Work for Students

working permission

Most students in the UK have immigration permission which allows them to work during their studies. You do not need to apply for special permission in order to work. The hours and type of work you can do are restricted and depend on when you made your most recent application for immigration permission and, in some cases, the type of course you are studying.

You must make sure that you comply with any restrictions which apply to you. This is because the UK Border Agency (the UK Government department which is responsible for immigration) treats working in breach of your conditions very seriously. It can refuse your immigration application or remove you from the UK if you work too many hours or if you do work which you are not allowed to do.

If you have student immigration permission that allows you to take employment, you can do most kinds of work. However, you must not:

• be self-employed
• be employed as a professional sportsperson or sports coach
• be employed as an entertainer
• take a permanent full-time job.

If you have student immigration permission that allows you to take employment, you can work up to 20 hours or up to 10 hours a week during term time. This depends on when you made your immigration application, where you are studying and the type of course you are taking. You can work full time during your vacations and on work placements.

Graduates in Wales have high employment rates, and patterns of employment are similar to the rest of the UK, as are the proportion of graduates working in jobs which require a degree. There is no evidence that Welsh employers are any less likely to take on graduates, despite the very high levels of graduates and postgraduates that exist in the Welsh working age population, or that they offer a greater proportion of nongraduate roles than in the rest of the UK.