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Working during studies

Working and term dates for student visa holders

Work rights are a condition of your student immigration permission, but please check your work restrictions on your UKVI decision letter or email, as it will confirm whether you can work up to 10 or 20 hours during term-time depending on your course level.

You must only work in permitted type of jobs and below the maximum hours allowed. A student route visa’s primary purpose is allowing you to study in the UK. Restricted working is allowed but should not affect the engagement and progress of your academic studies.

You can take part-time student work to increase pocket money and professional experience. However, you should not rely solely on working in the UK for tuition fees and living costs. You should already have enough money in place for your education here, and the Home Office would have checked this, or have assumed so based on your nationality, when granting you a student visa.

Your student visa may allow you to work full-time outside term time. Some employers may ask to see evidence of your being outside term time before they could offer you more hours during holiday periods.

Guides to working in and outside term-time

Please download our guides to working during studies for undergraduate or postgraduate study as appropriate, and show your employer your work conditions and term dates.

St Mary’s University does not produce bespoke term time letters for individuals, and these guides are the only documents we provide to help employers clarify ‘term time’. If your employer asks for further evidence, you can request a ‘Confirmation of Attendance Letter’ from your eVision portal and also give them a link of our term dates page

 Undergraduate guide and term dates

 Postgraduate guide and term dates