Working in the UK after your studies

Your student or Tier 4 visa should be valid for four months (two months if your course was less than 12 months) after the end date of your course. Once you have completed all of the academic requirements of your course, you can work full-time  on a temporary basis during the four (or two) months 'wrap-up' time remaining on your student visa.

If you would like to remain in the UK beyond the expiry of your student visa in order to work, find work or set up your own business, there are a number of different immigration routes.

Sponsored students

If your tuition fees and living costs have been fully sponsored in the previous 12 months by an official financial sponsor (your government or the UK government, an international company or other sponsorship agency) it is not possible to apply for permission under the following immigration routes. The only exception is if your sponsor provides its full and unconditional consent to you making the application.

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Graduate route (formerly 'Post-study work visa')

The Graduate Route (GR) is aimed at international students who wish to work or look for work in the UK for two (three for PhD) years after successfully completing their degree course or relevant qualification.

In order to make a successful application you must meet the following requirements:

  • successfully completed your degree or relevant qualification 
  • studied your course while you were in the UK with a Student or Tier 4 visa (exceptions below)
  • hold a valid Student or Tier 4 visa at the time of your application – or following your Student Visa you have been granted Exceptional Assurance (EA) which is still valid
  • make your application while you are in the UK
  • must not previously had permission under the Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES) or the Graduate Route.

Successful completion of a degree

Successful completion of your course means that the final Examination Board has notified you that it has awarded you the degree or relevant qualification. You cannot apply whilst you are still waiting for your results even if you have completed all the academic requirements. Your academic school office can tell you the date of your final Examination Board. You don't need to wait until you have attended your graduation ceremony to apply.

You must be awarded one of the following eligible qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree eg BA(Hons), BSc(Hons)
  • Master's degree eg MA, MSc, MEng, MPharm, MRes etc.
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
  • Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) CPE in Law (conversion course)
  • Professional course requiring study at degree level or above eg some PGDip courses

Once the final Exam Board has awarded your degree, your academic school will notify the Visa Compliance Team. Shortly afterwards they will notify the Home Office that you have successfully completed your course. The Visa Compliance Team will inform you once they have done this so you will know you can make your Graduate Route application. You must not make the application before you have received this confirmation as your application cannot succeed. If you have any queries about this, contact us at casenquiries@brighton.ac.uk.

If you are studying a non-standard course not listed above and are unsure whether the course you are taking is a 'professional course' contact us via our visa enquiry form.

You must have completed your course during the validity of your current Student or Tier 4 visa. In addition, the qualification you are awarded must match that on your previous Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) unless you meet one of the exceptions to this requirement described in the UKCISA guidance.

If the qualification you are awarded does not match the course on your CAS and you are unsure if you meet any of the exceptions contact us via our visa enquiry form.

If you are unable to complete your course on time or if you have to undertake repeat study or an extension it is important that you contact us via our visa enquiry form to discuss your eligibility for the Graduate Route.

Studied while in the UK

You must have been in the UK with Student immigration permission whilst studying your course.

  • If your course is 12 months or less you must have been in the UK with Student immigration permission for the entire duration of your course
  • If your course is more than 12 months you must have been in the UK with Student immigration permission for at least 12 months.

If you do not meet the relevant UK residence requirement there are several concessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic which you may qualify under:

  • If you started a course of 12 months or less in 2020 or 2021 remotely overseas and have not yet come to the UK, in order to qualify for the Graduate Route, you will need to obtain a Student visa and enter the UK on or before 27 September 2021 or the date your visa expires whichever is the sooner. 
  • If you started a course of 12 months or less in 2020 or 2021 and you have existing Student permission for that course, which you have already used to travel to the UK, you will be able to apply under the GR as long as you return to the UK before the end date of your visa.
  • If your course is more than 12 months, please note that remote overseas study in the period 24 January 2020 to 6 April 2022 will be treated as if you were resident in the UK for the purpose of the GR residence requirement.
  • If you are going to start a course of 12 months of less in autumn 2021 or spring 2022 remotely overseas, in order to qualify for the Graduate Route you will need to obtain a Student visa and enter the UK on or before 6 April 2022.

Further guidance on this requirement and the concessions can be found on the UKCISA website under the section Study in the UK, including COVID-19 concessions. If you have a query about whether you meet the requirement and if you can rely on the concessions, please contact us via our visa enquiry form.

