Working on a Student visa

Student work can be a rewarding opportunity to make some extra money, meet new people, enhance your career prospects and experience working life in the UK. It's really important to understand and comply with your Student visa work rights, restrictions and University recommendations.

Work rights and restrictions are a condition of your Student visa

The Student immigration rules allow Student visa holders to work under certain conditions. These conditions include the amount of hours you can work during term time and vacations and the type of work you can do whilst you are inside the UK.

By applying for a student visa and matriculating, you agreed to understand your visa conditions. It is your responsibility to ensure you are compliant.

If you have a Student visa, your right to work conditions appear on:

your eVisa status (via your UKVI online account and share code), and/or
your most recent UKVI visa decision letter (official visa decision email), and/or
your visa vignette (initial entry visa sticker in passport)

An employer would need a valid eVisa share code to check:

the types of work you’re allowed to do in the UK
how long you can work in the UK for

You’ll need to prove your right to work in the UK to an employer before you start working for them. If you are a Student visa holder, you should have online eVisa access and will be expected to provide a valid share code to prove your right to work in the UK.

You can check your right to work details online on the Government website:

Prove your Right to Work in the UK

Online eVisa guidance

^{Disclaimer: This webpage is written for main Student visa holders only. If you are inside the UK on a different type of immigration permission, you may not be able to work, or your work rights will differ from those described here.}

Types of work you can and cannot do in the UK

With a Student visa, you are allowed to do:

Paid employment, and
Unpaid employment (includes voluntary work), and
Volunteering

During term time, you must count your weekly worked hours in paid and unpaid employment to make sure it is within the maximum limit (excludes volunteering).

Find jobs while you are a student | Careers Service

Employment status: Overview

Differences between volunteering and voluntary work

There is a difference between volunteering and unpaid employment (voluntary work). Voluntary work differs from volunteering, as you often have a contract. While voluntary work (unpaid employment) is permitted on a student visa, remember that any voluntary work hours must be counted toward your permitted term time work hours.

Voluntary work: This has a different meaning from volunteering. Voluntary work is typically characterised by working for the ‘benefit’ of a charity, voluntary organisation, or related fund-raising or statutory body. It would be classed as unpaid voluntary work/employment, if you get any other type of payment, reward, or benefit in kind. This includes any promise of a contract or paid work in the future. As ‘Voluntary work’ is classed as ‘unpaid employment’, any worked hours must be counted toward your weekly work hour limitation as a Student visa holder (during term time).

Volunteering: While volunteering is permitted, you must check the type of opportunity. Volunteers are not paid and will not have a contract. However, organisations may sometimes contribute to travel costs. Volunteering offers the opportunity to undertake a wide range of activities. It is not paid, but you can meet new people and make a difference in your local community. There are many ways of finding volunteering opportunities, usually at a charity or public sector organisation. For the activity to count as ‘volunteering’, it must meet certain conditions. The UKVI Student caseworker guidance explains that volunteers do not have a contract and must not be a substitute for an employee. Volunteers would not be paid, though it is possible to receive ‘reasonable’ travel and subsistence expenses. This is usually limited to food, drink or travel expenses only.

Volunteer Scotland opportunities

With a Student visa, you can do most kinds of work, but you must not:

take a permanent 'full-time' job

be self-employed

engage in a business activity

be employed as a professional sportsperson or sports coach

be employed as an entertainer

Although the above list may seem straightforward, there are grey areas. Speak to us if you are unsure.

Further guidance on work that is not allowed:

Permanent full-time job

'Permanent' means there is no end date in your contract. You can do a permanent part-time job. Outside term time, you can do a full-time fixed-term job.

There is an exception to this restriction (if criteria met) when switching to a Skilled Worker or Graduate visa.

Self-employment

Self-employed workers are not paid through PAYE and do not have the rights and responsibilities of an ‘employee’. Self-employment can include selling goods and services for profit, including online and through apps. The UK tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), can tell you if your proposed work may be self-employment.

An employer might suggest working for them as a 'contractor' or on a 'freelance' basis. However, that would be self-employment, which is not allowed and a breach of the immigration rules and your visa work conditions. You must not agree to this type of work on a Student visa.

