Working in the UK

 

Can I work in the UK?

The type of visa you have and the type of course you are studying determines whether or not you can work in the UK during your stay. Please check if you can work based on your visa type below.

If you have a Student (formerly Tier 4) visa for a full-time course in the UK then you can work during and after your studies. There are conditions on the type of work you can do and the number of hours you can work, depending on your course. You must read the section below on 'Student route: Working during your Studies' for more information about what you can do before taking any employment.

Please note that if you take an interruption or withdraw from your course you must stop working immediately. 

If you have a Standard Visitor visa for studying a short course then you are not permitted to work in any capacity. This includes being self-employed, paid or unpaid work, voluntary work or work placements. If you are a medical degree student overseas and your Standard Visitor visa is to enable you to take one or more medical electives, the electives must be unpaid and involve no treatment of patients.

There is more information about visitor visas on the UKCISA website.

If you have a Short-term study visa you are not permitted to work in any capacity. This includes paid or unpaid work, voluntary work, or work placements.

Dependant visa holders are eligible to work in the UK. You can work full or part-time but you cannot work as a professional sports person. There is further information about this on the UKCISA website.

A Skilled Worker visa holder is usually restricted to the work that you are being sponsored to carry out. Additional work can be permitted but is subject to specific rules which you should check before undertaking any extra work.

If you have a different visa type other than those above then please contact the Student Immigration Team directly to check your work rights before you start working.