UK Study Budgets for Families: The Fees You Can Confirm and the Costs You Can Only Estimate

TL;DR

A UK study budget only works if you split it in two: the costs a university has confirmed in writing, and the costs your family has to estimate. Tuition sits in the first half — international tuition fees depend on the course you are studying, are listed per year, and are fixed for the duration of the course. Living costs sit in the second — they are everything you pay while at university other than tuition fees, including accommodation, food, study costs and personal expenses, and they move with your lifestyle and with how long you stay. Your visa then asks you to prove in advance that you can finance all of these costs. In practice that means showing funds held for at least 28 consecutive days, with the end of that period within 31 days of the date you apply. Everything below builds the confirmed column first, then the estimated one, then closes the gap with sponsorship, scholarships and capped part-time work.

Start With the Fee Attached to Your Exact Course

A single "international tuition fee" for a university is an average across very different courses, and a family budget cannot be built on it. Cambridge states that tuition fees for international students depend on the course you are studying, that the fees listed are per year, and that they are fixed for the duration of the course. That is the most useful sentence in the whole exercise, because it tells you the tuition line is a confirmable number rather than an estimate — as long as you look it up at the right level of detail.

Two details catch families out. If you take a year abroad as part of your degree, the tuition fee payable to the University of Cambridge during that year is 50% of the full fee. If you study Medicine or Veterinary Medicine, the Year 3 fee corresponds to the course taken that year, and it is determined by the fee for that course in the year you enrolled onto the pre-clinical part of your course. In both cases the fee for "your course" is not one flat figure repeated each year.

Fee schedules are also published by year of entry: Cambridge's page links separate undergraduate tuition fee schedules for 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27, alongside international tuition fees for 2027 entry. Match the schedule to your own entry year rather than carrying forward a figure from an older cycle, because a fee that is fixed for the duration of your course is fixed from your entry year's schedule, not from someone else's.

Budget Any Second Compulsory Charge as a Separate Line

At Cambridge, all international or overseas fee status students normally have to pay an annual College fee in addition to University tuition fees, covering the cost to your College of providing a range of educational, domestic and pastoral services and support. College fees may vary between Colleges and in many cases are fixed for the duration of your course. The same page notes that colleges also ask for financial guarantees.

The lesson for your own spreadsheet is simple: before you write a single total, check whether the university lists any compulsory charge alongside tuition. If it does, the two belong on separate rows, because only one of them is likely to be the number you first saw quoted.

Living Costs Are an Estimate You Build, Not a Number You Look Up

Living costs refer to anything you need to pay for while you're at university other than your tuition fees — accommodation, food, study costs and personal expenses. They vary depending on your lifestyle and on how long you stay. Students are expected to live and study in Cambridge during term time, usually 9 months, although some might choose to stay for the full calendar year. New students should also allow for settling-in costs, including visas, travel and equipment.

Two decisions move this number more than anything else: whether you budget for 9 months or 12, and whether you treat accommodation as a fixed cost or as a choice within a range. Write those two decisions down next to the estimate, because they explain most of the difference between one family's budget and another's for the same course.

What the Visa Actually Asks You to Prove

Normally you'll need to show you have enough money to support yourself, unless you've been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months on the date of your application. Queen Mary adds two qualifiers worth knowing: you only meet that 12-month condition if you are making your application inside the UK, and even where evidence is not required, the university expects you to have made adequate provision to pay your tuition fees and living costs during your studies.

Timing is where applications fail. You must have the money for at least 28 days in a row, and the end date of the 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply. GOV.UK's own illustration: if you submit your application on 1 January, you would have to show that the funds were in your bank account for at least the 28-day period ending on 1 December.

Location matters because maintenance is assessed by where you will study, and for these rules London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs. If the money sits in a parent's or guardian's account, you will also need a signed letter from that parent or legal guardian confirming they will allow you to use it to pay your tuition fees and living costs in the UK. If you have a student loan or financial sponsorship, you'll need to provide evidence of it from your loan or sponsorship company.

Queen Mary also records two warnings that belong in any planning conversation: a common reason for visa refusals is financial evidence not meeting UKVI immigration rules, and UKVI routinely contacts financial institutions to confirm that the documents a student submits are genuine. Treat the paperwork as part of the budget rather than an afterthought.

Closing the Gap: Sponsorship, Scholarships and Capped Work

Start with what you can deduct. If an official financial sponsor is paying some or all of your tuition fees and/or living costs, you can deduct what they are paying from the amount you need to show; depending on how the sponsorship is arranged, it may be detailed in your CAS statement or in a letter from the official financial sponsor. A sponsored amount recorded on the CAS is the cleanest form of this, because it is already part of the evidence set.

On scholarships, the UK government lists postgraduate scholarships for international students that can cover things like the cost of living when you study in the UK. The schemes named there are the Chevening Scholarship, for a one-year taught masters; Commonwealth Scholarships; and the Marshall Scholarship, for a masters or a PhD.

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission describes several distinct award types: Master's Scholarships, Shared Master's Scholarships offered at selected UK universities for selected courses with the CSC sharing funding with those universities, Distance Learning Master's Scholarships, and Split-site PhD Scholarships. Commonwealth Scholarships have been granted since 1960 and the majority are funded by the UK. Applications are managed only directly by the CSC. The Commission also warns that an organisation calling itself the 'Commonwealth Exchange Scholarship Council' is not an official partner, that applicants should use only the official CSC website and systems, that the CSC never asks applicants to attend in-person screening events, and that supporting documentation should only be submitted through the official application system. For a family budget, that matters as much as the money does: a scholarship is only a line in your plan if the application route is real.

