“Can I work, and for how long?”
How many hours can I work on a UK Student visa?
Short answer
A full-time course at degree level or above, sponsored by a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, permits 20 hours per week in term time. A full-time course below degree level with the same kind of sponsor permits 10. All other study, including every part-time course, permits no work at all.
Two things decide it, not one
Almost everyone assumes the hours follow from the course level. They do not. ST 26.1 attaches the 20-hour allowance to a full-time course at degree level or above AND a sponsor that is a higher education provider with a track record of compliance. Both halves have to be true.
A degree-level course at a sponsor that does not meet that description carries no work rights whatsoever. Neither does any part-time course, at any level, anywhere.
The limit is weekly, not an average
The cap applies to each week on its own. Working 40 hours one week and none the next breaches your conditions even though the fortnight averages 20. There is no provision for balancing a busy week against a quiet one.
Term dates come from your sponsor
Full-time work is permitted outside term time, but the Immigration Rules do not define when your term ends. Your sponsor does. If you work full-time in what you believe is a vacation and your institution treats it as term, that is a breach. Use the dates your university publishes and keep a copy.
Where this answer stops
Official sources
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