The quick answer
If you're a non-EU national living legally in the UK, you can apply for a Spanish student visa here, before you leave. You apply to the Spanish consulate that covers where you live, in person through its BLS visa centre, at least two months before your course starts. There are three consulates, not one: London, Manchester and Edinburgh (Embassy of Spain in the UK).
The money you must show is 100% of Spain's IPREM, which is €600 a month in 2026, so €7,200 for a 12-month stay (Spanish consulate IPREM table). The consulate has one month by law to decide. Once you're there, you can work up to 30 hours a week alongside a degree.
The part that catches most people out isn't the money. It's the documents that need an apostille and a sworn Spanish translation, and the fact that most of the UK is not covered by the London consulate.
Who this guide is for
Most people who ask us about Spain aren't British. They came to the UK to study, they're on a Graduate visa or another UK visa, and they want a next step that doesn't depend on finding a UK sponsor. The Graduate visa can't be extended, and new Graduate visas will be shorter from 1 January 2027, which I covered in our post on the 18-month Graduate visa.
My view: Spain is one of the most practical moves from the UK for a graduate on a tight timeline. The funds figure is far lower than Germany's, private universities start more than once a year, and the visa itself is not complicated. But it rewards people who start the paperwork early, because the slow parts are certificates, not the consulate.
Step 1: Find your consulate (it may not be London)
Spain has three consulates general in the UK, and each one only accepts study visa applications from people who live in its area, or who attend classes in person there. The Embassy of Spain's list splits the country like this:
| Consulate | Areas it covers |
|---|---|
| London | Greater London, the South East, the South West and the East of England, plus the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey and the British Overseas Territories |
| Manchester | All of Wales, the Isle of Man, the North West (except Cumbria), Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the West Midlands |
| Edinburgh | Scotland, all of Northern Ireland, Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley |
So if you live in Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds or Cardiff, your application goes to Manchester, not London. If you're in Belfast or Newcastle, it's Edinburgh.
You'll need proof that you live in that area, such as bills, bank statements or a driving licence in your name (London consulate). The Manchester consulate also asks you to show you're living there legally, so keep your eVisa details ready.
All three take study visa applications through BLS International: the London centre at 20 St Andrew Street, the Manchester BLS branch, and the Edinburgh centre at 6 Dock Place. You submit in person.
Step 2: Get your admission and pay the registration fee
You need a letter of acceptance from an authorised institution for a full-time programme. For higher education, the consulate also wants proof that you've paid the registration or enrolment fee (London consulate). An offer alone isn't enough.
This is where your intake choice matters. Public universities in Spain mostly start in October. Many private universities also start in January, May and September, and they usually decide on admission faster. If your UK visa ends before the next October, a private university start is often the only way the dates work. Our Spain guide explains the trade-off on cost.
Step 3: The money you must show
The rule is 100% of IPREM for each month, Spain's public income indicator. The Ministry of Inclusion sets it as a monthly maintenance amount, and the official 2026 figure is €600 a month, or €7,200 a year (IPREM table published by the Spanish consulate service). Tuition doesn't count towards it.
If your accommodation for the whole stay is already paid, the consulate deducts that from what you need to show.
The consulates accept these as evidence (London consulate):
- six months of stamped bank statements;
- proof of a scholarship;
- a letter from the institution confirming it covers your accommodation and meals;
- a notarised sponsorship letter from a parent or guardian, with their passport, proof of the relationship, an employer letter and six months of their stamped bank statements.
If you're bringing family, they need extra funds: 75% of IPREM for the first family member (€450 a month) and 50% for each one after that (€300 a month). Family visas are only available to students in higher education, and family members can't work on them.
Step 4: The documents, and which ones take time
Here is the London consulate's list for a student, in the order it gives them:
- The national visa application form, completed and signed.
- A recent colour passport photo on a light background.
- A passport valid for at least 1 year, with two blank pages, issued within the last 10 years.
- Your letter of acceptance and proof the registration fee is paid.
- Proof of funds (Step 3).
