Destination · United Kingdom

Study in UK from Nepal

A bachelor’s in three years, a master’s in one, and 20 hours of work a week while you study. Here is what it actually costs in 2026, the maintenance figure most Nepali websites still have wrong, and why the hard part is now the CAS rather than the visa.

Tuition per year £12,000 to 32,000 Bachelor’s and taught master’s. Medicine and MBA cost more.

Funds you must evidence £13,761 or £10,539 London or elsewhere. Nine months, held 28 consecutive days.

Student visa £558 Plus the health surcharge at £776 a year.

Requirements

Eligibility checklist

To study in the UK from Nepal you have to satisfy two separate bodies, and they do not ask for the same things. Your university judges your academics and your English and decides whether to issue a CAS. UK Visas and Immigration judges your money, your health, your character and your credibility as a student. Since June 2026 the university has its own regulatory reason to be strict, which is explained further down this page.

Academic

Grade 12, NEB or A Levels completed, typically 60% or better for most bachelor’s programmes
Recognised bachelor’s degree, usually 50 to 60% or CGPA around 2.6, for a taught master’s
Transcripts, character certificate and migration certificate where your board issues one
Some universities require an International Year One or foundation year for Nepali +2 holders

English

IELTS for UKVI 6.0 overall, no band below 5.5, for most undergraduate courses
6.5 overall, no band below 6.0, for most taught master’s programmes
Book IELTS for UKVI, not standard IELTS Academic, where a Secure English Language Test is required
PTE Academic UKVI and Trinity ISE accepted at most institutions
Many universities accept a Medium of Instruction letter from TU, KU, PU or Purbanchal for degree level study

Financial capacity

Outstanding tuition shown on your CAS, plus the maintenance figure
£13,761 for a London university, £10,539 anywhere else in the UK
Held for 28 consecutive days, closing balance dated within 31 days of applying
Your account, or a parent’s with a birth certificate and consent letter
A bank regulated by Nepal Rastra Bank that uses electronic record keeping. Cooperatives do not qualify

Health, character and credibility

A TB certificate from a clinic the Home Office names for Nepal, valid six months
Police and character documents where requested
A course that follows logically from what you have already studied
An explanation of your choice of university and city that holds up under questioning
Finances that are genuinely yours and traceable to a source

Unsure where you stand? Our visa application assistance team assesses your profile against every line above, free, before you spend a rupee.

The case for the UK

Why study in the UK?

Nepal filed 20,465 UK study visa applications in the year to March 2026, fifth in the world. Families choose it for one reason above all others: the UK degree is the shortest of the four major English speaking destinations, and a year of your life is worth real money.

1 year

Taught master’s

Three years for a bachelor’s. A whole year of tuition and living costs you never pay.

20 hrs

Work rights per week

Degree level at a higher education provider. Full time in official holidays.

2 yrs

Graduate Route, for now

Three years for a doctorate. Read the deadline below before you pick an intake.

The Graduate Route deadline: 31 December 2026

Apply for the Graduate Route on or before 31 December 2026 and you receive the full two years. From 1 January 2027 it drops to 18 months for bachelor’s and master’s graduates. Doctoral graduates keep three years either way.

The rule turns on the date you apply, not the date you enrol and not the date you graduate. That makes intake timing a live financial decision. A one year master’s starting September 2026 finishes in late 2027, so that student applies in 2027 and gets 18 months. Anyone who has already completed and not yet applied should apply now.

It is not a reason to abandon the UK. It is a reason to choose your intake deliberately, and we will tell you plainly which side of the line your plan falls on before you pay a deposit.

Be honest about the work hours comparison: 20 hours a week is less than New Zealand’s 25 and less than Australia’s 48 a fortnight. What the UK has instead is a far larger part time labour market and higher hourly rates, particularly outside London where your rent is lower too.

Course choice

Popular courses for Nepali students

The fields Nepali students most often pick, chosen for graduate demand rather than ranking alone. Pick a specialisation rather than a generic title. A named, specific course is easier to defend in a credibility assessment than a broad one.

Nursing and health

Strong NHS demand. Registration routes need checking before you enrol.

Computing and data

Software engineering, cyber security, data science and AI.

Engineering

Civil, mechanical, electrical and renewable energy.

Business and management

Widest choice by far. Choose finance, supply chain or analytics over a generic MBA.

