UK student visa bank statement calculator: maintenance funds 2026

A UK Student visa application is refused more often for the money than for anything else: the bank statement shows the wrong amount, for the wrong number of days, or dated too early. The rule itself is short. You must hold enough to cover your living costs for the length of the course (up to nine months) plus any course fees still unpaid, for 28 days in a row, with the latest statement dated within 31 days of applying. The monthly amounts rise for applications made on or after 30 November 2026. The calculator below applies the rule to your course; the rest of the page quotes where each number comes from.

The maintenance amounts, before and from 30 November 2026

The uplift is in Statement of Changes HC 584, laid before Parliament on 3 September 2026: “In ST 12.3(a), for ‘£1529’, substitute ‘£1570’” and “In ST 12.3(b), for ‘£1171’, substitute ‘£1203’”, with the paragraphs taking effect on 30 November 2026. The date that matters is the date you submit the application: an application “made before 30 November 2026” is decided under the rules in force on 29 November. The GOV.UK Student visa page still showed the current figures on 2 November 2026, so expect it to change on the day. HC 584 does not touch the dependant amounts.

How the total is worked out

1. Count the months of your course. A part month counts as a full month (“rounded up to the next full month”), and anything over nine months is capped at nine.
2. Multiply by the monthly rate for where you study. “London” means the course location, not where you live.
3. Add the course fees for the first year (or the whole course if it is shorter) that you have not yet paid. Fees already paid must appear on your CAS or on a receipt from the university.
4. If you have paid accommodation fees to your university (not to a private landlord), you may deduct that payment, but only up to £1,529 now and £1,570 from 30 November 2026 (ST 12.4).
5. Add the dependant amounts, per person, for the same number of months.

Example for an application made in December 2026: a 12-month master’s outside London with £6,000 of fees unpaid and no dependants needs 9 × £1,203 = £10,827 plus £6,000, so £16,827 held for 28 days. The same course in London needs £14,130 plus £6,000, so £20,130.

The 28-day rule and the 31-day window

GOV.UK: “You must have this money for at least 28 days in a row. The end date of the 28-day period must be within 31 days of the date you apply for your visa.” Appendix Finance FIN 7.1 puts the second half as “the most recently dated piece of financial evidence must be dated within 31 days before the date of application”, and FIN 7.2 counts the 28 days back from the closing balance. If the balance dips below the required amount on a single day inside the 28, the application fails the requirement. Students on an official financial sponsorship or a student loan do not need to show the 28 days (ST 12.6).

Which bank statement is accepted

• A personal current or savings account in your name, or in a parent’s or legal guardian’s name with proof of the relationship and their written consent (FIN 5.1 and 5.3). Accounts must allow the money to be accessed immediately (FIN 8.1).
• Not accepted: shares, bonds, pensions, credit cards or overdraft facilities (FIN 8.2, FIN 3.1).
• The bank must be regulated and keep electronic records that UKVI can verify (FIN 2.1); statements from Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi and Nigerian banks are accepted on that basis.
• A loan letter must be dated no more than six months before the application and the funds must be available before you travel (FIN 9.2).
• Money in another currency is converted at the OANDA spot rate for the date of application (FIN 1.1), so leave a margin for the rate moving.

Who does not have to show maintenance

Two groups, in GOV.UK’s words: applicants who have “been living in the UK with a visa for at least 12 months prior to the date of your Student visa application”, and applicants “applying as a student union sabbatical officer” (ST 12.1 and 12.2). Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria are not on the list of countries with reduced evidence requirements, so applicants from those countries always submit the statements.

Common refusal reasons, and the fix

• Statement older than 31 days on the application date: get a fresh statement or a bank letter dated inside the window.
• Balance correct on the closing day but below the amount earlier in the 28 days: wait until a full 28 days above the figure have passed.
• Applying on or after 30 November 2026 with the old figures: recalculate with £1,570 or £1,203.
• Fees shown as paid but not on the CAS: ask the university to update the CAS or issue a receipt.
• Private landlord deposit deducted: only payments to the sponsor count, and only up to the cap.