Valid Student or Tier 4 visa

As well as the UK residence requirement of being in the UK with valid Student permission, as described above, you must have a valid Student or Tier 4 visa at the time you apply under the Graduate Route. You cannot apply for the Graduate Route if you have any other type of visa, including if you return to the UK as a Standard Visitor after you have completed your course.

The only exception to this is if you previously held Student permission and you have since been granted Exceptional Assurance (EA) by the Home Office. You must however make the Graduate Route application before your Exceptional Assurance expires.

If you have previously been granted permission under the Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES) you are not permitted to apply under the Graduate Route. In addition, you cannot apply for the Graduate Route if you have already had permission under it.

You are not allowed to study on a Graduate Route visa unless you are taking English Language online or recreational courses.

Finance requirements

Unlike other immigration applications there is no finance (maintenance) requirement to meet as part of the Graduate Route application. Despite this we strongly advise you to make financial provision for your living costs during the two-year period including any periods when you may be unable to find paid employment.

Apply in the UK

It is only possible to apply for Graduate Route whilst you are physically present in the UK.

You must be in the UK at the time you make your Graduate Route application and remain in the UK throughout the entire time whilst the Home Office processes your application. It is not possible to apply for the Graduate Route from outside of the UK.

If you return home after completing your course you cannot make a Graduate Route application online whilst you are overseas and then travel to the UK. If you travel home after the end of your course you must return to the UK and make the Graduate Route application before your Student or Tier 4 visa expires.

Travel restrictions to the UK are currently in place due to COVID-19 and the UK government may alter the current rules depending on their handling of the pandemic. We are therefore advising against travelling home after completing your course and before applying under the Graduate Route in case you are unable to re-enter the country in time to apply for the visa.

Applications for the Graduate Route opened on 1 July 2021. 

How to apply: see the Home Office Graduate Route webpage.

Fees for the Graduate Route visa are £700 (£645 CESC nationals) and IHS payment of £1,248 (£1,872 PhD)

Before you make your application please read carefully the guidance below:

Dependants

If you have dependants (a spouse, civil or unmarried partner or children), they can only join you in the UK during your stay under the Graduate Route if they already have immigration permission as Student Dependants and they apply as your dependants at the same time you make your Graduate Route application.

It is not possible for your dependants to join you once you have permission under the Graduate Route if they did not already have Student dependant permission and applied at the same time as you for Graduate Route. The only exception to this is if you have a baby born in the UK during your last period of Student permission, in which case you can apply for Dependant permission for your baby after you already have permission under the Graduate Route.

If your dependants are currently overseas without immigration permission and you want them to join you in the UK during your time under the Graduate Route, they must apply for and obtain Student dependant permission leave before the end of your course and join you in the UK before you apply under the Graduate Route. If you have any queries about this contact us via our visa enquiry form.

While your Graduate Route application is being processed by the Home Office and you made the application while your Student visa was valid you may work full-time on a temporary basis. Once you have permission under the Graduate Route you can be employed or self-employed and work full-time on a permanent basis for any employer in any job at any skill level except as a professional sports person or coach.

If you want to work in the UK after your Graduate Route visa ends you should consider what jobs meet the Skilled Worker visa conditions so your application to extend your stay in the UK via that route can meet the conditions required. If the job you secure on your Graduate Route visa doesn't meet the conditions of the Skilled Worker visa it is unlikely that you will be permitted to stay in the UK when your Graduate Route visa expires.

If you do not qualify for the Graduate Route you may qualify for the Skilled Worker or Start-up routes.

Skilled Worker route

The Skilled Worker route is aimed at non-UK workers who successfully obtain a job with a UK-based employer which holds a Home Office Skilled Worker sponsor licence. The 'Health and Care' visa route is not covered in this guidance but details can be found on the UK government website.

In order to make a successful application under the Skilled Worker route you must meet the following requirements:

  • have a genuine offer for an eligible job from a company with a Skilled Worker licence
  • have Confirmation of Sponsorship (CoS) issued by that employer
  • meet the finance requirement of the application
  • have obtained as ATAS certificate if one is required for the job

If you do not qualify for the Skilled Worker route visa you may qualify for the Graduate or Start-up route instead.

Eligible jobs

The Home Office has listed the eligible jobs for the Skilled Worker route in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations on the UK government website. You will note that Table 2 separately lists the eligible jobs in the health and education sectors. You will see that eligible jobs are grouped into a wider occupation code, eg Higher education and teaching professionals (2311), which are listed in the first column and the jobs themselves are listed under related job titles, eg university lecturer, in the second column. The minimum skill level of the eligible jobs titles RQF4 (lower than the RQF6 required under the previous Tier 2 route).

