UK Student Visa Maintenance Funds 2026 Rise From 30 November: New Amounts

UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 are going up, and the date that matters is 30 November 2026. From that date, anyone applying for a UK Student visa must show more money in the bank: £1,570 a month for courses in London, and £1,203 a month for courses outside London. The increase comes from the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 584, laid by the Home Office on 3 September 2026, and it applies to applications made on or after 30 November 2026.

If you are applying for the January 2027 intake, this change probably affects you. This guide sets out the new UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 figures, the old figures, the 28-day rule, the nine-month cap, and what to do if you can still apply before the deadline.

The New UK Student Visa Maintenance Funds 2026 Amounts

The new UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 amounts are £1,570 a month in London and £1,203 a month outside London, for up to nine months. Before 30 November 2026, the figures are £1,529 a month in London and £1,171 a month outside London, also for up to nine months.

Over a full nine-month course, the new totals are £14,130 in London, up from £13,761, and £10,827 outside London, up from £10,539. That is an increase of £369 in London and £288 outside London over nine months. The rise is small in percentage terms, about 2.7%, but it is money you must actually have in your account, and it sits on top of your course fees.

The maintenance money is for your living costs only. You must also show you have enough money for your unpaid first-year tuition fees, as stated on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). The two amounts are added together. A student in London on a nine-month course, with £10,000 of tuition still to pay, would need to show £24,130 in total under the new UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 rules.

The Date That Decides: When You Apply, Not When Your Course Starts

The most important thing about the UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 rise is that it attaches to your application date, not to your course start date, your CAS date, or the date you started saving. HC 584 expressly provides that applications made before 30 November 2026 are decided under the rules in force on 29 November 2026. Applications made on or after 30 November 2026 use the new figures.

That means an application submitted on 29 November 2026 is assessed at £1,529 and £1,171 a month. An application submitted on 30 November 2026 must meet £1,570 and £1,203 a month, even if the CAS was assigned weeks earlier, the course deposit was paid, and the money has been sitting in the bank for months. If you are ready to apply and your funds meet the old figures but not the new ones, applying before 30 November 2026 is the difference between a valid application and a refusal.

Students starting in January 2027 should check their timeline now. If your CAS has arrived and your funds have been held for 28 days, there is still time to apply under the old figures. If your CAS has not arrived, or your 28-day period has not finished, you will almost certainly be applying under the new UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 amounts, so plan for the higher figure.

The 28-Day Rule and the Nine-Month Cap

The UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 must be held in your account for at least 28 days in a row, and the end of that 28-day period must fall within 31 days of the date you apply. In practice, that means you cannot move money into your account the week before you apply and hope it counts. The full required balance must have been there, without dipping below it, for a continuous 28 days, and your bank evidence must be dated no more than 31 days before your application.

If you are applying on 1 December 2026, for example, your 28-day period must have ended on or after 1 November 2026, and the balance must have stayed at or above the required amount for the whole 28 days. A single day below the required balance breaks the period and the count starts again. Students who keep their money in a parent’s account, or in an account in another currency, should check the GOV.UK guidance on whose account the money can be in and how the Home Office converts foreign currency. The Home Office converts funds held in other currencies into pounds at the OANDA rate on the date of application.

The nine-month cap is the other half of the calculation. However long your course runs, the maintenance requirement is capped at nine months. A three-year degree does not need 36 months of living costs shown at the visa stage. You show up to nine months, and the requirement is calculated month by month, with part of a month rounded up. A course shorter than nine months needs funds for each month of the course.

London or Outside London: Which Rate Applies

Under the UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 rules, the London rate applies where more than half of your course will be studied within the City of London or one of the 32 London boroughs. GOV.UK defines London plainly, and it is the location of your study, not your home address, that decides the rate.

The gap between the two rates is £367 a month, which over nine months is £3,303. For students choosing between a London university and one elsewhere, that gap is part of the real cost of the decision, alongside London rents. The maintenance figures are aligned with Department for Education maintenance loans for 2026/2027, which is why the Home Office raised them now.

There is one more figure that changed. If you have paid an accommodation deposit to your university for housing it arranged, up to £1,570 of it can now be offset against the maintenance requirement. Before 30 November 2026, the offset is capped at £1,529. Keep the receipt and the university’s confirmation, because you will need to show the payment was made.

Who Does Not Need to Show This Money

Not every applicant has to provide financial evidence. Under the UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 rules, some applicants are exempt from showing the money, under what GOV.UK calls the differential evidence requirement. That covers nationals of certain countries listed by the Home Office, and students who have already been living in the UK on a valid visa for 12 months or more. Even if you do not need to provide the evidence with your application, you must still have the money available, because the Home Office can ask for it.

Students sponsored by a government or an international scholarship agency also have different arrangements, and the maintenance requirement is usually covered by the sponsorship. If you hold a scholarship, check what your sponsor’s letter says and whether it covers both tuition and living costs. Our round-up of scholarships closing in December 2026 lists fully funded awards with deadlines this month, and several of them cover maintenance as well as fees.

UK Student Visa Maintenance Funds 2026 and the January 2027 Intake

The funds rise lands at the same time as other changes for students heading to the UK in 2027. From 1 January 2027, new Graduate visas will last 18 months instead of two years for bachelor’s and master’s graduates, although PhD graduates keep three years, and graduates of high-compliance universities with strong job outcomes will keep a two-year Graduate visa under the Budget 2026 announcement. Our guide to the UK Graduate visa 18 months 2027 explains who keeps two years and who drops to 18 months, and why the last day to apply for a two-year Graduate visa is 31 December 2026.

The UK is also changing the long-term picture for settlement. The government confirmed on 2 November 2026 that the starting point for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) will rise from five years to ten years, with faster routes for higher earners. Our guide to UK settlement 10 years 2026 explains the three, five and ten-year routes and who they affect. Students planning a long stay in the UK should read both guides before they commit to a course.

For now, the immediate task is simple: check your application date, check your 28-day period, and make sure the balance covers the right figure. Under the UK student visa maintenance funds 2026 rules, a student who applies on 29 November needs £1,529 a month in London. A student who applies on 30 November needs £1,570. The difference is £41 a month, but a refusal for insufficient funds costs far more than that in time, fees and a lost place. Get the figure right, and get the dates right.