Employment status guidance: self-employed

Business activity

You're not allowed to ‘engage in business activity’ on a Student visa. Some examples given by the UKVI Student caseworker guidance which would be considered to be ‘engaging in business activity’ (not an exhaustive list) are:

setting up a business as a sole trader or under a partnership arrangement and that business is either trading or establishing a trading presence

being employed by a company in which they hold shares of 10% or more (including where the shares are held in a trust for them)

working for a company where they also hold a statutory role, such as a director

Entertainer

Employment as an entertainer or professional sportsperson, including a sports coach, is not allowed on a Student visa. This includes paid work as an actor, musician, dancer, or other ‘performer’.

There is an exception for ‘dance, drama and music’ students if it is part of their integral and assessed work placement, where the programme is at degree level or above.

If your Student visa does not allow work:

You must not work if your visa decision email/letter, or eVisa status states ‘No work’. It would be a breach of your immigration conditions and may be classed as a criminal offence.

With a ‘No Work’ condition on your visa, you must not do anything considered unpaid employment or voluntary work in the UK.

Please ask our team for further advice if your Student visa for the University of Edinburgh was granted with a 'no work' condition. This would usually be a UKVI visa error that needs correcting.

If you think your Student visa 'no work' condition is a UKVI visa mistake, you must correct this as soon as possible. This must be corrected before you start any permitted work in the UK.

How many hours can you work and when

During term time, you must count your weekly worked hours in paid and unpaid employment to make sure it is within the maximum limit (excludes volunteering). You must not average your working hours.

You would need to check your programme handbook or ask your School for your programme term time and vacation dates.

Undergraduate standard semester dates

If your Student visa is for a full-time programme and sponsored by the University of Edinburgh (a Student sponsor with a track record of compliance), your right to work hours are:

Term Time: If you are studying for a qualification below degree level

You can work up to 10 hours a week in term-time

Term Time: If you are studying for a qualification at degree level or above

You can work up to 20 hours a week during term-time

During an ‘assessed and integral’ work placement which is part of your programme, this 20 hours per week term time limit is in addition to any assessed work placement hours.

Official vacation, periods before and after studies: Studying below and at degree level or above

You may work full-time hours before your programme start date and at the end of your term-time studies, provided your visa remains valid. You can also work full time hours during your programme's official vacation periods.
The course end date on your CAS can be considered a safe time to work full-time hours if you no longer have any outstanding assignments or exams to fulfil. The period at the end of studies (if you have completed your studies on time) would count as an official vacation period for this purpose (wrap-up period).

Term Time Risks:

If your visa sponsorship has been withdrawn, or you haven't completed your studies on time, please get immigration advice from our service.
Full-time work is usually permitted when you are in a clearly recognised vacation period or when you have completed your studies. However, if it becomes known you need to resit any work after your results are released, please revert to the 20 hours weekly limit. For resits during a vacation period, the term time restrictions would be triggered between the progression decision to the date of the resit submission/exam.

What counts as a 'week'?

A ‘week’ is any seven days starting on a Monday. You are responsible for ensuring, you do not exceed your weekly working hours, so it's essential to maintain detailed records of your actual working hours. This is especially important if you work irregular hours or if you have more than one employer. It is your responsibility to count the total hours you have actively worked.

University recommendation:

You should not allow work or employment to negatively affect your studies.

Undergraduate or Postgraduate Taught full-time students should work no more than 15 hours per week during studies. It’s also a good idea to reduce your working hours at exam times if you can, to cut down on stress.

Postgraduate research full-time students should work no more than 9 hours per week across the academic year (on average).

Check the postgraduate research student recommendation

When have you completed your term time

The end of term time varies depending on your academic dates and study level.

Below Degree Level: Pre-sessional English (Single Course)

During term-time you can work up to 10 hours per week. During official vacations you can work full-time during the validity of your visa.

Taught Undergraduate students (e.g. BA/MA Hons)

The course end date on your CAS can be considered a safe time to work full-time hours if you no longer have any outstanding assignments or exams to fulfil.

