UK Student Dependant Maintenance Funds: Per-Dependant Amounts for Sri Lankan Students (2026)

Many Sri Lankan students planning to bring a partner or child to the UK are caught off guard by the financial requirements. The maintenance funds you must show are not just for yourself — every dependant adds a separate amount on top of your own main student maintenance figure. The current published amounts are £680 per month per dependant for students studying outside London, and £845 per month per dependant for students studying in London, for up to a maximum of nine months. This guide explains exactly how the per-dependant calculation works, what it adds to your total, and how to meet the 28-day rule across the combined figure.

Who Can Bring Dependants on a UK Student Visa (and Who Cannot)

Not every UK student visa holder is eligible to bring dependants. The right to bring a partner or child as a dependant is restricted to certain categories of student. UKVI's eligibility rules are specific, and you should confirm your eligibility on gov.uk before assuming you can include dependants in your application.

At the time of writing, the main groups who may be eligible include students on postgraduate research-level courses of nine months or more (such as MPhil or PhD programmes), and students on government-sponsored courses of six months or longer. Students on standard taught postgraduate or undergraduate courses generally cannot bring dependants, with limited exceptions. The rules around this have tightened in recent years, so check the current eligibility criteria on gov.uk for your specific course and level before building your financial case around dependant inclusion.

The Headline Dependant Amounts: £680 Outside London, £845 in London

Once you have confirmed eligibility, the maintenance calculation for each dependant is straightforward. UKVI currently publishes the following per-dependant figures for the Student route.

• Studying OUTSIDE London: £680 per month per dependant
• Studying IN London: £845 per month per dependant
• Maximum months counted: 9 months per dependant
• 9-month total per dependant outside London: £6,120
• 9-month total per dependant in London: £7,605

These figures are per dependant, not per family. If you are bringing two dependants — for example, your partner and one child — you multiply the monthly amount by two. Three dependants means three times the monthly figure. There is no cap on the number of dependants you may bring, provided each is eligible and the full combined maintenance requirement is met.

Per Dependant — Multiply for Every Person You Bring

The calculation is purely multiplicative. UKVI does not reduce the per-dependant rate for additional dependants, so each additional person you include in your application adds the full per-dependant monthly amount to your required total.

For Sri Lankan students, this is a significant sum when converted to rupees. At an indicative exchange rate of around LKR 340 per pound (the actual rate changes — use the current rate when you calculate), £6,120 per dependant outside London is approximately LKR 2.08 million, and £7,605 per dependant in London is approximately LKR 2.59 million. These are rough conversions only; the Home Office requires the funds in GBP and your bank account must reflect the required sterling equivalent.

Scenarios: Main Student Funds Plus Dependant Funds — Total Required

The dependant maintenance amounts are additional to the main student maintenance. The following table shows how the totals combine across common scenarios, using the current figures: main student maintenance of £1,171 per month outside London and £1,529 per month in London (raised from 11 November 2025), plus dependant amounts at the current published rates. All totals are calculated at the 9-month maximum.

Note that these totals do not include any unpaid course fees, which must also be added to reach your full required balance. Your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) letter will state the relevant fee amount. Add unpaid fees on top of the combined maintenance total shown above.

The 9-Month Maximum for Dependant Funds

Just as the main student maintenance is capped at 9 months regardless of course length, the dependant maintenance is also capped at 9 months per dependant. You will never be required to show more than nine monthly instalments per person. For courses shorter than 9 months, the calculation uses the actual course length in months. For courses of 9 months or longer, you use the 9-month maximum.

This means the maximum dependant maintenance you will ever show per person is £6,120 outside London or £7,605 in London. If you are bringing multiple dependants, multiply those maximums by the number of dependants. The 9-month cap applies per dependant individually.

These Amounts Are ON TOP OF Your Main Student Maintenance

This is the point that catches many Sri Lankan students by surprise. The £680 or £845 per month per dependant is not included in your main maintenance figure — it is entirely separate and additional. Your required total is the sum of your own student maintenance and all dependant maintenance combined.

