Switching to a Student Visa from another type of visa from within the UK
If we are in the UK on the date of application for a Student Visa, you must not have, or have last been granted, permission to enter or remain in the UK as a Visitor, as a Short-term Student, as a Parent of a Child Student, as a Seasonal Worker, as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household, or outside the Immigration Rules.
Therefore, coming to the UK as a visitor with the purpose of applying from within the UK to switch to a Student Visa is not possible.
If you have been granted permission to enter or remain in the UK under one of these routes, your application will not meet all the validity requirements, will be invalid, rejected and not considered.
If you have been granted leave outside the Immigration Rules for the explicit purpose of finding a new student sponsor, you may be able to exceptionally switch into the student route, where you have been cleared of cheating on a TOEIC English language test or where there are other reasons that you should be allowed to switch into the student route. This should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
It follows that you can apply to remain in the UK as a student if you have last been granted permission to enter or remain in the UK on a Family Visa (but not as a Parent of a Child Student) or as a Skilled Worker.
If you or a close family member of yours are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and you or your close family member started living in the UK before 1 January 2021, you may be able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme instead. The application must be made by 30 June 2021 if you started living in the UK before 1 January 2021. If a close family member of yours (a spouse, a parent or a child) started living in the UK before 1 January 2021, applied and has been granted settled or pre-settled status in the UK, you may join that family member under the EU Settlement Scheme after 1 July 2021. Getting settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme grants you the right to study in the UK. In this case, you do not need to apply for a Student Visa anymore.