If repeating studies: If you fail your exams and are repeating any modules or assessments and coursework during your Student visa wrap-up period, you will be considered to be in term-time as you are continuing to study and haven’t completed your studies. You should only work 20 hours per week when studying.

Postgraduate Taught students (e.g. Masters)

The course end date on your CAS can be considered a safe time to work full-time hours if you no longer have any outstanding assignments or exams to fulfil. However, if you have taken longer to complete your studies (resits/repeats), your term time end date will vary.

Postgraduate Research students (e.g. PhD/MScR)

Your course completion date will be once you have submitted all academic work (Post Thesis submission, Viva, and final correction submission). However, your student record must confirm that any submitted corrections have been approved by examiners.

Visa time after your course end date (wrap-up period)

Students on a full-time programme longer than 12 months are issued a Student visa to cover the CAS course end date plus four additional months. This extra time after study is sometimes called the Student visa 'wrap-up period'. This last four-month period of your visa is 'outside of term time/after study' as long as your visa has remained valid, and you completed your studies on time.

You are allowed to work full-time hours 'outside of term time' (during official vacation and after study)

Employer Right to Work check

You’ll need to prove your right to work in the UK to your employer before you start working for them. Employers have access to the 'Right to Work' published guidance and government services to help them confirm an applicant's right to work in the UK (including student visa holders). Please check our 'Proving your Right to Work to an employer' section below.

Additional Guidance

Please refer to individual year calendars for specific revision, exam and official vacation dates.

The University's academic year is divided into two semesters for undergraduate students.

University Semester Dates (Undergraduate standard dates)

Non-standard academic dates: The academic dates for some degree programmes may diverge from the standard University academic year structure. If you are still unsure and have non-standard vacation times, please contact your School and/or refer to your programme handbook for this information. Where your programme does not follow the standard academic dates, you must ensure you do not work more than the weekly work hours permitted during your term-time, even if other programmes are in an official vacation.

Taught Undergraduate students (e.g. BA/MA Hons):

There are three official vacation periods, known as:

Winter
Spring
Summer

Postgraduate Taught students (e.g. Masters):

There are two official vacation periods, known as:

Winter
Spring (May vary for non-standard programmes)

Standard academic year dates: Typically, you will have the above two official vacation periods. Please refer to individual year calendars for specific revision and official vacation dates.

Non-standard academic dates: You may only have the winter vacation period. Please refer to individual year calendars for specific revision and official vacation dates.

Postgraduate taught programmes normally include a dissertation or research project during the summer, which is your term time, and where you will continue to study until the end date of your programme. If you've completed all academic work on time, you can refer to your expected course end date on your student record as the end of term time. Outside of term time (after studies), you can work full time hours up until your visa expiry date.

Postgraduate Research students (e.g. PhD/MScR):

You are considered in term time throughout your PGR programme (includes Thesis/Viva/corrections) unless you have supervisor-approved 'PGR Annual/Vacation Leave'.

Programme completion (end of term time) occurs after submitting all final work, including thesis submission, Viva, and any final corrections. Your student record must confirm that any submitted corrections have been approved by examiners (Post Viva with final Thesis submission).

PGR Annual Vacation Leave is 'outside of term time/official vacation'. A vacation leave request must be agreed to and approved by your supervisor.

During a period of Annual/Vacation Leave, you can work full-time hours on your Student visa:
To avoid accidentally breaching your work conditions, you should only work full-time hours if you have a full week of Annual/Vacation Leave from Monday to Sunday.
If your Annual/Vacation Leave starts/ends partway through a Monday-Sunday week, you should comply with your term-time 20-hour working hours limit for that week.

PGR Annual/Vacation Leave Policy

Some students will study on a programme with an 'assessed and integral' work placement.

In this instance, our University (your Student visa sponsor) must:

Stay connected with you during your assessed and integral work placement.
Inform UKVI that you're doing an assessed work placement as part of your programme.

Whilst you are doing a full-time ‘assessed and integral’ work placement as part of your programme, you are allowed to work your usual term-time student work hours (of up to 20 hours per week) - in addition to the work placement.

However, if you wish to add a new work placement to your original programme may impact your Student visa permission, and you must contact us for up-to-date immigration advice.

