Your responsibilities on a student visa

Work rights are a condition of your immigration permission so it is very important that you are clear about what you may and may not do. The Home Office casework guidance is useful for in-depth guidance on working conditions. It is important to note that if you breach these restrictions, it means that you are working illegally and your Student sponsorship will be withdrawn.

Your Student visa vignette or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) will indicate how long you are permitted to work each week during term time. For international students at Bath Spa University on a Student visa this will either be 10 hours or 20 hours a week during term time. Outside of term time you may work longer hours per week.

Normally, if you are studying an undergraduate or postgraduate degree with a valid Student visa for six months or longer, you are permitted to work:

• no more than 20 hours per week
• full-time during official vacation periods

Additional restrictions mean that you:

• cannot work in a position which would fill a permanent full-time vacancy
• cannot be self-employed or set up a business
• cannot be employed as a professional sportsperson (including coach) or as an entertainer.

Right to Work and Right to Rent checks

Your employer will also be required to check that it is legal to employ you. To prove your right to work you will need to obtain a share code and provide this to your employer so that they can carry out the Right to Work check.

This method of completing the Right to Work check was introduced on 6th April 2022. If you started work before this date, you probably showed your BRP as your proof of right to work. However, if you started a job on or after 6 April 2022, or if your permission expires on or after that date and you need to prove you have been granted new permission, your employer must use the share code to confirm your right to work.

This means there is no need for any employer to see your BRP and you must not let any employer keep your passport or BRP under any circumstances; it is illegal for them to do so. They should simply take photocopies of these for their records.

The process to prove your right to rent is very similar, where you will need to prove your right to rent with a share code and the property owner can carry out the Right to Rent check.

Placements

You are also permitted to take up any work placements that form an assessed part of your course, providing the work placement does not amount to more than 50% of the course. Please note any work placement is considered a change in circumstances that we must report to UKVI so you must contact us prior to a placement starting.

Work placements can be paid or unpaid and can be full time, even in term time. The work endorsement in your passport or on your biometric residence permit will not state this, but the Home Office guidance for employers explains it.

If you are permitted to take employment, you can do that (up to 10 or 20 hours a week in term time) in addition to working on your placement.

Balancing work with studies

Please note that the primary purpose of a Student visa is to study. Although you are permitted to work 20 hours per week during term time, it is advised that before committing to any employment, you consider the time required for timetabled study as well as independent study, course work, revision for examinations and additional reading. See our guide to working while you study.

Working after completing your studies

The four-month period of leave after the course end date on your CAS is issued by UK Visas and Immigration to allow students time to wrap up any affairs prior to leaving the UK, or to arrange an alternative immigration category (such as the Graduate visa or Skilled Worker visa) and is considered to be a period of vacation. Therefore, you will be able work full-time for the remaining leave after completion of your studies.

Guidance from our Careers team

The University's Careers team have put together a useful guide to working in the UK during your studies.

In addition to the 'Right to Work' process, you may be asked to provide proof of your student status and the university term dates. 

You can request a Student Status Letter from the Student Information team via the MyServices student portal or the MyBathSpa App

The term dates for Undergraduate and Postgraduate study are different. You can provide an employer with the University's term dates on our website.

During your time here, you may wish to travel to other countries. When you travel, you must always have a valid visa and a passport for the destination(s) you wish to visit. If you are still awaiting a decision by the Home Office on a UK visa application, you shouldn't book any travel until you have received your visa.

Most countries require visitors to have a passport with a minimum validity of 6 months left, before they will admit someone as a visitor. Therefore, ensure your passport has at least this amount of validity remaining. If you hold a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) you must make sure that you take this on your travels as this is your visa to re-enter the UK. Like your passport, make sure it is valid. Take care of your passport and visa whilst on holiday.

Travel to Europe and the Schengen visa

If you would like to travel around Europe, a Schengen visa will grant you entry to most countries. The Schengen Area is the area including 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their mutual borders, so travel here is extremely simple once you have the Schengen visa.

Schengen Area covers most of the EU countries, except Ireland and the countries that are soon to be part of Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus. Although not members of the EU, countries like Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein are also part of the Schengen zone.

Travel during term time

You are not permitted to travel during term time and are expected to attend and engage with your studies at all points during your course.

However, we understand that there may be exceptional personal circumstances as well as festivities and celebrations held in your home country or culture that may fall at times of the year when you are expected to be in full-time study.  Please see the authorised absence section below for more information on this.