If you study outside London and bring one dependant, you need your own outside-London maintenance (currently £10,539 for 9 months) plus one dependant at £6,120 — a combined total of £16,659 before unpaid fees. If you had only prepared the £10,539 for yourself and had not factored in the dependant amount, you would be significantly short and your application would likely be refused on financial grounds.

Our guide on UK student visa maintenance funds and the 2025 increase covers the main student amounts in detail. The dependant amounts in this article are layered on top of whatever your main student maintenance requirement is.

The 28-Day Rule Still Applies to the Combined Total

The 28-day rule is one of the most unforgiving requirements in the entire UK Student visa process, and it applies to the full combined figure — main student maintenance, plus all dependant maintenance, plus any unpaid course fees. Every pound of the required total must be present in your account every single day for 28 consecutive days ending within 31 days before your online visa application date.

• The balance must not dip below the combined required amount on even a single day within the 28-day period
• The 28-day period must end within 31 days before you submit your online application
• Funds held in the student's own name satisfy the requirement; a partner's account can be used with proper relationship documentation
• Commercial bank loans cannot be used to meet the maintenance requirement — the funds must be genuinely owned by you or your sponsor

For a student studying outside London with two dependants, the combined maintenance total before fees is £22,779. That full amount must sit uninterrupted in your account for 28 consecutive days. If the balance dips even slightly below £22,779 on any one of those 28 days, the clock resets and you need to start again. Our guide on the UK 28-day rule explains the common mistakes Sri Lankan applicants make and how to avoid them.

Honest Note: UKVI Dependant Maintenance Amounts Are Under Review

Here is something important to know before you finalise your financial planning. UKVI has been reviewing the dependant maintenance amounts. The main student maintenance figures were raised significantly from 11 November 2025 — from £1,334 to £1,529 per month for London and from £1,023 to £1,171 for outside London — and it is reasonable to expect that the dependant maintenance figures may be revised upwards in proportion, since they have not yet been updated to reflect the same increase.

The figures of £680 outside London and £845 in London per dependant are the current published amounts at the time of writing. However, UKVI can and does update these without a great deal of advance notice. If you are applying in the coming months, the amounts you need to show may be higher than what this article states.

What Sri Lankan Students Should Prepare

If you are planning to bring dependants on your UK Student visa, your financial preparation needs to cover several things simultaneously. First, confirm your eligibility to bring dependants at all, based on your course type and level. Second, confirm the current per-dependant maintenance amount on gov.uk. Third, calculate your total: your own maintenance at the current rate plus all dependant maintenance plus any unpaid course fees stated on your CAS. Fourth, build or consolidate that total across your bank accounts, and hold it cleanly for the 28-day period.

Sri Lankan students commonly hold their funds across accounts at Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, Sampath Bank, Hatton National Bank, People's Bank, NSB, NDB, Seylan, or DFCC. Whether you use one account or multiple, make sure the combined balance across whichever accounts are included in your application meets the required total every day for the full 28 days. If you are including a partner's account as part of the funds, ensure you have a marriage certificate (for a spouse) or other official proof of relationship, a signed sponsorship letter, and source-of-funds documentation for the money in that account.

How ShowMoneyLK Helps with UK Student Dependant Maintenance

ShowMoneyLK works with Sri Lankan students preparing the full financial package for UK Student visa applications, including cases involving dependants. We calculate the exact combined requirement for your specific situation — your course location, the number of dependants you are bringing, and any unpaid fees on your CAS — so you have a precise target figure, not a rough estimate.

We prepare bank statements and balance confirmation letters in formats that UK Visas and Immigration accepts, and we help you time your 28-day holding period so that the combined balance — main student maintenance plus all dependant maintenance plus any unpaid fees — satisfies the requirement without dips or gaps. For parent-sponsored or partner-funded cases, we also prepare the accompanying source-of-funds documentation. We track UKVI policy updates, so we will flag it if the per-dependant amounts are revised while you are preparing your application.