Working In the UK during your studies

A 'Student' is someone with a visa to be in the UK under the Student route or the former Tier 4 route.

While you hold a Student Visa, the type and amount of work that you can do is restricted. You must be aware of the restrictions so that you do not breach your student visa conditions.

While studying in the UK, you can perform most kinds of work. However, you cannot do the following:

• be self-employed (this includes freelance work)
• be employed as a professional sportsperson or sports coach
• be employed as an entertainer
• take a full-time permanent job
• pursue a career by filling a permanent full-time vacancy.

Volunteering is also considered work. If you are working and volunteering, the combined hours must be at 20 hours per week.

How is a week defined?

• A 'week' has been defined in the Immigration Rules as 'a period of seven days beginning with a Monday'.
• If you work irregular hours and/or have more than one employer, you will need to keep detailed records of how many hours you work each day so that you can be sure that you are not in danger of breaching your work conditions by exceeding 10 or 20 hours in any seven-day period, starting on a Monday.

Term time

'Term time' means any period when you are supposed to be doing academic work. For example, when you should be:

• attending classes and lectures, workshops and seminars
• preparing for exams
• doing coursework
• writing essays, a dissertation or thesis.

Term time and holiday or vacation dates are defined by the College's calendar.

These dates are usually based around the academic year with holidays at Christmas, Easter and in the summer. 

Vacation periods

Your vacation period is when you can work full-time. It is the period when you are not required to be studying. 

Different work restrictions apply to postgraduate students and postgraduate research students. 

• You are allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week during term time and full-time during the Christmas and Easter vacations only.            
• Once you've completed all elements of your degree and are waiting for your results, then you will be able to work full-time for a maximum of four months or until your Student visa expires, whichever is the earliest.  
• You will also be eligible to apply for a Graduate Visa once you have completed your programme and when the College confirms and notifies you that you are eligible.

Postgraduate research students

As a research student, you do not have the same defined vacation periods as postgraduate taught students. Your working hours are capped at 20 hours per week throughout the year.

You would only be allowed to work full-time during your vacation time. As a PhD student, your vacation periods would need to be approved and authorised by your supervisor. You would need to make sure that the authorisation of your holiday is recorded and a copy is also given to you.

You can apply for a National Insurance Number online via the Gov.UK website. After you apply, you’ll get an email with your application reference number. The email will tell you if you need to provide more proof of your identity.

It can take up to 16 weeks for you to get your National Insurance number after you have proven your identity.

You will need to provide the following information, including:

• full UK address and postcode
• personal details (name, date of birth)
• employer’s name and address if you have one.
• your occupation
• your date of entry to the UK
• your eligibility to work in the UK (e.g. student visa, student dependant visa, EU citizen).

Working without a National Insurance Number

You can start work before your National Insurance number arrives if you can prove you can work in the UK. You should tell your employer that you’ve applied for one, and give it to them when you have it. 

The UKCISA blog provides answers to a lot of frequently asked questions about work, particularly:

• Student work
• Navigating work and study with a Student visa