Work is the last layer, and it is capped. On a Student visa, how much you may work depends on what you're studying and on whether you're working in or out of term-time. The University of Edinburgh sets out the usual limits for students it sponsors: paid or unpaid work up to 20 hours maximum per week during term time, including voluntary work, and for programmes below degree level, 10 hours per week during term time and full-time during vacations. A placement or internship that is not an 'integral and assessed' part of your programme must be part-time during term time to stay within the weekly limit, while for an assessed and integral placement the 20-hour term-time limit is in addition to the placement hours. Edinburgh also notes that Student visa holders may stand for election as a sabbatical officer.

Budget that income as a cushion for living costs, not as money that reduces what you must prove for the visa. The hours are a ceiling, not an entitlement to a wage, and term-time limits are a legal condition of the visa rather than a planning assumption.

Two Fixed Numbers That Sit Outside Tuition

The Student visa application fee is £558 to apply from outside the UK, and £558 to extend or switch to a Student visa from inside the UK. Applicants must be 16 or over to apply for a Student visa to study a further or higher education course in the UK. Beyond that, Cambridge advises new students to allow for settling-in costs including visas, travel and equipment.

These sit outside the tuition-versus-living-cost split, which is exactly why they get forgotten. Put them in the confirmed column from the start, because unlike rent or food they are not adjustable.

Put the Two Columns Together

Build column A from what you can evidence: the tuition fee for your course and entry year, any college fee, the visa application fee, and settling-in costs. Build column B from what you must estimate: accommodation, food, study costs and personal expenses over the period you will actually be there. Subtract any amount an official financial sponsor is paying. What remains is the gap your own savings, family support or loan has to cover — and it is that figure, held for the required 28 consecutive days and dated within 31 days of your application, that the visa test actually looks at.

Revisit column B once you arrive rather than treating it as fixed; living costs vary with lifestyle and length of stay by design. StudyGB is an independent UK study information guide covering UK university application and student life information.

Questions Families Ask Most

What are the UKVI maintenance fund requirements for a Student visa, and how do they vary by city?

You normally need to show you have enough money to support yourself, unless you've been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months on the date of your application. The money must be held for at least 28 days in a row, and the end date of the 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply. Location matters because maintenance is assessed by where you will study: London means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs. The maintenance amounts themselves are not given in the material behind this article, so confirm current figures on GOV.UK's 'Student visa: Money you need' page before relying on any number.

How do I find the exact tuition fee for my specific course at a UK university?

Look up the fee at course level rather than university level, since international tuition fees depend on the course you are studying, are per year, and are fixed for the duration of the course. Match the fee schedule to your entry year, then check for a second compulsory charge: at Cambridge, international or overseas fee status students normally pay an annual College fee on top of University tuition fees, and College fees may vary between Colleges.

What scholarships are available to international students in the UK, and how do I apply?

The UK government lists postgraduate scholarships for international students that can cover things like the cost of living while you study in the UK, naming the Chevening Scholarship for a one-year taught masters, Commonwealth Scholarships, and the Marshall Scholarship for a masters or a PhD. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission offers Master's Scholarships, Shared Master's Scholarships at selected UK universities for selected courses, Distance Learning Master's Scholarships and Split-site PhD Scholarships. Applications are managed only directly by the CSC, and applicants are told to use only the official CSC website and systems.

How many hours can international students work during term time and holidays?

On a Student visa, how much you may work depends on what you're studying and on whether you're working in or out of term-time. Edinburgh's guidance for its sponsored students sets the usual limits: paid or unpaid work up to 20 hours maximum per week during term time, including voluntary work, and for programmes below degree level, 10 hours per week during term time and full-time during vacations. A placement that is not an 'integral and assessed' part of your programme must be part-time during term time to stay inside the weekly limit.

How much should I budget for living costs in London versus other UK cities?

The material behind this article does not publish city-by-city amounts, so build the figure from its components — accommodation, food, study costs and personal expenses — and decide whether you are budgeting for roughly 9 months of term time or the full calendar year. For visa purposes the relevant distinction is whether your campus falls inside London, which means the City of London and the 32 London boroughs.

How do I calculate my funding gap, and what financial evidence do I need?

Add your confirmed costs — course tuition, any college fee, the £558 visa application fee from outside the UK, and settling-in costs including visas, travel and equipment — to your estimated living costs, then subtract what an official financial sponsor is paying, since that can be deducted from the amount you need to show. The remaining gap must be held for at least 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of your application date. If a loan or sponsorship is involved, provide evidence from the loan or sponsorship company; if you are using a parent's or guardian's money, include a signed letter from them confirming you may use it for tuition fees and living costs.

Where These Figures Come From

The tuition, college fee and living-cost definitions come from the University of Cambridge Undergraduate Study, 'International fees and costs'. The financial-evidence guidance and the parental letter requirement come from Queen Mary University of London, Advice and Counselling Service, 'Funds for your Student visa application'. Both of those pages showed no publication date in the version we worked from. The StudyGB description comes from the brand's approved service and positioning facts. Amounts, dates and rules are reproduced only as they appear in these sources; figures not present there are deliberately left out.