Working in the UK during your studies

Can I work while I study in the UK?

Check what your passport sticker (entry clearance or residence permit) says. If you are in the UK with student immigration permission and your passport sticker says "Work (and any changes) must be authorised" or "Able to work as authorised by the Secretary of State", you are allowed to work during your studies.

If your passport sticker says "No work", you must not work in the UK. This would be a breach of your immigration conditions, which is a criminal offence. If you are in the UK and you have entry clearance (a visa) that makes it clear you are here as a student but you have a "no work" condition, you can make an immigration application to change your condition to allow you to work. You should talk to your international student adviser about how to make such an application and how much it will cost. It is much cheaper and easier to ask for permission to work when you make your entry clearance application and to check your passport sticker before you travel to the UK.

If you are in the UK as a student visitor, you cannot change your immigration conditions in the UK to allow you to work. You would have to return to the country where you usually live and make an entry clearance application as a student, and you would have to meet all the requirements of the student Immigration Rules.

Student immigration before you come to the UK

If you are in the UK as a student nurse, and you are allowed to take up employment, the Immigration Rules state, at paragraph 64, that you must "not intend to engage in business or take employment except in connection with the training course". The Immigration directorates' instructions for Border & Immigration Agency caseworkers say, at paragraph 5.6 of Section 5, that "persons admitted to the United Kingdom as student nurses and midwives are permitted to take employment for a maximum of 8 weeks prior to the commencement of their courses, at the hospitals where they are to be trained. Once their course has commenced, student nurses may take employment in excess of the 20 hours per week normally permitted during term time if such employment is a necessary part of the course and has the agreement of the education institution concerned. In these circumstances no further approval is required."

If you are in the UK with some other immigration status, check what your passport sticker or any other documents issued by UKvisas or the Border & Immigration Agency say about employment. If the only condition in your passport is "No recourse to public funds", you can usually work without restriction.

Examples of student passport stamps that prohibit and allow work

Find your way to work - UK Government publication

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