I don't think being a student makes much difference to the best type of ISA to get. Like you identified, the best type for you will depend on how long you are okay with your money being locked away. Some ISAs won't give you interest if you withdraw money during the year but will compensate for this by having higher overall rates. You can always put in some money initially and add to it throughout the year if you don't yet know how much cash you'll need access to, as that's okay with any ISA, to my knowledge. Also some have easier/harder access (i.e. some are only online whether obviously some highstreet bank brances offer ISAs and you can deposit/withdraw cash very easily therefore). There are lots of very good deals at the moment for new customers, so definitely use some comparison websites.