Student Visa Work Rights

Whether You Can Work at All

Not every Student visa allows work. The Home Office guidance on the Student route sets out four cases:

• Full-time course at degree level or above, with a higher education provider that has a track record of compliance: up to 20 hours a week in term time, full-time in vacations
• Full-time course below degree level, with such a provider: up to 10 hours a week in term time, full-time in vacations
• Any full-time course with a sponsor that is not such a provider: no work, other than a work placement that is part of the course, or a student union sabbatical officer post
• Part-time course at post-degree level, with such a provider: no work, other than a work placement that is part of the course

The provider must appear on the register of licensed student sponsors with the status "Student Sponsor - Track Record". Your permission itself tells you your conditions: your status is an eVisa, held in your UK Visas and Immigration account.

The 20-hour limit is a maximum for each week, not an average across the term. See our part-time work guide for how hours are counted.

Vacation Work

If you are allowed to work, you can work full-time during your official vacation periods, including the period before your course starts. The vacation dates are the ones your institution officially publishes.

The guidance also says that a period of permission after you have completed your course counts as outside term time, so the hour limit does not apply then either.

Permitted Work

• Paid employment, within your hour limit
• Voluntary work — but it counts toward the same hour limit as paid work. If you may work 20 hours and are paid for 15, you can do at most 5 hours of voluntary work
• A work placement that is part of your course (see the placement year guide)
• Student union sabbatical officer, for up to 2 years, where your permission was granted for that purpose

Volunteering is treated separately from voluntary work and does not count toward the hours. The guidance draws the line at a contract: a voluntary worker has obligations to attend and carry out tasks; a volunteer does not, must not replace an employee, and is not paid in money or in kind beyond reasonable expenses.

Prohibited Work

• Being self-employed or engaging in business activity. The guidance counts as business activity: setting up as a sole trader or partnership that is trading or establishing a trading presence; being employed by a company in which you hold 10% or more of the shares; or working for a company where you also hold a statutory role such as director
• Working as a professional sportsperson, including as a sports coach, whether paid or not. Amateur sport is allowed
• Working as an entertainer
• Filling a full-time permanent vacancy. This is not limited to term time — the only exception is a student union sabbatical officer post

There is one exception to the self-employment bar. A Student who has applied on the Innovator Founder route, with an endorsement from an endorsing body, made while they held Student permission, may engage in business activity while that application is undecided.

Post-Study Work Options

After completing your course, you have several routes to continue working in the UK:

• Graduate route: work in most jobs, including self-employment, with no sponsor. It lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, and 3 years if you completed a PhD or other doctorate. See our Graduate route guide.
• Skilled Worker visa: If an employer sponsors you. Leads to settlement after 5 years. See our Skilled Worker guide.
• Global Talent visa: For outstanding researchers and innovators. See our Global Talent guide.

For the rules on moving from study to work, see our switching guide.

Employer Right-to-Work Checks

UK employers are required by law to check your right to work before employing you. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Your status is now an eVisa, and an employer checks it online using a share code that you generate from your UK Visas and Immigration account. A share code for a right to work check lasts 90 days.

A student sponsor also has to see evidence of your term dates, and an employer who wants to keep to your hour limit will ask for them. Employers who do not carry out the check can be fined. For more on right to work checks, see GOV.UK's guidance for employers.

Consequences of Breaching Work Conditions

Working beyond your permitted hours or in prohibited types of work is a breach of your visa conditions. This can lead to:

• Curtailment, which means your permission is cut short
• Refusal of a later application on suitability grounds, because the breach is on your immigration record
• An effect on a later application for British citizenship, which has a good character requirement

An employer who employs someone in breach of their conditions can also be fined.

Next Steps

Related guides:

• Student Visa UK: Complete Guide
• Part-Time Work Rules
• Placement Year Guide
• Graduate Route Guide
• Switching From a Student Visa

Questions and answers