Finances

As of April 2009, the finances you will need to pass the points-based assessment are:

What you will need when applying

You will need to fill in the application form, pay a fee (currently £145 if applying from outside the UK) and provide:

• passport or travel document
• a visa letter from a licensed sponsor
• documents to show you meet the maintenance requirements such as cash in an account in your name; this includes joint accounts or a loan in your name or government sponsorship
• documents required by your sponsors when they accepted you for the course
• biometric details.

Visa Letter from Sponsor

The letter (not issued more than six months before you apply) from the sponsor should include:

• your name (as it appears in your passport), nationality, address in the country in which you live and passport/travel document number
• sponsors’ licence number, address and contact details, any details of partner institutions or overseas institution (if the course is jointly taught)
• course details such as title, level, qualifications to be awarded, start and expected end date, hours per week, and address of your main place of study or work placement (if applicable)
• course fees for the first year, and any payments already made; if relevant, any accommodation fees for the first year and any payments already made
• documents used to get the visa letter (used by the sponsor to assess your suitability to complete the course); the letter should give a brief description of each document such as any previous courses, level studied, qualification, year of graduation or completion of course, who issued the evidence, date of issue and any details of an ATAS clearance certificate if needed for the course.

Official financial sponsorship or government sponsor

Financial sponsorship means you have been given money to cover your course fees and living costs. If your financial sponsor is covering only some of your course fees or living costs, you must show that you have the rest of the money needed.

You should provide a letter of confirmation from your official financial sponsor. This may be Her Majesty’s government, the Uganda government, the British Council or any international organisation, company or university.

The letter must be on official letter-headed paper or stationery of the organisation of the official financial sponsor and have the official stamp of that organisation on it.

The letter should show:

• your name
• the name and contact details of your official financial sponsor
• the date of the letter
• the length of your sponsorship
• the amount of money you have or a statement that your official financial sponsor will cover all of your fees and living costs.

If you have official sponsorship that covers only part of the money needed, you must provide a letter that shows:

• your name
• the name and contact details of your official financial sponsor
• the date of the letter
• the length of your sponsorship
• the amount of the money the sponsor will give you
• proof that you have the rest of the money needed.