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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

1st October 2010

How to apply for UK visas under the Points Based System

The UK offers some of the best educational institutions in the world for children and adults.  So it’s no surprise that the Visa Section at the British Embassy in Kyiv receives many visa applications, particularly in late summer and early autumn, from young people keen to study in the UK.

Unfortunately, in 2010, we have seen a number of applicants for visas to study in the UK under the new “Points Based System” (PBS) being unsuccessful because of what we believe to be confusion about the rules.  I have therefore asked our expert visa officers to identify what the main problems are; and to draw up some targeted advice to potential applicants in Ukraine.
The experts have now produced some excellent advice focusing particularly on our experience with applications here in Ukraine.  You can also read the full, definitive version of the UK Borders Agency Guidance, on which the advice is based.

I hope people considering applying for a visa to study in the UK find this advice helpful.  Good luck!

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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