Financial Requirements for International Students

about this resource

The following information will be particularly helpful once you have received an unconditional offer from us to attend one of our courses.

Dartington Trust are not authorised or regulated to give visa advice but share our understanding of the current process in order to best support you. We would be grateful if you could alert us to any errors or omissions if discovered.

if you’ve received an unconditional offer from us

Please e-mail admissions@dartington.org as soon as possible once you have received your unconditional offer letter, to let the College know when your financial evidence* is ready for checks by the immigration lawyers.

Please prepare your financial evidence as required for your Student Visa application, including obtaining certified translations of any documents not in English. If you have any questions about this do contact us. Once your evidence is ready please let us know and we will tell you where to send it.

We invite Pennington’s Manches Immigration team to review the evidence you provide. As soon as they confirm to us that your financial documents meet the requirements in full and ensuring all other criteria have been successfully met, a CAS number will be allocated to you.

You need this CAS number to make your visa application, so you must keep it in a secure place and use it to make your visa application as soon as possible once received.

What you need to prove

  • UK Visas and Immigration ask you to prove that you have the full year 1 tuition fees & programme specific fee, plus UK maintenance for 9 months (£1023 month for 9 months) £9207.00 in your personal bank account in cash funds for a full 28 days prior to the visa application being made. The proof must be in Sterling Equivalent for the full 28 days according to the exchange rate at oanda.com.
  • It is extremely important that you do not drop below this total amount even for one day or your visa will be refused. You can find details of your tuition fees here: https://campus.dartington.org/study/fees/ but please email admissions@dartington.org if you require assistance working out how much you will need to prove.

What you can deduct from the above fee

  • Once you have paid the deposit, this can be deducted from the tuition fees you need to prove are available.
  • If you have been offered and sent an acceptance form for a bursary, or Schumacher / Arts School Scholarships this can be deducted from the tuition fees you need to prove are available.
  • If you are able to pay the tuition fees in full before applying for your visa, you would only need to prove £9207.00 in your account for the full 28 days.

Any difference in tuition fees (i.e. Payment of deposit, bursary, scholarship or full payment of tuition fees) will be noted on your Confirmation of Acceptance of Student Information which is seen by the UK Visas and Immigration Service.

If you make an online application, the date of your application is the date the visa fee is paid online.

What you cannot deduct from the above fee

  • Please DO NOT pay your food and accommodation fees until you have successfully obtained a visa; our food and accommodation costs are not considered by the UK Visas and Immigration Service. They still wish to see £9207.00 maintenance available in your account for the full 28 days before your visa application date.

How do I prove I have the correct finances?

Please note, in order to avoid delays in the CAS process, please ensure that you follow the guidance below very carefully. It is very important that the details you provide for financial evidence are correct and exactly in line with the guidance.

In order to prove your finances you could:

  1. Obtain a recent official bank statement (dated within the last month) showing the account for a consecutive 28 day period. Please note that online bank statements are subject to further requirements so please contact me if it is absolutely necessary these statements are used. or
  2. Ask your bank to prepare a letter like the example below.

This letter must be provided on the official letterhead of the Bank (original copy); name, contact details and position of the individual writing it on behalf of the bank must be included.

It is very important that the Bank includes all of this information. If anything is missing, the letter will be returned and you will have to ask the bank to make amendments.

Here is an example letter containing the necessary information (Word Document).

If absolutely necessary you may use your parent’s bank statements instead of your own, but they must meet the above guidelines and you must also provide your original birth certificate + a signed letter of parental consent confirming that they are happy for you to use this money for your studies.

Your parent must write the letter themselves and in English if they are able. Any documents or letters which are not in English must be accompanied by official translations which meet UKVI translation requirements.

PLEASE NOTE: Where any evidence is not in English it must be accompanied by a full translation that can be independently verified by the Entry Clearance Officer.  The translation must:

  • Be dated
  • Include confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document;
  • Include the full name and original signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company
  • Include the contact details of the translator or translation company.