What to Do After Your Student Visa Course Ends

Your Timeline After Course Completion

When your course ends, the clock starts ticking. Your Student visa includes a wrap-up period after the course end date, set by the Immigration Rules according to how long the course was:

• A course of 12 months or longer: 4 months
• A course of 6 months or longer but under 12 months: 2 months
• A pre-sessional course of less than 6 months: 1 month
• Any other course of less than 6 months: 7 days

During this period your Student visa conditions still apply, with one important change: Home Office guidance says periods of permission after you have completed the course count as outside term time, so the 20-hour or 10-hour weekly limit no longer bites. The other restrictions stay — no self-employment or business activity, no professional sport or entertaining, no public funds, and no filling a full-time permanent vacancy unless an exception applies.

You must apply for your next visa or leave the UK before the expiry date. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024, so check the exact date on your eVisa.

Option 1: The Graduate Route

The Graduate Route is the most common choice for students who want to stay in the UK after their course. It gives unsponsored work permission for 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, or 3 years if you completed a PhD or other doctorate. You can work in any job at any level.

To qualify, you must have successfully completed a qualifying course at a UK education provider with a track record of compliance, and that provider must report your completion to the Home Office. The application fee is £937, plus the healthcare surcharge at £1,035 a year — the standard rate, not the £776 student rate. GOV.UK gives the surcharge totals as £1,152.50 for 18 months, £2,070 for 2 years and £3,105 for 3 years. See our Graduate Route requirements guide for full details.

The application can be made as soon as your education provider confirms your completion, and must be made before your Student visa expires. The Graduate Route cannot be extended, and you cannot be granted it twice, but you can switch to a Skilled Worker visa at any point while it is running.

Option 2: Switch to a Skilled Worker Visa

If you have a job offer from a licensed sponsor, you can switch directly from your Student visa to a Skilled Worker visa without leaving the UK. Your employer must assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship and you must meet the salary threshold. The general threshold is £41,700 a year or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher.

GOV.UK sets an extra condition for anyone currently in the UK on a Student visa. One of these must apply: you have completed the course you were sponsored to study; your job start date is after your course has finished; or you are studying for a PhD full time and have been for at least 24 months.

There is also a lower rate for new entrants. GOV.UK allows 70% of the standard going rate, provided the salary is at least £33,400 a year, where one of the following applies: you are under 26 on the date you apply; you are currently in the UK on a Student visa studying at bachelor's degree level or above (or have been in the last 2 years, with a Student or visit visa as your most recent visa); you are currently on a Graduate visa (or have been in the last 2 years on the same basis); you will be working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession; or you will be working towards full registration or chartered status in the sponsored job. GOV.UK adds that a total stay in the UK on that basis cannot be more than 4 years, including time already spent on a Graduate visa.

Time on the Skilled Worker visa counts towards settlement after 5 years. The government has proposed extending that qualifying period to 10 years; that is a proposal, not law. See our guide on switching from Student to Skilled Worker.

One practical point from the Immigration Rules: a Student on a full-time degree-level course at a compliant higher education provider who has already applied for the Skilled Worker route may start a full-time permanent job up to 3 months before the course completion date, while that application is undecided. On the Graduate route the equivalent point is once the course has been completed.

Option 3: Start a New Course

You can apply for a new Student visa from inside the UK if you want to continue studying. For example, if you have completed a bachelor's degree, you could apply for a master's programme. You will need a new Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies from your new institution and must meet the Student visa requirements again, including financial evidence and the academic progress rule. The earliest you can apply from inside the UK is 3 months before the course starts, you must apply before your current visa expires, and the new course must begin within 28 days of that expiry.

Starting a new course restarts the clock. The Graduate route requires you to have completed the course you took with your current Student visa, so a Graduate application after a new course has begun has to be based on that new course. You also cannot be granted Graduate route permission twice, or after the Doctorate Extension Scheme.

Option 4: Leave the UK

If none of the above options apply, you must leave the UK before your visa expires. Overstaying, even by a single day, can have serious consequences for future visa applications. If you plan to return to the UK later, leaving on time protects your immigration record.

Before you leave, make sure to close any UK commitments: end your tenancy properly, close or maintain your bank account as needed, and keep copies of all UK documents for future reference.

What Not to Do

• Do not overstay. The consequences of overstaying are severe: a ban on re-entry, difficulty getting future visas, and potential removal from the UK.
• Do not assume your visa lasts longer than it does. Check the exact expiry date on your eVisa. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024.
• Do not leave an application to the last day. A Graduate or Skilled Worker application made inside the UK usually takes 8 weeks to decide.

Next Steps

The deadlines above are what fix the timetable: the wrap-up period after the course, the 8-week decision time on an in-UK application, and your Student visa expiry date. For more on each pathway:

• Graduate Route: Complete Guide
• Student to Skilled Worker Switch
• Student Visa Extension

For official information, see the GOV.UK Graduate visa page and the GOV.UK Student visa page.

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