Tier 4 students UK work

If you are in the UK on a Tier 4 student visa,  you can already work:

  • Up to 20 hours per week in Term Time
  • Up to 40 hours per week during the holidays

Your work can be any lawful employment or business.

When your course ends, you are able to stay in the UK on favourable terms.  The options include:

  • A UK Start Up visa if you are endorsed by your university
  •  Switching into Tier 2 (General) employment without the sponsoring employer needing to advertise the job for a month (ie no Resident Labour Market Test)

Commonwealth Contractors has three main resources for Tier 4 student visa holders that want to remain in the UK after graduation: 

Tier 4 students can also use our ‘Finding a UK Tier 2 visa sponsoring employer for expats in the UK’ resource, but most of our partners are looking for staff with 3+ years post graduation work experience, so if you have just finished an undergraduate degree, you are likely to be too junior for them.   If you are not getting offers of permanent employment, look for contract opportunities. They may be initially short term, but they are a way to get known, make friends, and improve your chances.

Between taking finals and the end of your Tier 4 visa, you often have a few months.  Use it wisely. If you use the time to work in a high level professional job in the career you want to pursue, then you have a chance of proving to a UK business that they should go to the effort needed to sponsor you.  It is MUCH easier to get sponsored for a job you are already doing, and where you have passed your probationary period, than it is to get a company to sponsor you from day one. If you can do internships during the summer holidays during the course, so much the better.  Get out there. get known. Get liked. Move from being a random CV that might look interesting, to being a real person that they know, have worked with, like, and are prepared to go out of their way to help.