Working During Your Studies
Many International Students are allowed to do some work whilst they study in the UK. Normally you are allowed to work with some restrictions. However some students are prohibited from working.
- Students prohibited from working
- Students allowed to work with restrictions
- Clarifications & Exceptions on working rules for some students
- If your employer wants to make certain that you can work
- National Insurance & Tax
- Dependants of Students
In this page you can find information about working in the UK during your studies. For information on working in the UK after your studies click on the link below. This section does not apply to students from the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. This section applies to all other nationals.
Working after your studies
For information on Working in the UK after studies click here.
Other Useful Resources
The Employability and Enterprise team can help UEL students to prepare for work - with CV workshops, careers counselling and interview practice and much more - see - www.uel.ac.uk/eet/ for more info and where to find them.
More than Work is an online resource that can help you identify your skills in order to develop your CV, and explain your employment rights regarding part-time work in the UK. www.nases.org.uk/students/content/234963/international_students/
Students prohibited from working
Student Visa
In some cases students are prohibited from working. To see if this is the case for you check your visa. Normally there are two types of stamps in your visa which prohibits any work. These may be:
- 'No work or engaging in business' or
- 'No work or recourse to public funds'
If you are in the UK on a Tier 4 or student visa and you have a prohibition stamp on your visa, please contact us and we may be able to request an amendment, to a restriction on work in place of prohibition, on your behalf.
Student Visitor Visa
If you are in the UK on a Student Visitor Visa, you are prohibited from working.
Students allowed to work with restrictions
In most cases students who are in the UK on a Tier 4 / student visa can expect to receive a stamp on their visa which allows work with restrictions, rather than a prohibition on work. There are a few types of stamp allowing work but with restrictions on a student visa.
- ' Able to work as authorised by The Secretary of State' or
- ' No recourse to public funds. Work (and any other changes) must be authorised'
- 'No recourse to public funds. Work limited to max 20 hrs per week during term time.'
- 'No recourse to public fund. Work/ Business as in Tier 4 rules.'
- 'Work 20 hrs max in term-time.'
- 'Work 10 hrs max in term time'
These stamps do not mean that you have to contact the Secretaries of State for Employment and the Home Department. That would be impractical. Instead, the authorisation is already given and students with these stamps on their visas can work in three different types of work with the following two conditions:
- a) students must not engage in business, self employment or provide sevices as a professional sportsperson or entertainer
- b) students must not pursue a career by filling a permanent full time vacancy
The two types of work which International Students are allowed to do are:
- Part time and vacation employment - up to 20 hours a week in term-time, and full time during vacations (New rules from 03/03/2010 - mean that if you apply for a Tier 4 visa on or after 03/03/2010 for a course below Bachelors degree level, you will only be able to work up to 10 hours per week)
- Work placements which are part of a 'sandwich course' - Sandwich courses are courses which include the work placement as an integral part of the course in which the work placement is clearly defined and approved by the University, and the work placement must not extend beyond the end of the course.
Term Dates
You are only able to work up to 20 hours a week (or 10 hours in some cases) during official term time. The official UEL term times and vacation periods are as defined in the Academic Calender for 2012/13 in the Secretary & Registrar's Office webpages in the UEL website.
You can request a copy of the term dates from the Student Services helpdesk or by emailing studentserviceshd@uel.ac.uk with your name, student number and address
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Clarifications & Exceptions on working rules for some students
Re-sit students and/or students who have finished classes but awaiting exams
You are not allowed to work full time during the summer vactions period, until you have completed your exams/ resits.
If you are currently part time because you are re-sitting a module, you are not allowed to work full time.
Students who have finished their course
When you have completed your course, you can work full time hours for up to four months, as long as you have sufficient leave on your student visa.
If you have completed your course and received your results you can request a letter from studentserviceshd@uel.ac.uk confirming that you have been awarded.
Postgraduate Students
You are not allowed to work more than 20 hours a week (or 10 hours a week in some cases) in the summer vacation period if you are supposed to be working on your dissertation.
Students who have submitted a visa application under another Points Based System (PBS) category e.g. Tier 2 (General)
If you have submitted an in-time visa application under another qualifying Points Based System (PBS) visa category, whilst you are awaiting a decision, you are able to work full time hours until a decision has been made, even if this is longer than four months.
You will need to prove to your employer that this is the case. You should ensure that you have kept a photocopy of your passport and visa and together with the letter that you receive from the UK Border Agency confirming receipt of your visa application - show these to your employer.
Students who have submitted a Tier 4 (Student Visa) application
If you have submitted an in-time and valid Tier 4 application, whilst you are awaiting the result of your Tier 4 application, you remain on the same conditions of your current visa, even if your current visa has expired whilst the decision is being made.
Breaches of prohibition/ restriction - Illegal working
WARNING: Do not breach your prohibition or restrictions on working. The Home Office are getting stricter in their application of the regulations with potentially very serious consequences for the employee and the employer. It is classified as a criminal offence to breach these regulations which can lead to a fine of £5,000 and/ or up to 6 months in prison and the possibility of removal from the UK.
