Right to Work Check: Student Visa Hours and Term Dates
Right to work check for Student visa holders: term-time hour limits, vacation work, the term dates you must keep and how agencies monitor hours.
Last reviewed: 12 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
A Student visa holder proves their right to work with a share code, which you check on the Home Office online service. You must also obtain, copy and keep their academic term and vacation dates. Most full-time degree students can work up to 20 hours a week in term time and full time in vacations.
This guide covers the right to work check for Student visa holders, the work limits, what to record and how to monitor hours. There is a printable checklist near the end.
In short:
- Check a Student visa holder online with their share code and date of birth, and keep the result.
- Full-time degree-level students can usually work 20 hours a week in term time; full-time below degree level, 10 hours. Part-time students cannot work.
- Students can work full time outside term time, but only in the official vacations set by their institution.
- You must obtain, copy and keep the student's term and vacation dates for the period you employ them.
- The weekly limit covers all their work combined, so ask about other jobs and cap your bookings.
What work can a Student visa holder do?
A Student visa holder can do limited paid work, set by course level and sponsor type. Some kinds of work are banned outright.
The limits are in Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules (paragraph ST 26). GOV.UK's Student visa work page summarises them for students.
| Course and sponsor | Term time | Outside term time |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time, degree level or above, at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance | Up to 20 hours a week | Full time |
| Full-time, below degree level, at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance | Up to 10 hours a week | Full time |
| All other study, including all part-time study | No work allowed | No work allowed |
The online check result shows the conditions on that person's permission. Always follow what it says for the individual over any general table.
What work is not allowed on a Student visa?
Under ST 26.5, a student must not:
- be self-employed or run a business (with a narrow exception for some Innovator Founder applicants)
- work as a professional sportsperson, including as a sports coach
- work as an entertainer
- fill a permanent full-time vacancy
The last point has one exception. A student with a valid Skilled Worker or Graduate application can start a permanent full-time role in certain conditions set out in ST 26.6.
For agencies, self-employed "contractor" set-ups are a risk, and so are events bookings that look like entertainer work. If you are unsure whether a role fits, check before you book it.
Assessed work placements that are part of the course (ST 26.2) and some Student Union sabbatical roles (ST 26.3) are also allowed.
How do you do a right to work check for a student?
You check a Student visa holder online using their share code and date of birth, then keep a copy of the result.
Most students have an eVisa, so the online check is the usual route. Enter the share code and date of birth on the view a job applicant's right to work service, match the photo, and read the conditions. Keep the result for the employment plus 2 years, as the Home Office employer's guide to right to work checks requires. Our separate guide to eVisa right to work checks covers the share code steps in detail.
From 1 October 2026, the agency supplying the worker is their employer for right to work purposes, so the check is yours, not the client's. For list A and list B documents, see our UK right to work checks guide.
Does a student need a follow-up check?
Yes. A Student visa is time-limited, so you need a follow-up check before their permission ends if they still work for you. Diary it from the expiry shown on the online check.
Why do you need a student's term and vacation dates?
You need term and vacation dates because the weekly hour limit only applies in term time. The Home Office expects you to keep evidence of them.
The GOV.UK employers' right to work checklist covers students with limited permission to work during term time. Employers must obtain, copy and retain details of their academic term and vacation times. Those details must cover the period of study for which you employ them.
Without them, you cannot show that a 35-hour week in July fell in an official vacation.
Where do you get term and vacation dates?
Get them from the student's education provider, not from the student's memory. The usual sources are:
- a letter or email from the institution confirming the student's term and vacation dates
- the institution's published term dates for the student's specific course
- a student status letter that includes term dates
Check the dates match the student's course. Postgraduate, nursing and placement-heavy courses often run different calendars, and some taught master's courses continue through the summer.
What should you record?
Keep these on the candidate's record alongside the online check:
| Field | Example (hypothetical) |
|---|---|
| Institution (sponsor) | University name |
| Course level and mode | Full-time, degree level |
| Course start and end dates | From the institution letter |
| Term dates | Each term, start and end |
| Vacation dates | Each official vacation, start and end |
| Term-time weekly cap | 20 hours |
| Source and date obtained | Institution letter, date received |
| Next review | Start of the next academic year |
Ask for new dates every academic year. Term dates change, and students sometimes change course, take a break or finish early.
How do you monitor a student's hours across agencies?
