Tuberculosis screening

Students may need to provide evidence of a tuberculosis (TB) test as part of their UK visa application.

On

Who needs to be tested?

If you have lived for at least six months in a country where TB screening is not required by the UK (including the UK itself) and you've been away from that country for no more than six months, you don't need to be tested for TB.

You also don't need a TB certificate if you're submitting a visa application inside the UK.

If you're coming to the UK for more than six months and are resident in any of the below countries, you are required to submit a medical certificate confirming you are free of TB. 

You must be tested at an approved clinic outlined on the list below: 

UKVI list of countries and approved clinics 

You will still require a medical certificate from an approved clinic if:

  • You've been in a TB test country for six months or more, and part of this six-months-plus period overlaps with the six month period before your visa application. 
    • For example: If you spend time in a TB test country for six months or more between August 2026 and February 2027 and you submit your Student visa in July 2027, some of the six-months-plus period you had spent in the TB test country takes place in the six months before your visa application, so you would need a TB certificate. This applies whether you submit your application in a TB test country or a non-TB test country. (List of approved clinics in non-TB test countries)
  • You submitted your visa application less than six months after you left a country not requiring TB testing, but you state your intended date of travel to the UK will be more than six months after you left.

How to provide evidence

In your application you must provide evidence of the date you left the UK. Where you are not given an entry stamp in your passport (or it is unclear), you can use your boarding pass as evidence.

Where you are using your boarding pass as evidence you must outline in your supporting letter or the “additional information” section of your application that you do not require a TB certificate as you left the UK for less than six months.

You should carry your medical certificate in your hand luggage in case you need to present it to an immigration officer on your arrival in the UK.

See also:

UKVI info on tuberculosis tests