UK Graduate route cut to 18 months: what it changes for your study loan

The short answer

• A Graduate visa applied for on or before 31 December 2026 lasts 2 years.
• Applied for on or after 1 January 2027, it lasts 18 months.
• The date that counts is the date you apply, not when your course starts or ends.
• Bachelor's and master's graduates are affected. PhD graduates keep 3 years.
• The visa lets you stay and work. It is not a job offer or a promise of a graduate-level salary.

What the UK government says

• GOV.UK's Graduate visa page says the visa lasts "2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026" and "18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027".
• A PhD or other doctoral qualification gets 3 years.
• The Home Office explanatory memorandum to the October 2025 rule changes (HC 1333, paragraph 5.26) says the change applies to applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027. It gives the reason that too many graduates are not moving into graduate-level jobs.
• UKCISA says the change does not apply to anyone applying under the Graduate route before 1 January 2027.

Who this reaches

• A one-year master's that ends in the second half of 2027 will usually apply after 1 January 2027, so the 18 month length applies. Check your own course end date with your university.
• Someone who finishes and applies before 1 January 2027 is not affected.
• This post does not say how many Indian students are affected. We did not find an official figure.

What six fewer months means for a loan

The visa is the time you have to find sponsored work while the EMI starts. These figures assume Rs 30 lakh outstanding, repaid over 10 years at 9 to 10 percent, with no moratorium interest or fees.

This is arithmetic to test a plan, not a forecast of your job search.

• The EMI is about Rs 38,000 to Rs 39,600 a month.
• Six months of EMI is about Rs 2.3 to Rs 2.4 lakh.
• Over 18 months you would pay about Rs 6.8 to Rs 7.1 lakh in EMIs. Over 24 months, about Rs 9.1 to Rs 9.5 lakh.
• If the job search runs longer than the visa, the visa ends but the EMI does not.

The fixed costs of the visa

GOV.UK shows an application fee of GBP 937 and a healthcare surcharge that is usually GBP 1,035 per year of stay. At 1 GBP = Rs 126.99 (the rate stored on this site), that is about Rs 1.19 lakh and about Rs 1.31 lakh a year. We have not verified the surcharge total for an 18 month grant, so ask the Home Office or your university before you budget.

Five checks before you borrow for the UK

1. Run the Bad scenario. It assumes the first job starts 9 months later and pays 70 percent of the salary you enter. Try it in the calculator and Reality Check.
2. Ask when your EMI starts. Ask the lender in writing how long the moratorium is and whether interest keeps building until the first EMI.
3. Count your months. Write down your course end date, the month you will apply for the visa, and the months of EMI you would owe if the visa ended before a job started.
4. Keep a Plan B. Know what you would do in the UK or in India if no sponsored job appears in 18 months.
5. Check the date again. Rules can change. Look at GOV.UK before you apply, and watch our updates page.

How other guides compare

GyanDhan's page on the UK Graduate route, dated 14 September 2025, still states 2 years and does not mention 1 January 2027. It does not connect the visa to repayment. Careers360's explainer from October 2025 covers the rule and the application date clearly, but not the loan. We use them for context only. For the visa length, read GOV.UK. We do not recommend or rank any lender or marketplace.

What this site will and will not do

We do not promise visas, jobs or salaries. We do not recommend or rank lenders, and no lender pays us. This is general information, not immigration advice. For your case, ask your university's international office.

Read next: UK country guide, Education loan interest rate abroad, lender terms and site updates.

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