Student Visa Work Rights: Employer Guide UK

Understanding Student Visa Work Conditions

Students on a Student visa have conditional work rights. Since biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024, those conditions are held online as an eVisa and are checked with a share code. The most common condition is "work limited to 20 hours per week during term time."

Some students have different conditions:

• A student on a full-time course below degree level with a higher education provider that has a track record of compliance is limited to 10 hours a week in term time
• All other study, including all part-time study, carries no permission to work, apart from a work placement that is an assessed part of the course
• Someone on a Short-term study visa (an English language course of more than 6 and up to 11 months) cannot work or carry out any business at all, including unpaid work, work experience and work placements

Always check the individual student's visa conditions rather than making assumptions.

Term Time vs. Holiday Periods

The distinction between term time and holidays is critical:

• Term time: the hour limit on their permission applies. This covers teaching weeks and any revision or exam periods
• Holidays: No hour limit. The student can work full-time during official university vacation periods, and Home Office guidance says this also covers the period before the course starts and any period of permission after the course has been completed

"Term time" is defined by the student's university or college, not by the employer. GOV.UK tells employers that for students the right to work check must include seeing evidence of their study and vacation times, so ask the student for confirmation from their institution.

The Home Office publishes the work conditions in Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules, at GOV.UK.

Right to Work Checks

Before hiring any worker, you must conduct a right to work check. For student visa holders:

• Ask the student for a share code and check their status online. GOV.UK states that biometric residence cards and permits can no longer be accepted
• Note the specific work conditions on their permission
• See evidence of their study and vacation times: GOV.UK lists this as a required part of the check for students
• Record the expiry date and schedule a follow-up check
• Keep copies during the employment and for 2 years after they stop working for you, and record the date the check was made

A correct right to work check gives you a statutory excuse if it later turns out the person did not have the right to work. GOV.UK puts it this way: "You will not have to pay the civil penalty if you can show you made the correct right to work checks."

Monitoring Working Hours

As an employer, you should have systems to ensure student employees do not exceed their permitted hours. Practical measures include:

• Setting up rota and scheduling systems that flag when a student approaches the limit on their own permission, whether that is 20 hours or 10
• Requiring students to declare if they have other jobs, as the limit applies across all their employment
• Getting term dates from the student's university at the start of each academic year
• Training managers who handle scheduling about the restrictions

Remember: the limit covers all of the student's employment, not just the hours with your business. A student on a 20-hour limit who works 15 hours for you and 10 hours for another employer is over that limit, and both employers may face consequences. Voluntary work counts towards the limit as well; volunteering, which has no contract and no payment, does not.

What Students Cannot Do

Student visa holders are prohibited from:

• Self-employment or business activity, apart from the narrow exception for a Student with a pending, endorsed Innovator Founder application
• Working as a professional sportsperson, including as a sports coach, whether paid or not
• Working as an entertainer
• Filling a full-time permanent vacancy. This restriction is not limited to term time. The exceptions are a Student Union sabbatical officer post, and a student on a full-time degree-level course at a compliant higher education provider who has already applied for the Skilled Worker or Graduate route: they may start such a job up to 3 months before the course completion date (Skilled Worker) or once the course has been completed (Graduate), while the application is undecided

A full-time permanent role is therefore outside a student's work conditions unless one of those exceptions applies. The routes that do allow it are the Skilled Worker visa and the Graduate route.

After Graduation

When a student finishes their course, their work rights do not continue indefinitely. They may:

• Switch to the Graduate route, which grants 2 years for an application made on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months for an application made on or after 1 January 2027, or 3 years after a PhD or other doctorate. Work on that route is unsponsored and not limited by hours, though a professional sportsperson is still excluded
• Switch to a Skilled Worker visa if they find a qualifying job with a sponsoring employer
• Switch to a spouse visa if they have a qualifying partner
• Leave the UK

Check the GOV.UK student visa conditions page for the latest rules.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Employing someone who breaches their visa conditions (or employing someone without a valid right to work check) can result in:

• Civil penalties of up to 60,000 pounds per illegal worker
• Criminal prosecution where you knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, the person did not have the right to work. GOV.UK gives the maximum as 5 years in prison and an unlimited fine
• Publication of your business's details by Immigration Enforcement
• Revocation of your sponsor licence if you hold one

See our guide on illegal working penalties for more detail.

Next Steps

If you employ or plan to employ students, review your right to work check processes, set up hour-tracking systems, and train your scheduling team on the restrictions. Keep clear records and stay up to date with any changes to the rules.

Related guides:

• Right to Work Check Guide
• Illegal Working Penalties
• Graduate Route: Employer Guide
• Employer Responsibilities for Sponsorship

Questions and answers