Hospitality and tourism

Often includes a paid placement year, which changes the cost arithmetic.

Public health and social care

Popular at master’s level and well matched to Nepali health science backgrounds.

A course chosen only to secure a visa is also a course that weakens your credibility assessment, because the caseworker can see it does not follow from anything you have studied. Talk it through in free career and course counselling first.

How much money is required to study in the UK?

For one year, budget roughly £24,000 to £43,000 outside London and £28,000 to £48,000 in London. That covers tuition, the living costs the Home Office requires you to evidence, the £558 visa fee, the health surcharge and your airfare. Tuition varies enormously by institution tier and subject, so treat the range as a range and let a counsellor cost your actual shortlist.

First year cost	GBP
Tuition, bachelor’s, one year	12,000 to 30,000
Tuition, taught master’s, one year	12,000 to 32,000
Tuition, medicine, dentistry, veterinary	35,000 to 65,000
Living costs you must evidence, London	13,761
Living costs you must evidence, elsewhere	10,539
Immigration Health Surcharge	776 per year
Student visa fee	558
Airfare, Kathmandu to London	450 to 700
First year total, outside London	24,000 to 43,000
First year total, London	28,000 to 48,000

The health surcharge calculation nobody shows you

The surcharge is charged on the length of your visa, not the length of your course, and a student visa is granted for the course plus a short buffer. A twelve month master’s usually gets a visa of about sixteen months, which falls in the band between one year and eighteen months. You therefore pay one full year at £776 plus a half year at £388, so £1,164, upfront, at the moment you apply. A three year bachelor’s works out at roughly £2,716. It is the single most common line item Nepali students forget to budget for.

Neither the visa fee nor the health surcharge is refunded if you are refused

Nor are your test fees, your TB test or your translations. On a master’s application that is well over £1,700 gone. It is the whole argument for lodging a properly prepared file the first time instead of a rushed one.

On the Nepal side add the NPR 2,000 NOC fee, your TB test at roughly NPR 7,000 to 8,000, your English test fee, translation and notarisation, VFS Global service charges, and bank charges on the tuition remittance. Be careful with any page quoting living costs of £13,347 or £10,224: those are the pre November 2025 figures and they are still circulating widely on Nepali consultancy sites.

Where Nepali applications fail

The 28 day rule

Almost every avoidable refusal of a student who applies to study in UK from Nepal is a money document problem, not a money problem. The families have the funds. The paperwork does not prove it in the form the Home Office accepts.

Where your university is	Per month	Total, 9 months
London	£1,529	£13,761
Anywhere else in the UK	£1,171	£10,539

Add any outstanding tuition shown on your CAS. If your CAS records a £4,000 deposit already paid against £18,000 of fees, you evidence the remaining £14,000 plus the maintenance figure. If you have paid your university for accommodation, you may deduct up to one month of maintenance.

1
Get the balance to the full required amount
In one account, at one bank, in your name or a parent’s.
2
Do not touch it for 28 consecutive days
Not an ATM withdrawal, not a mobile transfer, not a utility payment. A single dip below the threshold restarts the count from zero.
3
Get an official statement from the branch
A screenshot or a self printed online banking PDF is not accepted.
4
Apply within 31 days of that closing date
Miss the window and the evidence expires, even though the money never moved.

5 to 10% above the minimum is the buffer we advise every Nepali applicant to hold.

Why the buffer matters. Your balance is in rupees and the threshold is in pounds, and UKVI converts at the rate on the day you apply. If the rupee weakens during your 28 days you can be perfectly compliant on day one and short on day 28, without having spent a single rupee. This costs Nepali students more refusals than any other single cause, and almost no competitor page mentions it.

Two other patterns we see constantly. A large unexplained deposit that lands three weeks before you apply invites a source of funds question. Where a lump sum comes from a property sale, a loan or a relative, evidence it at the moment you deposit it, not after you are asked. And budgeting to last year’s figure: the threshold rose on 11 November 2025, and most Nepali websites still publish £13,347 and £10,224. Hold that and you are £414 or £315 short.

