Working after studies

In the majority of cases (but especially when you are switching to a work route from a Student visa in the UK), employers will need confirmation from you or your student sponsor that you have now completed your course of study. This can take usually take the form of a confirmation letter, a transcript, or a highly likely to succeed letter.

It is a common misconception amongst employers that you must provide evidence that you have “successfully completed” your studies, or that you must always be awarded/graduated before you can start working. This is not the case. 

Typically, to start working on your Student visa after your course of study is complete, the only requirement is that you can prove your course of study is complete. The Home Office have confirmed that completion can be taken to mean when you have had your final teaching contact point, sat your last exam, and submitted your final pieces of work that were due. Therefore, to prove completion, you can use either the course end date on your CAS, or an earlier date if you have completed your studies and you are able to provide supporting evidence of this from your Student sponsor. 

The Skilled Worker route does have specific requirements about when you can start working and when you can make a valid application, and these are explained on our dedicated Skilled worker visa page. It is not the case however that you can only apply, or start working for an employer after making an application, once you are awarded, have graduated, or have "successfully completed" your course of study. 

Only the Graduate route requires “successful completion”. You do not need a job offer or sponsorship from an employer for the Graduate route therefore you should not be required to provide any evidence to prove your successful completion from any prospective employer once you find a job. The “successful completion” requirement is proven to the Home Office by your educational institution completing a report on your behalf.   

The Employer’s guide to right to work checks provides clear guidance to employers in respect of hiring those on, or coming from Student leave. Page 48 explains the following:

Students who have the right to work are permitted to work full-time before their course starts, during vacations or during the period they hold permission for after they have completed their course.

Study term times may end on any day of the week, depending upon the education provider. Therefore, if the educational institution’s term time ends on a Friday, full-time work would be permitted from the next day (in this scenario, a Saturday). Students should confirm with their sponsor what the term end date is and verify this with their employer as part of the right to work checking process when considering working full time hours. This will allow employers to ensure students are not in breach of their visa conditions.

Students are not permitted to fill a permanent full-time vacancy unless they are applying to switch into the Skilled Worker or Graduate routes during their study. Changes to the Immigration Rules allow students with valid applications for these routes to take up permanent, full-time vacancies either, up to three months prior to the course completion date for the Skilled Worker route, or once they have successfully completed their course of study for the Graduate route)

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For students who have limited permission to work during term-times, you must also obtain, copy and retain details of their academic term and vacation times covering the duration of their period of study in the UK for which they will be employed. The dates should be provided by the sponsoring education provider, either directly or indirectly if the student is providing a letter or email, they have received from their sponsoring education provider setting out the required details.