Upon completion of your course, you can usually work full-time for up to a maximum of four months dependent on how much time you have left on your Student Visa. Remember – you cannot work full-time until you have completed all your studies including referred/deferred modules, coursework, project, or exams and you have reached the official end date of your programme. This also applies to PhD students. You are still restricted to Student work conditions until you apply for, and in some cases received, a work visa.
For the purposes of working after your studies, the course end date of your programme is the course end date listed on your CAS, unless you have any further studies to complete. If you begin working full-time after your CAS end date and subsequently find out you have further studies to complete, then you will need to go back to working within the 20 hours per week restriction.
Completed early?
If you complete your course earlier than the course end date on your CAS you should wait to work full-time until the programme board confirms your early completion and you are notified we have reported the early course completion to UKVI. You can then work full time until your new visa expiry date.
If you complete your course more than 2 weeks before the course end date on your CAS, your visa sponsorship will be stopped and your visa will be subject to cancellation. The Home Office will contact you, normally by email, to let you know that they are going to cancel your visa. Your new visa end date should still include your 'wrap up' period. For example, for courses of 12 months of more you should receive 4 additional months after your early course completion has been reported. The Home Office should give you 60 days notice before your new visa end date.
You can continue to use your visa to remain in the UK until the new end date. However, if you leave the UK whilst your visa is subject to cancellation, Border Force can refuse re-entry, or can serve notice of cancellation when you request re-entry to the UK. We would therefore advise that you remain in the UK if you have completed early and are planning to move to a different visa type after studies, e.g the Graduate Route. You must wait until you have your new visa before you travel outside the UK.
Working at UH
For work at the University, HR must confirm to your manager that you are able to increase your hours before you do so. Please be aware this does not guarantee that your manager will be able to allocate you any extra hours.
Work visa routes
There are several options available to students who want to remain in the UK to work at the end of their course; please see the UKCISA website for details.
Graduate visa route
The Graduate Visa was introduced in July 2021 and allows Student Visa graduates to stay in the UK for up to 2 years to find work (3 years for PhD graduates).
See the Graduate Visa page for more details and eligibility criteria.
Start-Up and Innovator routes
These routes closed on 13 April 2023 to new applicants, however, you may set up your own business under the Graduate route or apply for an endorsement for an Innovator Founder visa from an approved endorsing body.