On the list of "UKVI approved banks in Nepal" you have probably seen. Several Nepali sites publish a list of twelve approved banks and say funds anywhere else are refused automatically. Treat that with care. The Home Office withdrew its published country by country lists of acceptable financial institutions and replaced them with a test: the institution must be regulated by the appropriate national regulator, must use electronic record keeping, and the Home Office must be able to verify the documents. A commercial bank licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank meets that test. A savings cooperative does not. Anyone telling you a specific twelve bank list is current policy is quoting guidance that no longer exists. Ask them to show you where it is published.

Changed 1 June 2026

Why the CAS is now the hard part

This is the most important change for anyone planning to study in the UK from Nepal this year, and almost no Nepali consultancy site explains it.

On 1 June 2026 the Home Office replaced the old Basic Compliance Assessment with a tightened set of thresholds and a public Red, Amber, Green rating for every institution that sponsors international students.

Metric a sponsor must hold	Threshold	From
Student visa refusal rate, below	5%	1 June 2026
Course enrolment rate, above	95%	1 June 2026
Course completion rate, above	85%	Rises to 90% from June 2027

A sponsor’s overall rating is set by its worst metric, not its average, and the rating is published on the sponsor register. A red rating means a Home Office action plan, a cut of at least 10% to the university’s CAS allocation, and a warning that sits on the record for five years. A second breach costs the licence.

What that means for you, in plain terms

Your refusal is now the university’s problem. Before June, an institution that issued a CAS to a marginal applicant risked very little. Now every refused applicant pushes it closer to a red rating, so admissions teams have started screening harder before a CAS is issued: additional interviews, larger deposits, tighter document checks, and in some cases a decision to stop recruiting from markets with high refusal rates altogether.

So the sequence has inverted. It used to be that getting an offer was easy and the visa was the wall. Now the CAS is the wall. A file that would have earned a conditional offer in 2024 may not earn a CAS in 2026, and finding that out in July when your intake is September is an expensive way to learn it.

We shortlist by whether you can realistically be sponsored, not just admitted. That means matching your academic profile, your funds and your progression story to institutions whose current compliance position lets them take you, preparing you properly for a credibility interview, and being direct with you when the honest answer is that a different destination or a different level of study is the better plan.

Timing

Intakes in the UK

Intake	Course starts	Apply from Nepal by
September, main intake	Mid to late September	Dec to Mar
January	Mid to late January	Jun to Sep
May, limited providers	May	Dec to Feb

September carries by far the widest course choice and the most scholarship money for students applying to study in UK from Nepal. January is a genuine second chance rather than a lesser option, and it is often the better intake for a student who needs another IELTS attempt or more time to season funds.

If post study work rights matter to you, map your intake against your likely completion date before you commit. The Graduate Route drops to 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027, so a September start and a January start can produce a six month difference in how long you may stay afterwards. Meet our counsellors in person at an upcoming education expo.

Process

Your journey to the UK

Seven steps take you from a first conversation to a boarding pass. Plan on six to nine months end to end, which is the realistic timeline to study in the UK from Nepal for a September intake.

1
Free counselling and profile assessment
We shortlist universities that can realistically sponsor you, not just admit you. Book a session at any of our 12 offices or online.
2
Apply and receive your offer
Most UK universities respond in two to four weeks, often faster for taught master’s programmes. See our partner institutions.
3
No Objection Certificate
NPR 2,000 at noc.moest.gov.np, issued in 3 to 7 working days. You cannot legally remit tuition without it.
4
Pay the deposit and get your CAS
Meet every condition on the offer and the university issues your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. Check every character of it against your passport. A mismatched name, date of birth or course title is a refusal that was entirely within your control.
5
Season your funds and book the TB test
Start the 28 consecutive days and leave the account alone. In parallel, book your TB test at a clinic named on the Home Office list. The certificate is valid six months, so time it to still be valid when a decision is made.
6
Lodge the visa and give biometrics
The online application, the £558 fee and the full health surcharge are paid together, then you attend VFS Global in Kathmandu. Standard processing is usually 3 to 8 weeks, longer at the September peak. We prepare the file with you.
7
Pre departure briefing
Granted as an eVisa linked to your UKVI account, so there is no sticker and no card to collect. We cover accommodation, insurance, banking, SIM, work rights and registering with a GP.