If you need to leave the UK for a field trip or part of your course or research, please contact the Immigration Advice Service ahead of departure so we can ensure you are fully prepared.

If you are studying at BSU on a Student Route visa and need to be absent from studies for longer than 10 working days, you must request a period of authorised absence from the Immigration Compliance Team. 

Your authorised absence request will be assessed by both your course leader and the Immigration Compliance Team, based on: 

• The reason for your absence. 
• The length of your absence. 
• Your ability to engage with your studies, submit work / sit assessments and progress normally on your course following your return from an absence. 

Authorisation for absences will only be granted for important ‘life events’ such as bereavements and illness. 

In the first instance, please discuss your absence with your course leader to establish whether it is possible for you to be absent from your studies for a specified period from an academic perspective.   

You must provide your course leader with the reason for your absence as well as the start date for your absence and an expected return date.

The Immigration Compliance Team requires written academic approval before we can assess your absence from a visa compliance perspective. Therefore, if your course leader agrees to your stated period of absence, please ask them to confirm this to you in an email and forward this email to immigrationcompliance@bathspa.ac.uk.   

The Immigration Compliance Team will then assess your absence from a visa compliance perspective and will confirm to you via email whether your period of absence has been authorised or not. 

If your absence requires you to leave the UK, you should travel with this email and be prepared to show it to UK Border Force officials if you are questioned upon re-entry to the UK. 

The Immigration Compliance Team will contact you after the end date of your absence to request proof of your return to the UK i.e. return flight boarding pass.  

Please note that we do not provide students with authorisation letters to travel overseas, and such a letter is not required for travel purposes.   

You do not need to request an authorised absence from the Immigration Compliance Team if your absence is for 10 working days or less (for example, if you are ill for a few days), but you should still let your course leader know. 

Please note that, as per UKVI regulations, students who are granted an authorised absence must be able to still complete their course within their existing leave, (i.e. before the expiry date of the current visa), and therefore will not be able to extend their visa for further study as a direct result of an absence. 

UKVI regulations permit students to be absent for a maximum period of 60 calendar days.  Only in very exceptional circumstances (such as serious illness or injury) can we continue to sponsor a student’s visa for longer than 60 days.  Absences that exceed 60 days will ordinarily require students to request a Study Break from their course. 

If authorisation for your absence is not granted you will be expected to attend and engage with your studies as normal during this period. Unauthorised absences from studies are not permitted and could result in further action being taken.

Please contact immigrationcompliance@bathspa.ac.uk if you have any questions about authorised absences.

Your immigration conditions prohibit you from accessing 'public funds', which means certain specific welfare benefits and local authority housing. However, using the National Health Service, sending your child to a state school, being exempt from the Council Tax, and paying 'home' fees for study, do not count as accessing 'public funds'.

If you claim public funds, despite having a 'no recourse to public funds' condition, you:

• will be breaching the conditions of your immigration permission
• may have problems obtaining an immigration extension in the UK
• may be barred from coming back to the UK for at least 12 months (and, in some cases, five or ten years), under many categories and not just as a student

On arrival you must:

• Collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) within 10 days of arrival into the UK

Please refer to our International Arrivals section on getting to Bath, collecting your BRP card and enrolling at the University.

During your studies you must:

• Ensure that your visa is valid throughout your studies
• Check your Bath Spa student email account regularly throughout studies. Respond to communications from University staff when required
• Submit all assessments and sit all exams that your course requires
• Attend all the sessions of your course with no unauthorised absences
• Ensure that you comply with visa working restrictions (see the Working in the UK section above). If you breach this restriction and work illegally, we will withdraw your Student sponsorship
• Re-enrol for your course on time each year
• Leave the UK if your interrupt your studies or withdraw from the University
• If you change your immigration status by moving into another visa category you must inform the University straight away

You must notify Bath Spa University if:

• You require a visa extension to complete your studies
• You leave the UK for any reason during your course, or you withdraw, defer or intercalate your study
• Your contact details change
• There have been other changes in your circumstances (e.g. you’ve secured a credit bearing work placement or you’ve had changes in campus location)

You must also have our permission to:

• Change your course in any way
• Leave the UK for study purposes (overseas field trips, placements or research)
• Get authorised absence during your term time

You must notify the Home office if any of the following change:

• Address
• Name
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Details of new passport
• Criminal convictions
• Changes to relationships with family members who have permission to be in the UK as your dependant
• Other relevant changes