The UK Money Kit

Whose money the UK accepts, what's banned, the 28-day calendar, and the letters that make family money count.

Which of these is you

• My money is in investments or someone else's account. Start at "The official lists", then "Making family money count".
• I just need the numbers and calendar. Start at "The numbers and the calendar".
• A sponsor or parent is funding me. "Making family money count".

The official lists

Accepted (from the UK's own page): your money, your parent's money with their written consent, your partner's money (if in the UK or applying with you), an official financial sponsor such as a government or university, or a student loan from a government, government-sponsored company, or regulated scheme.

Cannot be used, same page: overdrafts, cryptocurrency, stocks and shares, pensions, accounts at banks that aren't regulated or don't keep electronic records. So treasury bills, mutual funds and share portfolios must become cash in an accepted account first; the 28-day clock starts the day the cash lands. Bank letters and certificates of deposit can serve as evidence where the account gives immediate access.

Source: gov.uk, financial evidence for student route applicants.

The numbers and the calendar

Living money is counted for your course length up to nine months. On top: any first-year fees your CAS still shows unpaid.

The calendar: the full amount sits in the account 28 days in a row, never dipping below the line for even one day. The 28 days count back from the closing balance on your evidence, and that evidence can't be older than 31 days when you apply. UKVI can phone your bank; unverifiable evidence means refusal.

Making family money count (the mechanics)

The rules invite family support; they just name the wiring.

• Parent's account: usable directly, with a consent letter and proof of relationship (birth certificate).
• Uncle, sibling, family friend: their names aren't on the accepted list, so their support becomes yours by entering YOUR account (or your parent's) early enough to sit the full 28 days, acquired legally, with the transfer trail kept.
• Money that must fly back out before travel is the one pattern that ends files, because the requirement is that the money is genuinely available to you.

Parent consent letter, copy, fill, sign: "I, [parent's full name], confirm I am the [father/mother] of [your name], date of birth [date]. The funds in my [bank] account [last 4 digits] are available to my child for their studies in the UK, and I consent to their use for this purpose. Signed, dated." Attach the parent's statement covering the 28 days and your birth certificate.

Tonight

• If money is in investments: instruct the liquidation today; settlement takes days you don't have to waste.
• Draw your calendar backwards: pick your target application date, count back 31 days, and make sure a clean 28-day window fits before it. Write both dates down.
• Check your bank isn't on UKVI's restricted list, and switch the money to a major regulated bank if in doubt.

Worked example

Ifeoma, offer outside London, CAS shows £4,000 fees unpaid. Her line: 10,539 + 4,000 = £14,539, about ₦26.8m. Her money today: ₦15m in treasury bills, plus her mother offering ₦14m. The plan: liquidate the bills this week, mother's ₦14m stays in mother's own account with the consent letter, Ifeoma's cash sits in her GTB account, both untouched for 28 days ending inside her 31-day window. Two accounts, two clean stories, one calendar.

Real questions, short answers

Is it too late to start? If your course starts January, a 28-day window built in September or October lands comfortably. Late is a feeling; the calendar is maths.

Sponsorship letter: hard copy or scan? Follow your evidence format on the official page; keep originals reachable, because verification is real.

What if my balance dipped once? The window restarts from the day the full amount was back. Count it again properly; a refusal costs far more than three weeks.

Who this does not fit

If the total truly isn't there this cycle, the plan beats the gamble: January intake instead of September, a cheaper city, or the funded routes (the Chevening pack is open till 6 October).

Naira figures on this page were converted at the 29 August 2026 rate (£1 = ₦1,846).