Before you apply

Document checklist

Academic and identity

Transcripts and certificates, SEE through to your most recent qualification
Character certificate from your last institution
Migration certificate, where your board issues one
Passport bio page, plus all previous passports with any prior UK visa stamps

Visa file

CAS reference number, checked character by character against your passport
IELTS for UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI or Trinity ISE score report, or an MOI letter
Official bank statement covering 28 consecutive days
Birth certificate and consent letter if the funds sit in a parent’s account
TB certificate from a Home Office listed clinic
Statement of Purpose, consistent with every other document in the file

Every university sets its own additional list. Check the institution’s own page before paying any application fee, or ask us to confirm it for you.

Where to study

Universities and how to check any sponsor

Nepcoms places students who study in UK from Nepal across Russell Group universities, large post 1992 universities and specialist institutions. All of them are strong for the right student, and the choice between them is about course, city, cost and entry requirement rather than prestige alone. A well ranked university you cannot fund is a worse outcome than a solid one you can.

Check two things yourself before you pay any institution a rupee

One. Confirm it appears on the UK register of licensed student sponsors at gov.uk. An institution that is not on that register cannot issue a CAS, and no amount of glossy branding changes that.

Two. Once ratings are published, check its Red, Amber, Green status on the same register. A green rated sponsor has headroom to take your application. A red or amber one is under pressure and may be cutting its intake or tightening its entry bar mid cycle. Ratings apply from each sponsor’s first assessment after 1 June 2026, so expect coverage to fill out through 2027.

Any consultancy that discourages you from checking either of these has told you something important about itself.

A London postcode adds roughly £3,200 to the funds you must evidence before you have paid a penny more in tuition. Ask a counsellor to run the same course at a London and a non London university side by side. See our partner institutions.

Funding

Scholarships for Nepali students

Chevening Scholarships

The UK government’s flagship award, fully funded for a one year master’s, and Nepal is eligible. It covers tuition, a monthly stipend, return airfare and arrival and departure allowances. Applications open around August and close in early October, for study starting the following September. Chevening weights work experience and leadership heavily, so strong candidates start building the application a year out.

University and British Council awards

Most UK universities offer international excellence awards to strong applicants, typically £2,000 to £10,000 against first year tuition, and a number run South Asia or Nepal specific bursaries. Some apply automatically on admission, some need a separate application before the offer deadline. GREAT Scholarships, run by the British Council with participating universities, are worth at least £10,000 towards a one year master’s, but the eligible country list changes each cycle, so confirm Nepal’s inclusion for your intake before you plan around it.

One correction, because you will see it elsewhere

Several Nepali consultancy pages list Commonwealth Scholarships among the options for UK study. Nepal is not a member of the Commonwealth, so Nepali citizens are not eligible for Commonwealth Scholarship Commission awards. If a consultancy has that on its UK page, it has not checked.

A scholarship reduces your tuition but rarely changes the maintenance figure you must evidence. Budget for both. Talk to a counsellor about which university awards you are automatically considered for.

Frequently asked questions

How much money is required to study in the UK from Nepal?

Budget roughly £24,000 to £43,000 for a first year outside London and £28,000 to £48,000 in London. That covers tuition of £12,000 to £32,000, the living costs you must evidence, the £558 visa fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge and airfare. The living cost figure is £1,529 a month in London and £1,171 outside, for a maximum of nine months, so £13,761 and £10,539. On the Nepal side add the NPR 2,000 NOC fee, the TB test at around NPR 7,000 to 8,000, your English test fee and translation costs.

What is the 28 day rule?

Your required funds, meaning outstanding tuition on your CAS plus the maintenance figure, must sit in an acceptable account for 28 consecutive days without the balance dropping below the threshold on any single day. The closing date of that statement must fall within 31 days of the date you apply. A single dip restarts the count. Because the threshold is in pounds and your balance is in rupees, hold five to ten per cent above the minimum so exchange rate movement cannot put you short.

Can I work while studying in the UK?

Yes. Students on degree level courses at a higher education provider can work up to 20 hours a week during term time and full time during official holidays. Your visa states your exact conditions, and working beyond them is a serious breach that can end your permission to stay.

What IELTS score do I need for the UK?

Most undergraduate programmes ask for IELTS for UKVI 6.0 overall with no band below 5.5, and most taught master’s programmes ask for 6.5 with no band below 6.0. Book IELTS for UKVI rather than standard IELTS Academic if your course is below degree level or your university requires a Secure English Language Test. PTE Academic UKVI and Trinity ISE are accepted alternatives at most institutions.

