Student visa refusal over maintenance funds

Short answer

Yes, UKVI can refuse a Student visa if your funds dipped below the required amount during the 28-day qualifying period. This is one of the most common reasons for refusal on the Student route, because the financial requirement is strict and largely mechanical. The key point is that you must hold at least the required amount for 28 consecutive days, and if the balance drops below the threshold on even a single day within that window, the account will not satisfy the rule.

How the 28-day rule works

The requirement is that you have held the required funds for a continuous period of 28 days. The 28 days are counted backwards from the closing balance date shown on your financial evidence, and that closing balance must be dated no more than 31 days before the date you apply.

The critical feature is that the lowest balance in that 28-day window must be at or above the required amount. It is not an average and it is not enough for the money to be there at the start and end. If your balance fell below the threshold, even briefly, on any single day within the 28 days, the account will not meet the rule as it stands.

The amount you need is your unpaid course fees for the first year (or the whole course if shorter than a year), plus living costs. Living costs are calculated at set monthly rates for a maximum number of months: currently around £1,483 per month for up to nine months if you are studying in London, and about £1,136 per month for up to nine months outside London. You should confirm the exact figures and your own required total, as these rates are periodically updated.

The important exception if funds were spent after applying

There is a distinction that matters here, and it turns on when the shortfall occurred.

If the money was held continuously for the 28 days ending on your closing balance date, and the balance only fell afterwards, at the point UKVI is considering or verifying the application, then the caseworker guidance provides a safeguard. Under the Home Office financial requirement caseworker guidance, where verification shows the applicant now holds less than required, the caseworker should confirm with the applicant whether the funds were spent on legitimate course costs, such as tuition fees or an accommodation deposit. Spending your own money on the very costs the requirement is designed to cover is not automatically a reason to refuse. The caseworker is expected to ask for evidence, such as receipts, and to give reasons if they still intend to refuse.

If, on the other hand, the balance dipped below the required amount during the 28-day qualifying period itself, that is a different and more serious problem. In that situation the account simply does not evidence the required funds, and the exception for money spent on fees or deposits does not rescue it, because the shortfall is within the period that has to be satisfied.

So the decisive missing fact is exactly when the dip happened: within the 28 days you are relying on, or only afterwards.

Practical options

1. Check the dates precisely. Identify the closing balance date on your statement, count back 28 days, and find the lowest balance in that window. Compare it against your exact required total (fees outstanding plus the correct living cost figure for your location and course length).

2. Consider using a different 28-day window. You do not have to rely on the account or period that failed. If you have another qualifying account, or if your balance has since been consistently above the threshold for a fresh 28-day period, you can base the application on statements ending on a later closing balance date, provided that date is still within 31 days of your application date.

3. Consider alternative evidence categories. The financial requirement can be met in ways that avoid the 28-day balance problem altogether, for example an official financial sponsor letter, a student loan letter from an official source, or, if you qualify, the difference exemption for applicants who have been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more at the date of application. If any of these apply, the strict 28-day balance rule may not bite in the same way.

4. Keep supporting evidence ready. If the dip was after you applied and was caused by paying tuition fees or an accommodation deposit, gather receipts, payment confirmations and correspondence now, so you can respond quickly if UKVI queries the funds.

5. Do not withdraw or move funds before the decision. The Home Office does not advise spending down the funds before a decision is made, precisely because it can trigger verification queries even where the spending was legitimate.

If you are refused

A Student visa refusal on financial grounds does not usually attract a full right of appeal, but you can request an administrative review if you believe the caseworker made a case-working error, for example by ignoring evidence that the funds were spent on course fees or by miscalculating the required amount. In many cases, especially where the underlying finances are genuinely sound, the more practical route is to make a fresh, correctly evidenced application using a clean 28-day period, rather than pursuing administrative review.

What would change the answer

The outcome depends heavily on facts you have not yet given: the exact date and size of the dip, whether it fell inside or outside your 28-day window, what caused it, whether the money was your own maintenance funds or fees you had to pay, and which financial evidence category you are relying on. If you can tell me the closing balance date, the lowest balance during the relevant 28 days, your required total, and whether you are inside or outside London, I can tell you more precisely whether this account meets the rule or whether you should apply on a different basis.