A UK internship or work placement that's not an 'assessed and integral' part of your programme must be part-time during term time to ensure it's within your usual weekly work limit (up to 20 hours per week for degree level).

Check our work placement and internship guidance

An 'early completion' has been reported to UKVI

If you complete your course before your used CAS course end date, we may report this to UKVI. We would only need to report an 'early completion' change and withdraw visa sponsorship if:

Your published award on your student record is more than 60 days earlier than your (used) CAS course end date.

Reported an 'early completion' change and withdrawn visa sponsorship:

UKVI will then have to start curtailment action to shorten (cancel) your visa permission to the usual wrap-up period after this new reported early completion date. UKVI will issue a curtailment notice by email that confirms your new curtailed (shortened) visa expiry date. The original visa expiry date will no longer be relevant in this case.
If you don't leave the UK after an early completion has been reported to UKVI, you may work full-time inside the UK on your Student visa. However, you must leave the UK before your new shortened (curtailed) cancellation visa expiry date. You must not overstay your visa beyond the new curtailed expiry date.

If we have not reported an 'early completion'

In limited cases, an early completion may not need to be reported if this happened when you were already in the wrap-up period of your visa permission.

If you complete your course before the course end date on your CAS and we have not needed to report this change to UKVI, you should wait until after your course end date has passed, before you start working more than your term-time hours.

What is UKVI curtailment action

Changes to your studies

If you finish your studies and still have time left on your Student visa permission, you may be able to work full-time on a temporary basis (e.g. a fixed-term contract). You can usually work full-time after studies until your valid Student visa expiry date (as you'll no longer be in your term time).

If you want to stay longer in the UK, you will need to check if there is another visa type that you can qualify for. You can make a valid in time visa application inside the UK if you meet all visa requirements and submit your visa application, before/by your Student visa expiry date.

There are many different work visa routes for the UK, including the Graduate (unsponsored), Skilled Worker (sponsored), and Global Talent (endorsed).

The Graduate route is a flexible and unsponsored visa that allows you to search and start nearly all types of work in the UK. During the validity of a Graduate visa, you can travel in and out of the UK.

The Graduate visa route does not offer a pathway towards settlement in the UK. The Skilled Worker or Global Talent routes can offer pathways towards settlement.

Careers Service support

The Careers Service can provide graduates and alumni with 2 years of University career support. The service has lots of useful information and resources to help you navigate the UK graduate job market.

Undergraduate

Postgraduate Taught

Postgraduate Research

Further work visa guidance

We provide an overview of work visa options

Working after studies

Graduate visa - overview

Skilled worker visa - switch

Global talent visa - switch

Check our detailed Graduate visa guidance

How to contact the Careers Service

If you want to work above your weekly limit, the employer may need to provide evidence that you are not in 'term-time', before they can give full-time or extra hours.

Proving your right to work to an employer: Overview

View your eVisa and get a share code to prove your immigration status online

The official term dates and vacation periods are published on the University semester dates website.

University Academic Term Dates

Your eVisa share code will confirm your right to work information, and you can provide the following additional documents:

Semester Dates showing term-time and official vacation dates.

Student Matriculation letter

The Student Immigration Service does not issue letters to confirm when you can work full-time on a Student visa. Alternatively, your School may be able to issue a letter that confirms your completion of studies. Our service is unable to provide confirmation for employers that you have completed all of your assessments and have no academic engagement remaining to enable you to start working sooner than your specific programme end date.

Official University Documents

Keep your online UKVI account up-to-date

If you need help with your online eVisa account

Employer guidance:

The government 'Employer Checking Service' can be used to prove your right to work. If any problems, please then direct your employer to: Use the Employer Checking Service - GOV.UK

An employer can also phone the 'UKVI Employer Enquiry' helpline for further guidance:

Employer Guidance: Checking a job applicant's right to work

UK Employer checklist for employing someone new

UK Employment contracts: Overview

Repeating during your final year of studies:

If you hold a valid Student visa and are completing a final year resit (exam only basis), you must continue to adhere to term-time work conditions. If you're studying a degree or a higher-level programme, you can work up to 20 hours per week during term time.

This article was published on 2025-04-25