Working in the UK

Note: The term ‘Student Visa’ refers to both the Tier 4 (general) visa and also the new Student visa, which has replaced the Tier 4 (general) visa on 5th October 2020. 

The information on this webpage is about working in the UK for students with a ‘Student visa’ to study at Wrexham University.

Before you apply for work in the UK, you must ensure you understand the work conditions of your visa. You can find full information about the conditions of your visa or immigration permission on the UKCISA website.

If you have a Standard Visit or Short-term Study visa, you are not permitted to undertake any work. You can find information about the conditions of your visa on the University’s Short-term Study webpage.

Working during your studies

Amount of time you can work

The amount of hours you can work each week will depend on:

• If your Student visa is for full-time or part-time study
• If your Student visa is for a programme below degree level or degree level and above
• If you are working during term dates or vacation dates

Student visa for full-time study

If you have a Student visa to study a full-time programme at Wrexham University you can work in the UK but you must ensure that you do not work over your permitted hours.

If you have a Student visa for full-time study and your programme is at degree level or above, you can work a maximum of 20 hours per week during term dates and full-time during vacation dates.

If you have a Student visa for full-time study and your programme is below degree level, for example a Pre-Sessional English language programme, you can work a maximum of 10 hours per week during term dates and full-time during vacation dates.

Check your BRP card to ensure that your maximum working hours during term-time are correct. If you think there is a mistake on your BRP card and your permitted hours are incorrect, then please contact the University’s  Immigration Compliance Team.

Student visa for part-time study

If you have a Student visa to study a part-time programme at Wrexham University you cannot work in the UK or do a work placement as part of your studies, regardless of your programme level.

Term dates and vacation dates

Check the term dates and vacation dates for your programme level here.

UK Visas & Immigration have defined a week as a seven-day period from Monday – Sunday. This means that you cannot work more than your permitted hours between Monday and Sunday in the same week. Your working allowance per week cannot be distributed over more than a week or spread out over a month. For example, if you choose not to work your maximum permitted hours in one week, the hours you have not worked cannot then be carried over to another week. Your permitted hours reset every Monday. If you have any queries about this please  contact us.

You must not work more than the number of hours permitted during term dates because you will be breaching the conditions of your visa.

Type of work you can do

If you have a Student visa to study a part-time programme at Wrexham University you cannot do any type of work in the UK or do a work placement as part of your studies.

If you have a Student visa to study a full-time programme at the Wrexham University, there are some restrictions on the type of work you can do.

Paid work and unpaid (voluntary) work are counted towards the amount of work you are allowed to do each week during term dates.

‘Volunteering‘ is not counted towards the amount of work you are allowed to do each week, as long as it meets the definition of volunteering in the UKVI Student Policy Guidance, pages 104-105.

The types of work you must not do are:

• self-employment and business activity
• work as a professional sportsperson including as a sports coach
• entertainer
• a permanent full-time job
• doctor or dentist in training

If your employer is outside the UK, your hours of work undertaken in the UK still count towards your working limit.