Can I study in the UK without IELTS?

Sometimes. Many UK universities accept a Medium of Instruction letter from Tribhuvan, Kathmandu, Pokhara or Purbanchal University for degree level study, and some accept strong Grade 12 English results or an internal assessment. Not every university does, and the visa side may still expect language evidence. Have a counsellor confirm your specific university and course before you decide to skip the test.

How much is the UK student visa fee in 2026?

The Student route application is £558 from outside the UK. On top of that you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge at £776 for each year of your visa, upfront and in full. A twelve month master’s usually attracts a visa of about sixteen months, so the surcharge works out at £1,164. Neither charge is refunded if you are refused.

Do I need a TB test for a UK student visa from Nepal?

Yes, and it applies to everyone who applies to study in UK from Nepal. Nepal is on the UK’s mandatory tuberculosis testing list, so any visa of more than six months requires a TB certificate from a clinic the Home Office names for Nepal. The test is a chest X ray for applicants aged 11 and over, results usually take a few days, and the certificate is valid for six months. Time it so it is still valid when your decision is made.

How long does a UK student visa take from Nepal?

Standard processing from Nepal is usually three to eight weeks, and the run up to the September intake is slower. Lodge at least three months before your course starts, and remember your financial evidence has a 31 day shelf life, so the 28 day window has to be planned backwards from the day you intend to apply.

What are the intakes for the UK?

September is the main intake with the widest course choice and the most scholarship money. January is a well established second intake. A limited number of providers also run a May start. Begin your application six to nine months before your intended intake.

Is the UK Graduate Route still two years?

For now, yes, but the date matters. Applications submitted on or before 31 December 2026 receive two years for a bachelor’s or master’s. From 1 January 2027 that drops to 18 months. Doctoral graduates continue to receive three years either way. What counts is the date you apply for the Graduate Route, not when you enrolled or graduated, which means anyone planning to study in UK from Nepal should choose their intake with that date in mind.

Can I bring my spouse or children on a UK student visa?

Only in limited cases. Since January 2024, students on taught master’s programmes cannot bring dependants. Dependants are allowed for students on research postgraduate programmes such as a PhD, and for government sponsored students on courses longer than six months. If someone tells you a taught master’s can bring a spouse, they are giving you 2023 advice.

Is the UK easier than Australia right now for a Nepali student?

They are different rather than simply easier or harder. Australia moved Nepal to Evidence Level 3 in January 2026 and refused roughly 64% of offshore Nepali applications in the months that followed. The UK has also tightened, and since June 2026 universities themselves screen harder because their own compliance rating depends on how your application turns out. The UK’s advantages are a shorter degree and a much larger sector. Its disadvantages are fewer work hours and a post study window that shrinks in 2027. The right answer depends on your marks, your funds and your field, and we will tell you honestly which one your profile fits.

Keep reading

Related Nepcoms pages

Career and course counselling Visa application assistance Health and travel insurance Student accommodation IELTS preparation PTE preparation Partner institutions About Nepcoms Education expos Blog and guides

Weighing up other destinations before you commit? If Australia’s Evidence Level 3 rules put it out of reach for your profile, the UK assesses finances differently, and New Zealand differently again.

Australia New Zealand Canada USA Germany All destinations

Official sources for the figures on this page

GOV.UK, Student visaEligibility, fee, work conditions and length of stay
GOV.UK, Student visa: moneyThe maintenance figures and the 28 day rule
GOV.UK, Graduate visaPost study work rights and the 31 December 2026 date
GOV.UK, Immigration Health SurchargeThe £776 student rate and how part years are charged
GOV.UK, Tuberculosis test clinics in NepalThe clinics the Home Office accepts for Nepali applicants
GOV.UK, Register of licensed student sponsorsCheck any university, and its RAG rating, before you pay
UKCISAIndependent plain English guidance for international students
British Council, Study UKCourse search, GREAT Scholarships and cost guidance
Chevening ScholarshipsFully funded, master’s only, Nepal eligible
Ministry of Education, Nepal, NOC portalNo Objection Certificate applications

The Home Office reviews visa fees and the maintenance figures periodically, and the Graduate Route changes on 1 January 2027. Last checked 27 August 2026.