Acceptable Courses for Student Visa
You can study a full-time recognised UK degree or degree-level course which leads to an approved qualification. The qualification must be at RQF level 6 or SCQF level 9 or above. You can browse the list of colleges and universities which award recognised UK degrees.
Courses can include work placements, depending upon the level of your course and the sponsor rating of your Tier 4 sponsor. See the section about the number of hours you can work for more information.
Supplementary studies
While you are studying the course for which your Tier 4 (General) was issued you can take extra courses at any level, with any course provider. This includes short courses during vacations and in the period between the end of your course and the end of your visa. The provider of the extra course is not required to have a Tier 4 sponsor licence. There is no need for either the provider or you to notify the Home Office about the supplementary study. While there are no immigration restrictions on supplementary study, you should also check that the Academic Regulations at your sponsor institution allow you to take an extra course.
There are time limits ('caps') on how long you can study with a Tier 4 visa. Before they issue your CAS, a Tier 4 sponsor will check that your proposed studies will not take you over the cap. When assessing your application, the Home Office will also check that you will not exceed the cap, unless there are "compelling and compassionate circumstances", such as injury or disability.
Both your Tier 4 sponsor and the Home Office use the same system to calculate the cap in years and months. Individual days or weeks are rounded up or down to the nearest month. For example, three months and ten days is rounded down to three months while three months and three weeks is rounded up to four months.
The Immigration Rules make it clear that the whole duration of your leave (your visa) is counted, including the extra periods of time added to your visa before and after your course. There are no deductions: vacations, time spent outside the UK, any time spent not studying, and any time spent on a different level course are all included.
The Home Office's Tier 4 policy guidance confirms that if your visa is curtailed only the period before the curtailment date is counted.
If you are a Syrian national who is normally resident in Syria and currently living in the UK these time limits will not apply to you, according to the concession for Syrian nationals. If you need to rely on this concession we suggest that you speak to an immigration adviser before you apply and that you include a letter with your application explaining your situation and asking for the concession to be applied.
