If you are a non-European student you will need a visa to enter the UK. We will support you with the visa application and provide all the documentation you need.
When we have received your booking and the deposit, we will send you via email a Confirmation Letter of Acceptance along with Invoice and a Visa Support Letter. Please make sure you include your passport number on the booking form as this is compulsory for the visa letter. Please check that these documents are all correct and confirm via email. We will then send you originals of all the documents by post, if necessary. If you require a courier service we will charge an additional fee of £40 to cover the cost.
Standard Visitor Visa
Attending most of our summer courses you will need to apply for a Standard Visitor Visa if you are from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before your date of travel to the UK, and you should get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks. You can usually stay in the UK for up to 6 months. A Standard Visitor Visa costs £85. For detailed information about this visa please visit the UK Border Agency page: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa
If you are a Chinese national and you will be coming to the UK as part of a group for a maximum of 30 days, you can apply for a visa as an ADS visitor.
Tier 4 (Child) Student Visa
If you are aged between 4 and 17 and have received a firm offer to study at an Independent School in the UK from September, you will need to apply for the Tier 4 (Child) student visa. You can do pre-sessional study, ie a short course to prepare you for your main course.
In this circumstance, if you are planning to attend one of our summer academic courses before the beginning of a school term, please contact us before making a visa application. If we have a partnership with your school, the summer course you will attend may be considered as a Pre-Sessional course, and this can be included in the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). In this case, your Tier 4 (Child) student visa will be valid for both the summer course and your studies in the independent boarding school in the UK. Alternatively, you will need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa first in order to attend our summer programme, and you will also need to apply for a Tier 4 (Child) student visa for your full time studies at the boarding school. You can find out more information about Tier 4 (Child) student visa at https://www.gov.uk/child-study-visa
Please note, it is important to allow sufficient time to obtain a visa. We strongly recommend student book the course as soon as possible and apply for a visa at least 2 months prior to the start date of the course. If you have any questions about getting a visa please don’t hesitate to contact us.
