VisaUK removes the outdated 2020 university list from its graduate work route
The November update matters to overseas graduates checking the High Potential Individual visa: choose the university list for the date your qualification was awarded.
Official source date: 2026-11-04
Last verified against linked sources:
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
The latest edit removes an expired list, rather than reopening old awards
Overseas graduates considering the UK High Potential Individual visa should check their qualification’s award date before paying for an assessment. UK Visas and Immigration updated its university-list collection on 4 November 2026 to remove the 2020 list because it was outdated. The collection’s update history separately records the addition of the 2026 list on 1 November. These are different changes; yesterday’s removal does not create a new opportunity for graduates whose qualifications fall outside the route’s five-year limit.
The 2026 document applies to qualifications awarded between 1 November 2026 and 31 October 2027. It includes, for example, McGill University and the University of Toronto in Canada, and the Australian National University and University of Melbourne in Australia. This is an award-period list, rather than a list that everyone applying during November must automatically use. Start with the collection and open the document matching the month and year shown on your award.
Check the qualification and previous immigration history
The eligibility guidance requires an award equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or doctorate within the previous five years. UK universities do not qualify for this route. A person who studied at a British institution should therefore investigate the relevant alternative rather than paying for an overseas-university assessment on the assumption that a prestigious university is sufficient.
Ecctis checks whether the qualification is valid and at the required level; it does not check whether the university appears on the eligible list. Applicants must make that separate comparison themselves. An existing Ecctis assessment can be reused according to the guidance. A job offer is not required, but English and financial requirements still apply. The route can be used only once, and people previously granted a Graduate visa or admitted under the Doctorate Extension Scheme cannot apply. A university match alone does not overcome those exclusions.
Budget for assessment, application and maintenance separately
The official costs page lists £252 including VAT for the Ecctis qualification check and an £880 visa application fee. It also lists the healthcare surcharge at the usual £1,035 for each year: £2,070 for a two-year visa or £3,105 for a three-year visa. These are separate charges, so an assessment payment does not cover the immigration application or healthcare surcharge.
Applicants normally also need £1,270 available to support themselves. This is money to demonstrate, rather than another application fee. It must have been available for 28 consecutive days, with the final day within 31 days before applying. The guidance exempts people who have already been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months from the usual savings evidence. Partners and children have their own financial requirements; the principal applicant’s £1,270 should not be treated as the complete family budget.
Prepare the evidence before starting the application
The documents checklist calls for a valid passport or other identity-and-nationality travel document, English-language evidence and the unique person identifier or certificate issued by Ecctis. Applicants may also need bank statements, relationship evidence for accompanying family members and tuberculosis test results where the country rules require them. Documents outside English or Welsh require certified translations. Use this checklist to assemble the application file after checking the award-period list, rather than expecting the list itself to establish every requirement.
For someone switching from another UK visa, the checklist also identifies immigration-status evidence: an eVisa share code or an eligible biometric residence permit under its specified transitional acceptance rules. That provision concerns evidence for the application, not permission to travel on an expired card. Which additional documents an individual must provide depends on their circumstances; the public checklist does not establish that every graduate needs a tuberculosis certificate or every applicant must attend the same appointment.
Apply within the route’s timing and stay limits
The overview directs applicants to apply online and distinguishes applying overseas from switching inside the UK. The earliest application is three months before travel. Published usual decision times are three weeks overseas and eight weeks inside the UK after online submission, identity verification and document provision. Appointment availability may require extra time, so those figures should not be treated as guaranteed departure dates.
The visa normally lasts two years, or three with a doctorate. Holders can work in most jobs, seek work or be self-employed, but cannot work as professional sportspeople or claim most public funds. The visa cannot be extended and is not itself a settlement route. A holder may qualify to switch to another route before it expires, but the overview says HPI time does not count towards settlement. It also flags an annual application limit running from 1 November to 31 October; applicants are told online if it has been reached.