Required salary

The absolute minimum required to qualify for the Skilled Worker route is £25,600 for 'experienced workers' and £20,480 for 'new entrants'. These salaries are called the 'base rate'. However, please note that the required salary is in most cases higher than the 'base rate' because each eligible job has a minimum salary called the 'going rate', which you must also meet. Therefore, in order to qualify for the Skilled Worker route, the salary of your job must be equal to or higher than, both the 'base' and 'going' rates.

It's important to determine if you are a 'new entrant' because this determines the minimum required base rate and going rate salaries you will need to earn. You will qualify as a new entrant if at the date of your Skilled Worker application you have:

  • current Student or Tier 4 immigration permission (or your most recent immigration permission was as a Student or Tier 4 and expired less than two years ago; and
  • current Student or Tier 4 immigration permission (or you previously had Student or Tier 4 permission) which was granted in order for you to study a UK Bachelor's degree, UK masters degree, UK PGCE or UK PhD; and
  • completed the course referred to above or you will complete it in no more than three months, or if studying a PhD you have completed at least 12 months of UK study towards it.

You will also be defined as a 'new entrant' if at the date of your Skilled Worker application you:

  • are aged under 26; or
  • have a job offer which is a postdoctoral position in specific job codes; or
  • have a job in which you will be working towards full registration/chartered status with the relevant professional body.

Returning to our example of the job as a university lecturer and Table 1 of eligible jobs, you can clearly see the relevance of qualifying as a 'new entrant'. If you do not qualify as a 'new entrant' and need to meet the requirements for 'experienced workers', although the 'base rate' is £25,600, the 'going rate' is £40,700 (option A/third column). Therefore, you would need a job offer with a salary of at least £40,700 to qualify for the Skilled Worker route. However, if you do qualify as a 'new entrant' the salary you will require to qualify is £28,940 (option E/6th column). In fact, you will note that the 'new entrant' salary 'going rate' (option E) is 70% of the 'going rate' for an 'experienced worker' (option A).

If you are a new entrant and the going rate for your job is below the new entrant base rate of £20,480, which from Table 1, we see is the case for eg Librarians (2451) at £15,260, please note that the salary you require is the base rate of £20,480 and not the going rate salary in the table. This is because the salary of your job must be equal to or higher than the base rate and the going rate for your job title in order for you to qualify under the Skilled Worker route.

There is a maximum period of four years in which you can be a new entrant under the Skilled Worker route. Importantly, this includes any time (two or three years) you may have spent under the Graduate Route. Therefore, if you apply to switch from the Graduate Route to Skilled Worker, you will only have two years available as a new entrant under the Skilled Worker. In order to obtain further permission under the Skilled Worker route after these two years, you will need to meet the higher experienced worker base and going rates.

Finance requirements

If you apply in the UK

If at the date of application, you have lived in the UK for 12 months or more with a valid visa, you will not need to meet the finance requirement i.e. show eg bank statements. If this has not been the case, your employer can certify on your CoS that it will cover your living costs in the UK in the first month of your employment.

If your employer certifies your maintenance, you will meet the finance requirement and you will not need to provide eg bank statements. If your sponsor does not do this, you will need to show that you have held at least £1,270 in your name for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of application.

If you apply outside the UK

Your employer can certify on your CoS that it will cover your living costs in the UK in the first month of employment. If your employer does this you will meet the finance requirement and you will not need to provide eg bank statements.

If your sponsor does not do this, you will need to show that you have held at least £1,270 in your name for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of application.

Further details

ATAS requirement:  Required for the job in specific occupation codes

Where can you apply: In the UK or overseas

Duration: Depends on length of contract

Conditions: Work restricted to sponsored job

Work is permitted but only in the job for which the CoS was issued, except for some 'supplementary' and 'voluntary' work.

Study is permitted, but as you will work, usually full-time, in the sponsored job, it is unlikely you will be able to study full-time.

How to apply: via the UK government website.

You can either apply in the UK to 'switch' from your Student or Tier 4 visa, which must be valid when you make the application, to the Skilled Worker route or you can apply in your country of residence overseas.

Fees:  vary depending on circumstances

The Skilled Worker application fees depend on where you make your application and the duration of your job. They are less if your job is on the 'shortage occupation' list and/or you are a CESC national.

The immigration health surcharge (IHS) is £624 per year of the job.

