duration of the pre-sessional course and period of study at the independent school does not exceed the maximum period of permission granted as set out at CS 15.2.
Evidence of qualifications requirement for a Child Student
- CS 12.1. The applicant must provide evidence of the qualifications they used to obtain the offer of a place on the course from the student sponsor.
- (a) the certificate(s) of qualification; or
- (b) the transcript of results; or
- (c) a print out of the qualification or transcript results from the awarding body’s online checking service.
- CS 12.3. Where the applicant has provided a print out of qualifications or transcript results from the awarding body’s online checking service, the decision maker may require the applicant to provide the certificate of qualification or transcript of results.
Differential evidence requirement for a Child Student
- (a) holds a valid passport which shows they are registered as a British National (Overseas), or which was issued by the competent authorities of Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR or Taiwan (that includes the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan); or
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- The Dominican Republic
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Oman
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- United States of America
Decision on an application as a Child Student
- CS 14.1. If the decision maker is satisfied that all the suitability and eligibility requirements for a Child Student are met, the application will be granted, otherwise the application will be refused.
- CS 14.2. If the application is refused, the person can apply for an Administrative Review under Appendix AR: Administrative Review.
Period and conditions grant for a Child Student
- (a) no access to public funds; and
- (b) no work until the Child Student is aged over 16 years, then work allowed as specified in CS 16.1; and
- (c) no study except as specified in CS 17.
- (d) DELETED
- (a) the relevant period of permission granted before the course date which is set out in the table below, if entry clearance is granted 1 month or more before the start date of the course or; or
- (b) 7 days before the intended date of travel, if entry clearance is granted less than 1 month before the start date of the course; or
- (c) with immediate effect, if entry clearance is granted less than 7 days before the intended date of travel and less than 1 month before the start date of the course.
- The applicant will be granted permission for the duration of the course as specified on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies and the relevant additional periods dependant on their age as specified in the table below:
Work Conditions for a Child Student
- (a) for no more than 10 hours per week during term time; and
- (b) for any duration during vacation (including before the course starts); and
- (c) on a course-related work placement which forms an assessed part of the Child Student’s course; provided that any period that the Child Student spends on that placement does not exceed half of the total length of the course undertaken in the UK, unless it is a UK statutory requirement that the placement should exceed half the total length of the course.
- (a) be self-employed or engage in business activity; or
- (b) work as a professional sportsperson (including as a sports coach); or
- (c) work as an entertainer, or
- (d) work in a position which would fill a permanent full-time vacancy.
Study Conditions for a Child Student
- (a) they have yet to complete the course for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned; and
- (b) they begin study on a new course at the student sponsor institution and the new course is at a higher or the same level as the course for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned and is not a foundation course intended to prepare the student for entry to a higher education provider.
- (a) they are studying at an institution which is a partner institution of their student sponsor; or
- (b) they have made an application for permission to stay while they have permission as a Child Student which is supported by a valid Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies assigned by a student sponsor, the application has not yet been decided, or any Administrative Review against refusal of that decision has not been determined, and the Child Student will be studying at the student sponsor that assigned the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies.
- CS 17.3. Supplementary study is permitted.
- (a) a voluntary grammar school with boarding in Northern Ireland: or
- (b) if the Child Student has been granted permission to study at a student sponsor which becomes a state school or academy during that period of permission, in which case the Child Student may complete the course for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned.