Working on a UK Student visa — and the 31 December 2026 date that decides how long you can stay after
A Student visa may allow some work, but self-employment is banned outright and the hours depend on your course — GOV.UK does not publish one figure, so the binding number is the one on your own permission. After the course, the Graduate visa lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026 and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027.
Two questions get asked together and have different answers: what you may do while you study, and what happens when the course ends. The second one now turns on a date.
Working during the course
GOV.UK says you may be able to work, and that how much depends on what you are studying and whether you are in or out of term-time. It deliberately does not print a single number, because the allowance is not the same for everyone.
Do not take the hours figure from a forum. When your application succeeds you are told what you can and cannot do, and that is the figure that binds you. Read your own permission before you accept a job — not a number someone else was given for a different course.
What is banned regardless of hours
Some things are not a question of how many hours. On a Student visa you cannot:
- Be self-employed.
- Work in certain jobs — for example as a professional sportsperson or sports coach.
- Claim public funds (benefits) and pensions.
- Study at an academy or a local authority-funded school.
You can work as a student union sabbatical officer, which is written into the route as an allowed exception.
The self-employment ban is the common trap. Freelancing, gig platforms, invoicing your own clients, running a small online shop — these are self-employment, and no weekly hour allowance makes them permitted. Students are caught by this far more often than by working an hour too many in a bar.
When the course ends: the Graduate visa
The Graduate visa lets you stay after successfully completing an eligible course. You must be in the UK when you apply, your current permission must be a Student or Tier 4 (General) visa, and your university must have told the Home Office that you finished.
How long it lasts is where the date matters:
- 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026.
- 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027.
- 3 years if you hold a PhD or other doctoral qualification.
It is the application date, not your graduation date. Six months of permission turn on which side of 31 December 2026 your application falls. If you finish in late 2026, the single most valuable thing you can do is chase your provider to report your completion to the Home Office early enough to apply before the deadline.
That reporting step is outside your control and is the usual cause of delay. You can ask your education provider whether they have already confirmed your completion — do that before you assume you have time.
An ETA is not part of any of this. Study on an ETA is limited to short courses as a visitor, and it carries no work rights at all. A Student visa is a different application through a licensed sponsor. We handle ETA applications only — for a study or Graduate route, take advice from a regulated UK immigration adviser or your university’s international student team.
Checked against the official sources below on 12 September 2026.