Working in the UK

If you’re an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen with Settled or Pre-Settled Status, you can work in the UK with no restriction on the number of hours or the type of work. EU Settlement Scheme.

Please check the UK government website ('Right to work') for the most up-to-date information about working in the UK.

It’s important to check your visa or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) to see if you’re allowed to work. Students with Tier 4 or Student Visas are permitted to work for up to 20 hours a week if studying at degree level.

However, if your visa says, ‘No work’ or ‘Employment prohibited’, you are not allowed to work.

If you are a Tier 4 or Student Visa holder with permission to work:

You can:

• work for up to 20 hours per week during term time, and full-time during vacation periods (for Master’s or research-degree students, ‘term time’ includes the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks).
• work as a performer, but only if the performance has been arranged through the Academy and is an assessed part of the course. The performance must take place before the end of your course. UKVI categorises performers as being 'entertainers', and working as an entertainer is not permitted.

You cannot:

• claim benefits
• work as a doctor or dentist in training
• work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach
• work as an entertainer (this includes performing in public concerts and professional performances, paid or unpaid, but see 'work as a performer' above)
• fill a full-time, permanent vacancy
• be self-employed

See gov.uk/student-visa and the UKCISA 'Student Work' web page for more details about the work you can and can’t do as an international student. These rules apply even if you are not paid or are doing voluntary work.

If you will be a non-UK student on a study programme of less than six months’ duration and you wish to work in the UK, make sure that you enter the UK with a Student Visa. A Standard Visitor visa forbids you from undertaking any work in the UK.

International students pay the same tax as UK residents, and have the same Personal Allowance - that means if you earn less than £12,570 in one financial year (2022/23 tax year figures), you will not have to pay any income tax.

Any paid work that you do at the Academy will be taxed, but you can claim a refund with the repayment claim form P50. You can find this on the website of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Everyone who works in the UK must pay National Insurance (NI) contributions. You do not need a number before you start working, but when you’ve found a job you must apply for a NI number. More information can be found here.

If you wish to stay in the UK to work when you have finished your course at the Academy, there will be some time before your Tier 4 Visa or Student Visa expires.

While the visa is valid, the 20-hour work restriction does not apply, but the other restrictions are still active - for example, you cannot be self-employed, and please be aware that you cannot be an 'entertainer' (that is, you cannot perform) because a performance cannot be counted as part of your Academy course after the course has finished.

Graduate Visa
The UK Government has introduced a Graduate visa. If you apply for this, the student visa restrictions remain in place until the Graduate visa has been granted, this is usually 8 weeks after submitting the application. If you are eligible to apply, the Academy notifies UKVI and then emails you to confirm you can go ahead with an application.

Work visas
It is not possible to switch in the UK to a work visa from a student visa until you have finished your course.

You can visit the UKCISA student work web page for the latest information about UK work visas that are available after you have completed your studies, and also this page of the UK Government website.