- Health insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain, covering everything the Spanish public system covers, with no co-payments, refunds or waiting periods and a limit of at least €30,000. Travel insurance is refused, even at €30,000. A UK GHIC is accepted.
- A criminal record certificate covering the last 5 years from every country you lived in, for courses over 6 months. For the UK that's an ACRO certificate, not a DBS check (Edinburgh consulate). It can't be older than 6 months unless it says otherwise.
- A medical certificate issued within 3 months, using the consulate's exact wording. Only certificates from a UK or Spanish doctor are accepted.
- Proof you live in the consulate's area (Step 1).
- The visa fee (Step 5).
The consulates word the criminal record threshold slightly differently (Manchester says stays over 135 days, Edinburgh over 180 days), so read your own consulate's page. For a degree it makes no difference: you'll need one.
Items 7 and 8 are where the weeks go. Foreign documents such as the criminal record certificate need a Hague apostille (or legalisation) and a sworn translation into Spanish. If you lived in your home country within the last five years, you'll need a certificate from there too, apostilled and translated. We handle apostilles and sworn translations with our students for exactly this reason.
Step 5: Fees
The fee is paid in pounds when you submit, and it depends on your nationality. The London consulate's fee list, in force from 1 January 2026, shows a general visa fee of £79, with different reciprocity fees for some nationalities: for example £119.50 for US citizens' study visas and £345 for British citizens' study visas over six months. Check your nationality's line on the current list before you book.
Step 6: How long it takes, and working backwards
Apply at least two months before your course starts. The consulate has one month from the day after you submit to decide, longer if it calls you for an interview or asks for more documents. After approval, you collect the visa in person within two months (London consulate).
So for a course starting on a given date, I'd plan it like this:
- Four to six months before: choose the university and intake, apply for admission, and order your ACRO certificate and any home-country certificate.
- About three months before: pay the registration fee, get the apostilles and sworn translations done, and arrange health insurance.
- Within three months of your appointment: get the medical certificate (it expires after 3 months).
- At least two months before the start: submit at BLS.
- Before your UK permission ends: have the decision and collect the visa while you still live here legally.
That last point matters most. You can only use a UK consulate while you live in its area. If your Graduate visa ends and you go home first, you'd have to start again with the Spanish consulate in your home country.
When you arrive in Spain
For a course longer than 6 months, the visa is valid for 1 year and you must apply for your foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month of entering Spain (London consulate). For multi-year degrees, your permission stays valid as long as you show proof of enrolment at the start of each academic year, and renewals are applied for online in Spain (Ministry of Inclusion).
Working while you study
Higher education students can work, employed or self-employed, without a separate permit, as long as the work fits around their studies and doesn't go over 30 hours a week. Going over the limit can end your permission to stay. Work placements that are part of your course don't need any extra authorisation (Ministry of Inclusion, Sheet 4 bis).
I'd still plan your budget without counting on part-time income. It's useful money, not a way to cover the €600 a month you have to prove upfront.
After you graduate in Spain
If you complete a degree at at least bachelor's level (Level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework) at an authorised Spanish institution, you can apply for a 24-month residence permit to look for work or start a business. It can't be extended, and the Ministry says you are not authorised to work while you hold it. Once you find a job related to your studies or start your business, you apply for the matching work or business permit (Ministry of Inclusion, Sheet 20).
The window is tight: you apply in the 60 days before your student permission expires, or within 90 days after it. Nobody can promise you a job at the end, and I won't. What Spain gives you is time and a legal basis to look.
Where ACS fits in
We're based in Birmingham, which is in the Manchester consulate's area. We help with the university choice and intake, the registration fee, the funds evidence, the apostilles and sworn translations, and the BLS appointment, so you walk in with a complete file.
If you're on a Graduate visa, the most useful thing you can send us is your UK visa end date. Check your route or send us your details, and we'll tell you honestly whether a Spanish start date still works for you. If you're also weighing Germany, read our Germany guide for UK graduates for the comparison.