Working on a Student Visa after Course Completion

Working on a student visa after finishing your studies

Thinking of working full-time after your studies whilst you are still on your student visa? Want to know when you can officially start working more than 20 hours a week? Read on to find out what work you can do.

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When can I start working full-time?

What types of work can I do?

Things to consider

You are allowed to work for more than 20 hours a week when you are out of term time, including while your visa is still valid after your official course end date.

Please note, if you are a PGT or PGR (postgraduate) student, you are considered to be in term time until your course end date on your CAS has passed.

Undergraduate students are out of term time in the published vacation periodsLink opens in a new window.

However, there are exceptional scenarios where you may be able to work full-time earlier than the official end date of the course or the official end of term.

When can I start working full-time after finishing my course?

Undergraduate

If you are an Undergraduate student and have secured a summer internship which starts before the end of term 3, you can request a letter confirming that you have completed all work for the current academic year.

This letter can be used as evidence to show you are permitted to start your internship before the end of the summer term.

The earliest you can start your internship is 3 weeks before the end of summer term (if you make a request to start an internship any earlier than this, it will be disregarded).

To request a letter from us:

You will need confirmation from your employer of the dates of your internship (the internship offer letter)
You will need written confirmation from your academic department of the date when you will finish all the course requirements for the academic year.

Once you have the above confirmations, you will need to attach them in the request for a letter by filling our form.

Postgraduate Taught

If you have a Student Visa, you are only allowed to work more than 20 hours per week after the course end date has passed (your course end date can be found on your CAS).

After the course end date on your CAS, you can full-time provided that it is on a temporary or rolling contract and not a permanent position (the contract must have a specific end date).

If an employer requires confirmation that your course has ended, you can download your student status letter from your Student Records Online Account.

If an employer requires general information about your working rights as a Student Visa holder at the end of your studies, you can download our supporting letter and present it to them.

Exception

Once you have handed in all your work and any exams are finished, you can request a letter confirming that:

You have sat all exams and submitted all the work towards the degree, and
You are considered as 'out of term time' and therefore permitted to work full time

The earliest you can start work/request a letter is 4 weeks before the end date on your CAS.

You must request this letter from your academic department. Your academic department will provide the necessary confirmation to us.

Once you have this letter, you can provide it to your employer to show that you are permitted to work more than 20 hours per week, even if your course end date has not passed yet.

Postgraduate Research

University term dates do not apply to you if you are a Postgraduate Research (PhD) student.

You must work no more than 20 hours per week until your degree is conferred by the University Senate. The only exception during the main part of your course is a time-limited period of Authorised Absence for work purposes.

Once your degree has been awarded, you can work full-time, provided this is not in a permanent role (the contract must have a specific end date).

Exceptions during the examination phase

If you are in "Limbo" (you have submitted your thesis but are waiting for your viva examination)

You may work full-time during this period by requesting a period of 'Authorised Absence' via your Student Records Online account.

If the request is accepted, you will be sent an email which will confirm your right to work more than 20 hours during that period period.

Please note! If the outcome of your viva examination is 'corrections', you will revert back to the 20 hours per week limit.

If you have completed your viva examination and corrections are not required, or you have submitted your final corrections

You can request a letter to confirm you can work more than 20 hours per week. If you have received the letter, you do not need to wait for the conferral of your degree by the University Senate.

What you are allowed to do:

Work more than 20 hours per week. Have a job lasting a specific length of time or with an end date.

What work you are NOT allowed to do:

Have a permanent, full-time job.

This means that you cannot hold any job that has no specified end date (is not for a specified length of time) if it is also a full-time role (more than 20 hours per week).

You must check your employment contract makes the end date of your employment clear.

If you have submitted a valid application for a Graduate Visa and were granted your Student Visa in April 2022 or later, you can begin a full-time, permanent role while the application is in progress.

If you have submitted a valid application for a Skilled Worker Visa and it is no sooner than 3 months before the official end date of your course, you can begin a full-time, permanent role while the application is in progress.

Other restrictions

Other things to consider...

Self-employment

While holding a student visa, you must not be self-employed or engage in a business activity. A business activity is defined in the Student Visa Policy Guidance as, "working for a business in which you have a financial or other significant beneficial interest in a capacity other than as an employee."

When can I switch to a Work Visa?

You can switch to most work visas after you have completed your studies.

Post Study Work Visa Options

Resists and resubmissions

If things don't go according to plan academically and you find out that you have a resit or resubmission, you will return to a limit of 20 hours of work per week. You may find that you need to extend your student visa to complete your studies.

Resits and Extensions

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A-Z of Visa Terms

Not sure what something means?

Check our list of common visa-related terminology.

Browse our glossary

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