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UK Student Visa Financial Requirements 2026/27: £1,529, £1,171, the 28 Day Rule and What Your Pakistani Bank Statement Must Show

You must show your outstanding first year tuition plus £1,529 a month for London or £1,171 a month outside London, for up to 9 months.

By the Westside advisers, DHA Lahore · Reviewed September 2026 · 10 min read

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Westside Visa Consultants has prepared UK Student visa files since 2003, and money evidence is still the single most common reason a genuine Pakistani student is rejected. The UK student visa financial requirements are precise, and the visa officer applies them to the letter. Read this before you move a single rupee.

UK student visa financial requirements 2026/27: the numbers

The living cost figures were raised on 11 November 2025 and apply to every application made now. According to gov.uk and Appendix Student of the visa Rules, you must have enough to pay your course fees for the first academic year (up to 9 months) as stated on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), minus anything you have already paid to the university, plus living costs for each month of the course up to a maximum of 9 months.

“London” means the course takes place mainly within the area of the University of London or one of the London boroughs. A campus in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow or Coventry is outside London even if the university’s name includes London.

Two worked examples in rupees

The rupee figures are for planning only. The visa officer converts your balance at the OANDA rate on the date of application, so keep a margin of at least 5 percent above the sterling total in case the rupee weakens during your 28 days.

The 28 day rule, explained properly

This is where most rejections happen, so read slowly. Appendix Finance requires that the funds have been held for a period of 28 consecutive days, and that the 28 day period ends no more than 31 days before the date of application. Three things follow from that.

1. The balance must never drop below the required total on any day of the 28If your total is £24,539 and the balance shows £24,100 on day 12 because a school fee went out, the application fails. The lowest balance in the period is what counts, not the closing balance.
2. The 28 days must be complete before you applyMoney deposited on 1 October can support an application from 29 October at the earliest.
3. The statement must be recentIts closing date must fall within 31 days of the day you submit the online application. A statement printed in August will not support an application made in mid October.

A safe timeline

You can apply up to 6 months before the course starts and most applications from Pakistan are decided within 3 weeks of biometrics, so there is time to do this calmly. Families who rush the 28 days in the last fortnight of August are the ones who end up deferring.

Whose money can you use?

Appendix Finance allows funds held by:

• You, in your own name.
• A parent or legal guardian, if you provide proof of the relationship (your birth certificate, or a NADRA Family Registration Certificate) and a signed letter from the parent confirming they consent to the funds being used for your studies. Most Pakistani applicants use a parent’s account, and it is completely acceptable when the paperwork is complete.
• Your partner, but only if the partner is applying with you as a dependant or is already in the UK with permission. A spouse in Pakistan who is not applying cannot sponsor you.
• An official financial sponsor: the UK government, your home government (for example an HEC scholarship), the British Council, an international organisation or company, or a UK university. You need a letter on headed paper confirming the amount and the period it covers.
• A student loan from a regulated provider, with a letter dated within 6 months of the application.

Money in the name of a grandparent, uncle, sibling, cousin, friend or employer does not count, however genuine the support is. If the money has to be moved into your own or a parent’s account, do it early and then start the 28 day clock.

What your Pakistani bank statement must show

The Home Office accepts personal current or savings accounts at a bank or building society, provided the money can be withdrawn immediately. From our files, a statement that passes without questions has all of the following:

• The bank’s name and logo, and the branch stamp and signature on every page (or a bank letter confirming the electronic statement is genuine).
• The account holder’s full name exactly as it appears on the passport or, for a parent, on the FRC.
• The account number, currency and the statement period, covering every day of the 28.
• A running balance for each day, not just opening and closing figures.
• A statement date within 31 days of your application.

What is not accepted: overdraft facilities, prize bonds, shares, mutual funds, gold, property valuations, cryptocurrency, pension funds, and any deposit that cannot be withdrawn on demand. A term deposit certificate is accepted only if the bank confirms in writing that the funds can be accessed immediately. An account maintenance certificate on its own is not a statement and should be attached alongside the statement, not instead of it.

Deductions that reduce what you must show

Two payments made to the university before you apply reduce the total. First, course fees already paid are deducted in full, provided the university records the payment on your CAS. Second, if you have paid a deposit for university arranged accommodation, up to £1,529 of it can be offset against the living cost figure. Private landlord deposits do not count. Ask the university to add both payments to the CAS before it is issued.

The other costs to budget for

The fee and surcharge are paid online at the time of application and are not part of the 28 day maintenance figure, but the money must obviously be available on the day. Dependants are only allowed for research degree and government sponsored students; see our UK dependant visa guide. Figures are from gov.uk and the healthcare surcharge page, read on 10 September 2026.

Who does not need to show money

Nationals of about 60 countries on the differential evidence list (Australia, Canada, the USA, Japan, the Gulf states and others) can apply without uploading financial documents. Pakistan is not on that list, so every Pakistani applicant must upload the evidence, and the officer can still request it later from applicants who did not. The other exemption is for students who have already been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more on the date they apply, for example a student extending after a foundation year. New applicants from Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad should assume the full evidence is required.

The mistakes that cause rejections

These are the reasons we see most often in rejection letters that families bring to our DHA office after applying on their own or through an unregulated agent:

1. A large deposit that appeared a few days before the statement was printed. The 28 days were not complete, or the source of funds could not be explained at the credibility interview.
2. The balance dipped once. A single day below the total, often a utility payment or a card transaction, fails the requirement.
3. The statement was older than 31 days by the time the application was actually submitted, usually because the CAS arrived late.
4. The money was in an uncle’s or brother’s account. Only a parent, legal guardian, partner or official sponsor can hold the funds.
5. Conversion at the wrong rate. The family calculated at an older rate; on the application date the rupee balance was worth slightly less than the sterling requirement.
6. Missing relationship documents. A parent’s account without the birth certificate or FRC and the consent letter.
7. A statement without a running balance or without the bank’s stamp, which the officer could not verify.

If you have already been rejected on financial grounds, our UK visa rejection guide explains how to read the letter and whether to reapply, and in most maintenance cases a clean reapplication with a fresh 28 days succeeds.

How Westside prepares a financial file

We ask for the CAS or offer letter, the intended account, and the statement history for the last six months. We calculate the exact sterling requirement, convert it at the current OANDA rate with a margin, agree the 28 day window with the family, and check the statement page by page before anything is uploaded. Where a parent’s account is used we prepare the consent letter and match the names to the FRC. We quote our fee in writing and we never promise an outcome; the decision is the visa officer’s. Our full UK study visa checklist covers the rest of the application, and if you are planning for post study work, read our guide to the Graduate visa 18 month deadline before choosing an intake.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

UK Student Visa Funds Rise on 30 November 2026: What January 2027 Applicants from Pakistan Must ShowUK Graduate Visa Cut to 18 Months: The 31 December 2026 Deadline Every Pakistani Student Must KnowProof of Funds & Bank Statement for a France Visa from Pakistan 2026 Guide

This guide is general information from Westside Visa Consultants, not legal advice. Visa rules change often, so always confirm the latest position on the official government website before you apply.