Dependants:  Permitted

If you have dependants (a spouse, civil or unmarried partner, children) and they already have Dependant immigration permission, they will be able to apply at the same time as you, when you apply to switch to the Skilled Worker route in the UK. Alternatively, if you make your Skilled Worker application outside of the UK they can apply at the same time as you or if you obtain Skilled Worker permission first they can apply to join you in the UK at a later date.

If you are applying in the UK with your dependant(s) and at the date of application your dependant(s) has lived in the UK for 12 months or more with a valid visa, your dependant(s) will not need to meet the finance requirement i.e. show eg bank statements. If this has not been the case, or your dependant(s) is applying outside of the UK, they will need to meet the finance requirement of having sufficient funds described on the UK government website.

If you do not qualify for the Skilled Worker route, you may qualify for the Graduate or Start-up routes.

Start-up route

The Start-up route is aimed at international graduates who wish to set up and establish their own business in the UK. In order to apply successfully you will need to have an original and genuine business plan which is endorsed by the university through advice and assessment from the Beepurple team in the Careers Service. There is a very limited number of endorsements available each year. If you believe that you have a business plan which you would like to develop in the UK after your course please contact Beepurple for further advice.

In order to make a successful Start-up visa application you must meet the following requirements:

  • have an endorsement from the university to confirm that your business plan meets the Home Office requirements for the Start-up route
  • have successfully completed your course (a university requirement)
  • if applying in the UK after your course have a valid Student or Tier 4 visa
  • meet the finance requirements of the application.

Finance requirements

If you apply in the UK

If at the date of application you have lived in the UK for 12 months or more with a valid visa, you will not need to meet the finance requirement and show bank statements confirming proof of available funds.

If this is not the case you will need to show bank statements or proof that you have held at least £1,270 in your name for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of your application.

Dependants

If you are applying in the UK with dependants (a spouse, civil or unmarried partner or children) and at the date of your application your dependants have lived in the UK for 12 months or more with a valid visa your dependants will not need to separately meet the finance requirement. If this is not the case they will need to meet the finance requirement of having sufficient funds details of which can be found on the government website.

If you apply outside of the UK

In order to meet the finance requirements of the visa you will need to show bank statements or proof that you have held at least £1,270 in your name for at least 28 consecutive days before the date of your application.

Dependants

If you are applying from outside the UK with dependants (a spouse, civil or unmarried partner or children) they will need to meet the finance requirement of having sufficient funds details of which can be found on the government website.

Developing your business plan

You are required to spend the majority of your working time on developing your business. In addition, you will need to contact the university after 6 and 12 months so your progress in advancing your business can be assessed.

You can also undertake another job, except as a professional sportsperson/coach. Study is permitted but should not interfere with developing your business.

How to apply

You can apply in the UK to switch from your Student or Tier 4 visa, which must be valid when you make the application. Alternatively, you can apply from overseas in your country of residence.

Fees

  • Outside the UK the application fee is £363 (£308 for CESC nationals) 
  • Inside the UK the application fee is £493 (£438 for CESC nationals)
  • The International Health Surcharge (IHS) is £1,248.

Dependants

If you have dependants (a spouse, civil or unmarried partner, children) and they already have Dependant immigration permission they will be able to apply at the same time as you make your application to switch to the Start-up route in the UK.

If you make your Start-up application outside of the UK they can apply at the same time as you or if you obtain your Start-up visa first they can apply to join you in the UK at a later date.

Check the finance requirements tab to see whether your dependants need to show proof of sufficient funds.

How to apply and more information can be found on the UK government website.

Other options

If none of the options above are suitable for you there are a small number of other options for working in the UK after completing your course which you can find on the UKCISA website.

Notes on guidance

This guidance is solely intended for students and graduates of the University of Brighton. It aims to provide an overarching picture of the options available to you for working in the UK after completing your course. It is not intended as full and complete advice and guidance on an immigration application.

In order to make a successful application under the Graduate, Skilled Work or Start-up routes, you will need to read and fully understand this guidance, the relevant section of the UKCISA guidance and the Home Office Casework Guidance for the route you are applying under. If after reading these documents you have a question about making an immigration application under these routes, please contact us using our visa enquiry form.

Please note that in certain circumstances it may be necessary for us to refer you to a firm of immigration solicitors for further advice on your application. We only refer students to sector-leading solicitors, who specialise in immigration law. Please do not approach other firms without checking their credentials as many firms are not reputable. The solicitors will offer you an initial consultation for a reasonable fee to discuss your case after which they will advise you of your options, including their fee for handing your case, if you instruct them to do so.