If your employer wants to make certain that you can work
First of all your employer should check that you are on a student visa and have a restriction rather than a prohibition.
Both you and your employer have a legal responsibility to make sure that you are working within the immigration rules. Therefore your employer may want you to provide extra evidence to satisfy them of whether you can work full time at certain periods, according to the rules.
The University will not give you a letter confirming that you can work full time and this would have no legal basis anyway. However the university can confirm some information about you and your studies, which your employer can use to ascertain whether you can work (including periods when you can work full time):
- your student status (letter from Student Services Helpdesk)
- the standard univerity term dates (letter from Student Services Helpdesk)
- if you have completed your course and been awarded (letter from Student Services Helpdesk)
If your employer is unsure of anything he/she can check by contacting the UK Border Agency's employers' helpline
National Insurance & Tax
National Insurance
As an International student, you and any dependants must pay National Insurance (NI) contributions if you work in the same way as UK citizens. National Insurance contributions only commence when you start earning in excess of £146. If you are working in the UK you will need to apply for your unique National Insurance (NI) number.
To apply for an NI number you will need to contact the Department of Work and Pensions - HM Revenues & Customs.
You may apply for an NI number while you are looking for work. You may even begin work without an NI number, but once you have started then you should apply for an NI number if you haven't already got one. Your NI number will be issued to you in the form of a card (similar size to a credit card).
For more information on National Insurance and how to apply for an NI number click here.
Income Tax
International students and their dependants who work will be liable to pay income tax if they earn over the threshold of over approx £143 a week or approx £623 a month. This is based on the assumption that you will earn over £8,105 in a tax year (which starts and ends in April each year). For earnings above the threshold of £8,105, the tax rates for 2012/13 are as follows:
- Basic rate - 20% for earnings up to £34,370
- Higher rate - 40% for earnings over £34,371 but below £150,000
- Additional rate - 50% for earnings above £150,000
If you are only working during the vacations and you don't expect that your annual salary will be over £7475 then you will need to fill in form P38(S), available from your employer.
If you have paid tax and have stopped working, you can claim tax back, by completing the P50 form available from HM Revenues & Customs
Minimum Wage
There are three rates of minimum wage according to age. You should not be paid at any rate lower than those quoted below, as this is a legal requirment on employers. (correct as at April 2012).
- Main rate: £6.19 per hour (21 years and over)
- Development rate £4.98 per hour (18 – 20 year olds)
- Young workers rate £3.68 per hour (for workers under 18 who are above school leaving age).
For more information on the National Minimum Wage click here
National Minimum Wage Helpline 0800 917 2368
Dependants of Students
Some people who are granted a visa for the UK as a dependant of a student are able to work, whilst others are not. It depends on the stamp in the dependant's passport.
Dependants allowed to work
Generally, if you have a stamp in your passport as the dependant of a student that allows you to work, you are free to work full or part time in any type of work. Normally this stamp is given when the student's course is longer than 12 months. You may also study full or part time.
Examples of the type of stamp in your dependants visa, allowing work, could be:
- "Limited Leave to Remain in the UK. No recourse to public funds" or
- "Leave to enter for until (specified time). No recourse to public funds"
NOTE: In summer 2011, the rules for dependants are changing so that only postgraduate students on courses of 12 months or longer can bring dependants to the UK. Dependants will retain the right to work.
Dependants not allowed to work
Generally those who have a visa as the dependant of a student whose course duration is less than 12 months will be given a stamp on their visa which prohibits work.
Examples of the type of stamp in your dependants visa which prohibit work could be:
- "Limited leave to remain in the UK. No recourse to public funds. No work or engaging in business" or
- "Leave to enter for/ until (specified time). No recourse to public funds."
In the UK but not on a student visa?
If you are in the UK on any other type of visa other than 'student' or 'student dependant', you should check whether or not you are able to work. Broadly speaking, if you are in the UK on any type of visitors visa, you will be prohibited from working.
Working in the UK after your Studies
Click on this section for information on Working in the UK after your studies
- Tier 2 (General)
- Other work schemes
More Information on Working in the UK
For more detailed information on working in the UK see the following websites
- www.ukcisa.org.uk - United Kingdom Council for International Student Affairs for general information
- http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/ - The Border & Immigration Service for Visa rules
- www.dwp.gov.uk - The department for Work and Pensions for information on work, taxes etc
- www.uel.ac.uk/employability - The Employability and Enterprise Team at UEL for help with employability issues
- More Than Work - A useful resource for skills development and employment rights
Comments & Suggestions:
Did you find these webpages useful? Is there anything that could be improved/ amended? If you have any comments or suggestions regarding our webpages and its contents, we would be happy to hear from you. Please email any comments/ suggestions to isa@uel.ac.uk
Page Updated 20/11/2012
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