The weekly limit applies to all of a student's work combined. You need to know about their other jobs as well as your own bookings.
A student working 12 hours a week in a café can only take 8 hours from your agency in a term-time week. If they also work through another agency, that counts too. You cannot see their other jobs unless you ask.
Practical ways to stay inside the limit
- Ask for a declaration. At registration, ask the student to declare other work and weekly hours, and to tell you about changes.
- Recheck often. Ask again at the start of each term and whenever they request more shifts.
- Set a hard cap. Put the term-time cap in your booking system so a consultant cannot book over it.
- Count Monday to Sunday. The Immigration Rules define a week as 7 days beginning with a Monday (paragraph 6.2). Treat each week separately.
- Do not average. A light week does not create room for a heavy one in term time.
- Watch the boundaries. Take extra care with shifts in the first and last weeks of term.
Worked example (hypothetical)
Priya is on a full-time master's course. Her university letter shows term ends on Sunday 13 December and restarts on Monday 4 January. She also works 6 hours a week at a shop.
In the week beginning Monday 30 November, you can book her for up to 14 hours. In the week beginning 14 December, which falls in the official vacation, she can work full time. From 4 January the 20-hour cap applies again, shop hours included.
What happens if a student works more hours than allowed?
Working beyond the conditions of a visa is illegal working, for the student and for the business that employs them.
The employer's guide says people working in breach of their conditions, including hours limits, are working illegally. Any work you offer must fit their restrictions.
Penalties for your agency
According to GOV.UK:
- a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker if you do not have a statutory excuse
- up to 5 years in prison and an unlimited fine if you knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, the person could not do the work
- your business details may be published as a warning to others
A correct check gives you a statutory excuse. If you then book a student over their hours knowing their limit, that check may not protect you.
Consequences for the student
The student can commit the offence of working illegally, and a breach can put their visa and future applications at risk. Explain this at registration.
Checklist: right to work for Student visa holders
Print this and use it for each student you register:
- Online check done with share code and date of birth; result saved; date recorded.
- Photo matched to the person.
- Conditions read: course level, weekly term-time cap, any banned work.
- Role checked: not self-employed, not sportsperson or coach, not entertainer, not a permanent full-time vacancy.
- Term and vacation dates obtained from the institution, copied and kept.
- Dates match the student's own course, not just the general calendar.
- Other work declared, with weekly hours.
- Term-time cap set in your booking system.
- Follow-up check diarised before permission ends.
- New term dates requested at the start of each academic year.
Where does Amy fit?
Amy, our AI document agent, chases students for the documents behind this checklist. She asks on WhatsApp or by email from your own domain, so candidates get no portal and no login. She can ask for the share code, the institution's term dates letter and the other-work declaration, and answer questions in the thread.
Blurred photos and wrong documents are rejected and chased again. Accepted files go to the candidate's record in your ATS, such as Recruit CRM, and to Google Drive. Your team still runs the online check and sets the hours cap. See how this works for industrial staffing.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours can a Student visa holder work?
A full-time degree-level student can usually work up to 20 hours a week in term time. This applies where their sponsor is a higher education provider with a track record of compliance. Full-time students below degree level can usually work 10 hours. Part-time students cannot work. The online check shows each person's conditions.
Can a student work full time in the holidays?
Yes, if their permission allows work, they can work full time outside term time. That means the official vacations set by their institution, not days they choose to take off. Keep the institution's term and vacation dates as evidence.
Can a Student visa holder work through more than one agency?
Yes, but the weekly term-time limit covers all their work combined. Each agency should ask about other work and keep its bookings inside the cap.
Can a student be self-employed or work through an umbrella company?
A Student visa holder cannot be self-employed or engage in business activity, apart from a narrow Innovator Founder exception. Book students as workers through your agency, and check any umbrella arrangement carefully before using it.
What does an agency need to keep for a student's right to work?
Keep the online check result with the date you did it, plus the student's term and vacation dates from their institution. Keep these for the length of the employment and 2 years after it ends.
Want students compliant before their first shift?
If your team spends hours chasing share codes and term dates letters, we can show you how Amy handles the chasing. Book a call and we will walk through your student onboarding and give you a custom quote.
Please note: this article is general information, not legal advice, and was correct at the time of writing (October 2026). Rules and guidance change, so please check the latest guidance from the Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration before relying on it.