International Enquiries

The Child Student Visa

Who needs to apply for a Visa?  

Overseas pupils who do not hold a British passport or who do not have settled or pre-settled status in the UK will need to apply online for a visa before they start at Maidwell Hall. You cannot apply for a visa online until six months before the start of the academic course, or three months if you are applying from within the UK. 

What documents will I need?  

A current passport  

A Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS)  

This is an electronic document issued by Maidwell Hall to you and is generated for us by the UK Visas and Immigration. This will provide you with a reference number which you will need to enter on your visa application. The CAS is valid for six months and is valid only for studying at Maidwell Hall.  

A letter of parental consent which  

- confirms the relationship between the parents and the child  

- confirms the parents’ permission for the visa application  

- confirms the parents’ permission for the child to travel to the UK  

- confirms the parents’ permission for the child to be a boarder at school - is signed by both parents (or by just one parent if they have sole responsibility for the child)  

A template letter will be provided Maidwell Hall that you can use.  

How much will this cost?  

You will need to pay:  

£363 for the visa if applying from outside the UK (and £490 to extend a visa from within the UK)  

£490 per year of the visa (so £940 for a 2-year visa) for the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). This provides full access to the National Health Service at no extra cost. You will be given a reference number once the payment has been made. Comprehensive guidance can be found on the Government Website: https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration application.

Maidwell Hall will make an administration charge of £300 for overseas visa pupils on the first end of term bill. This charge covers the preparation and issuing of the CAS, receipt and storage of the BRP and related processing costs.  

Will I be asked to provide anything else?  

You may be asked to provide proof that you can pay for the first academic year of the course. This can be done either by paying the first year’s school fees in advance (please note, the Additional (overseas) Deposit does not count as part of this) or by a bank-slip, bank statement or certificate of deposit that shows you have held enough money to cover the first year’s school fees. This must show that you have held the required money for (at least) a consecutive 28-day period which ends within the 31 day period before you paid your visa fee online. It is this detail that most commonly causes an application to fail. To avoid this potential danger, families may decide to pay a year’s fees in advance. Please note that this is in addition to paying the Additional (overseas) Deposit equivalent to a term’s fees.  

For many of you this will not be a requirement, and there is a list of countries which do not normally need to provide evidence of funding in this link:  https://www.gov.uk/child-study-visa/money

You may be asked to provide your tuberculosis (TB) test results. You will find a list of countries in the link below that are likely to require a TB certificate which must be obtained before the application:  https://www.gov.uk/tb-test-visa/countries-where-you-need-a-tb-test-to-enter-the-uk

Please keep the original offer letter of a place at Maidwell Hall and the letter confirming that we have received the Acceptance Form and your Overseas Entry deposit, as useful supporting documents if needed.  

What will a successful application look like?  

There are two possibilities:  

A) If your child has had their biometrics taken (which is normally the case outside the EU):  

they will be issued with a UK entry clearance vignette in their passport and, most importantly, a BRP card (Biometric Residence Permit). The BRP card itself is collected after you arrive in the UK from a Post Office in Northampton. This can only be collected after your child’s entry into the UK as it requires their passport.

This BRP card is proof of the holder’s right to study in the UK. It is a very important form of identification, and it must be shown at borders together with the passport when travelling from, and when returning to, the UK.  

The UK government is planning to phase out BRP cards by January 2025 and replace them with a digital visa, although the final details of this have not yet been publicised.  Therefore, do not be surprised if the BRP card states it is only valid until 12/2024.  

B) If your child was asked to use the “UK Immigration: ID check” app to scan their passport (which is normally the case inside the EU):  

They will get a digital immigration status which they can view and prove online.  

In order to do this, they will need their passport number, date of birth and access to their mobile phone number or email address that were used on the application, so that a code for logging in can be sent to them.  

EU pupils given a digital immigration status should not enter the UK for the purpose of starting at Maidwell Hall until they have received this digital Child Student visa.    

Comprehensive guidance can be found on the Government website; the overview can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/study-uk-child-student-visa

New Passports  

If you are planning to obtain a new passport at the time of the visa application or have recently obtained one, please make sure that the Maidwell Hall School Admissions Office is aware of this and that the details of any new passport are sent to the Admissions Office.  

Who should keep my passport and BRP?  

It is important that parents and guardians do not take your passport and BRP and decision letter away from Maidwell Hall School as they will need copying for files here at School. During term time we recommend that these documents are handed over to the School Office for safe keeping.  

Lost BRPs  

Please report a lost BRP to the police immediately and keep the police record. The loss should also be reported to UKVI: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/lost-stolen-damaged  and the Maidwell Hall Admissions Department must also be informed. Please do be aware that obtaining a replacement BRP is complex, very time-consuming and expensive, so a BRP must be taken care of, just like your passport.  

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us as follows:  

Maidwell Hall Admissions Lead:  

Lucy Rendall Telephone: +44(0)01604 686234  

Email: admissions@maidwellhall.co.uk