Tier 5 to visitor visa for three months

Hi,

I have a Tier 5 visa due to expire at 15 January 2015. I have ticket back to Japan on the last day of the visa. However, I need to stay in UK till mid-April in order to sit for IELTS exam and other exams, and to apply for Master degree.

How can I do this?

I am planning to leave UK to other country in Europe before Christmas and to return at the end of December back to UK. I am considering to postpone my Ticket to Japan till mid April and to ask at the border to give me visitor/tourist visa. Is this good idea? Or should I try to pay for short English course and apply for student visa? However, applying for student visa means I need to go back to Japan and come back, which is very time consuming and expensive.

Thank you for help
-J

Technically you could leave and come back and try to invoke the visitor visa however your chances of sucess are very low. The general view of that process at the Border is that they will not entertain that especially if there is still leave on the tier 5 and it is apparent you have only left the UK for a holiday / break etc.
They would be more than happy to refuse you entry under change of purpose and that will have a huge impact on any future application to return to the UK at a later point.
Your reasoning for staying on is weak and without any need. You can sit an IELTS test in Japan. Any other activity you allude to is of no consequence. I am gettingthe impression that you have been studying and are taking other exams, is that correct?

One way or another you have to return to Japan after the expiry of your tier 5 visa.

Frontier Mole, thanks for your answer.

Ok, I understand that I have to return to Japan.

However, I still need to study English to get high enough IELTS score. Therefore, after I return and apply for student visa for language course, either for period from February till April (before I finish master applications) or from February till August (to get good as possible in English before I start Master degree) should I expect any problems?

You will have no problems doing what you suggest.
Are you going to apply for the 11 month student visitor visa in order to study your English course? That is the best way forward. But again you will have go home to apply for a tier 4 visa.
What is your IELTS score at the moment?