If you have a Student visa for the University of Westminster, your right to work will appear either on your visa vignette (the sticker in your passport), your Biometric Residence Permit card (BRP), or your electronic visa (in the email you received when your visa was granted). You can also check your right to work online at the Government website.
If you are studying a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate degree course, including Study Abroad students with a Student visa, your documents should confirm that you can work up to 20 hours per week in term time. If you are studying for a qualification below degree level (e.g. a pre-sessional course), you will be given the right to work up to 10 hours per week. In either case, you can work above the set limit during the academic vacation periods as well as before your course starts and after it ends – see the below section on working full time, which explains when you are permitted to take on more hours.
You must not work if your passport sticker, email/letter, or BRP card says “No work” or “Work prohibited”, as this would be a breach of your immigration conditions and a criminal offence. Please contact Student Advice if your visa was granted without the right to work, as this may be an error that needs correcting.
You can do most kinds of work, but you must not:
- be self-employed
- engage in a business activity
- take a permanent full-time job
- be employed as a professional sportsperson or sports coach
- be employed as an entertainer
- be a doctor or dentist in training
Although the above list may seem straightforward, there are grey areas.
What if you want to sell things online, do gig economy jobs, or volunteer?
Please have a look at a very helpful article form the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) which goes into more detail on these matters: Blog: Working Definition.
Your visa documents and the decision email you received when your visa was granted will confirm your weekly work limit. This should be a maximum of 20 hours per week for students studying an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree course and a maximum of 10 hours per week for students studying below the degree level.
A 'week' is defined in the Immigration Rules as ‘a period of 7 days beginning with a Monday’. You must make sure that your working hours and work pattern fits this definition. We advise that you keep detailed records of how many hours you work each day so that you can be sure you are not in danger of breaching your work conditions. The University has an obligation to report any breaches in your working conditions to UK Visas and Immigration.
Both paid and unpaid work count towards the weekly limit. If your employer is outside the UK, the hours of work undertaken whilst you are physically in the UK also count towards the limit.
Students who have a restricted right to work (such as, 20 hours per week in term time) can work additional hours outside of term time. There is no upper limit on the number of hours you can work outside of term time. However, it is important to understand when exactly you are allowed to work more hours.
Before your course starts
Please check your CAS to see the course start date attached to your visa. If you arrive in the UK before that date and wish to work, you are allowed to work above the usual weekly limit during this short period. However, you will be bound by the weekly limit from the start date of your course as stated on your CAS.
During the academic vacation periods
Students can also work more hours during the academic vacation periods. These are specifically marked as ‘vacation’ on your term calendars – it is important that you check the correct dates for your course.
Undergraduate students normally have three vacation breaks in a year, and these are the Christmas break, the spring break, and the summer break.
Master’s degree students have only two vacation breaks and these are the Christmas break and the spring break. Master’s degree students are not allowed to work full-time during summer.
PhD students are usually restricted to working 20 hours per week during the whole academic year and should speak to their School to discuss if they have any vacation periods.
After your course ends
Most students on a degree course that lasts at least 12 months will have a Student visa which expires four months after their course end date. If your visa extends beyond the end of your studies, you can work full-time during that extra period if:
- You have completed all your studies (coursework, exams, and dissertation)
- The official end date of your course as shown on your CAS has passed (this is the date the UK Visas and Immigration Office will have recorded as the last date of your course)
- You have a valid Student visa
If you submitted your coursework and dissertation but the course end date on your CAS has not yet passed, you must not work above your weekly limit.
If the end date on your CAS has passed but you are still studying, for example, due to referrals or deferrals, you must also not work above your weekly limit.
You will need to provide your employer with a valid share code to prove your right to work in the UK. You will be able to generate the share code after logging in on the Government website.
If you want to work above your weekly limit, the employer will also need to see evidence that you are not in term time when they give you additional hours. You can generate a University letter with the details of your term dates and vacation periods via your Student Record, as explained on our website.
The University will not issue a letter confirming that you can work full-time. Your share code will confirm your general right to work, and a university letter will confirm your term and vacation dates. Together, this will provide your employer with information on when you can work full time.
If you are unable to generate a share code, for example, because you have a pending visa application and your last visa has expired, your employer will be able to check your right to work online or by calling the Employer Enquiry helpline on 0300 790 6268.
Some students take a work placement as a part of their degree course.
If your work placement is an assessed and integral part of your course, and the University informs the UK Visas and Immigration that you are taking a work placement, you will be permitted to work full time on your placement plus additional 20 hours per week in other employment.
However, before taking on any additional work, it is very important that you check with the University that your work placement indeed meets the relevant criteria. For instance, a year-long work placement which has been authorised by the University and which forms an integral and assessed part of your course and extends your course by a year will likely meet the criteria. By contrast, a work placement which you organised yourself to help with the collection of data for your dissertation research, or for any other reason where the placement isn’t an integral and assessed part of the course, will likely not meet the criteria (and, therefore, would need to fall within the 20-hour limit). If the placement or internship you take is not an assessed and integral part of your course which has been approved by the University and reported to the UK Visas and Immigration, you will not be permitted to work above the usual weekly limit.
Please note that including a work placement to your course may impact your Student visa. Please contact Student Advice to discuss this further.
If you finish your studies and still have time left on your Student visa, you may be able to work full time during this period. Please see the above tab on working full time for details on when exactly you can take on additional hours.
If you want to extend your stay in the UK beyond the current validity of your visa, you will need to check if there is another visa type you are eligible to apply for.
Many students are interested in applying for the Graduate Route visa which allows them to stay in the UK for a further period of two or three years to work. You can find more information about this visa and the eligibility criteria on our Graduate Route visa page.
There are also other visas options, such as the Skilled Worker visa, which you may be interested to learn about. We recommend to check the UKCISA website which provides a comprehensive guide on options for working in the UK after your studies.
If anything is unclear or you have further questions about your right to work in the UK, please contact Student Advice.