your student visa

Page last updated:
28 Jul 2023

If you're an international student studying at Leeds Beckett who joined in 2021 or later, chances are you have a 'Student Route Visa.'

On this page you'll find information on visas, immigration and working in the UK. This page is regularly updated, but for the most accurate information, see the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.

What are the conditions of my Student Route visa?

If you’re arriving in Leeds for the start of your course, it’s important to attend International Check-in. Please contact us at siac@leedsbeckett.ac.uk to organise this.

The Home Office have set out a range of requirements that affect all international students who need to obtain immigration permission to come to the UK and those educational institutions wishing to enrol them. This also includes students from European countries.

The Student Route (previously Tier 4) is the specific category which applies to those who want to enter the UK as students. It is divided into:

  • Child Student Route, for those aged 4-17 years
  • Student Route, for those aged 16 or over, who want to study in the UK.

16 and 17-year olds can be eligible under either category. (Source: UKCISA An overview of the student immigration rules).

During your studies, you and Leeds Beckett staff have immigration compliance responsibilities, including attendance / engagement reporting and record-keeping duties.

By enrolling and engaging with Leeds Beckett University, and by informing us of any change in your circumstances, you undertake to comply with your responsibilities.

Your Entry Clearance visa has been granted subject to the conditions stated in Immigration Rules (part 1: leave to enter or stay in the UK). Entry clearance is given by the Home Office and you must not break the terms and conditions of your visa.

Can I work during my studies?

Whilst on a Student route / Tier 4 visa you are only able to work full-time when on vacation and not required to study or when you have completed study. This means during term time, when you are required to study, you should not work full-time.

You can only work unlimited weekly hours after your final submission deadline until the end of your Tier 4 or Student permission to stay in the UK. If your results are released in the meantime, and you are deemed to have a reassessment(s), you should immediately revert to term time hours.

For most undergraduate students, term time and holiday are defined by the academic calendar. These dates are usually based around the academic year with holidays at Christmas, Easter and in the summer.

If you start working more than 20 hours a week before you are permitted to do so, you would be breaking the terms and conditions of your visa.

Where courses do not follow the usual August / September to June pattern, term time means any period when you are supposed to be doing academic work. For example, this is the time when you should be:

  • Attending classes and lectures
  • Preparing for exams
  • Doing coursework
  • Writing essays, a dissertation
  • Taking resits / repeats
  • Waiting for results

Most, but not all, students on a Student Route visa can work. For more information, see UKCISA’s guidance on working with a student visa.

It is a violation of your conditions of stay if you work when you are not permitted to do so.

Employers have a legal obligation to check your term dates before you can start work. You must provide your employer with a printout from your institution's website showing the term and vacation dates for your course.

Study Abroad

If you have a visa query relating to a study abroad (semester or single year) opportunity, please get in touch with the Study Abroad Office on studyabroad@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Renewing your visa

If you have any questions about visas or need help renewing your visa, please contact us for assistance on siac@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.

Information given here is intended as a guide for international students and is given in good faith. Care has been taken in compiling the information, however, the university accepts no legal responsibility for its accuracy.

Our advice is available free of charge and follows the Rules and Code of Standards of the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) and the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA).

Designated officer authorised to provide immigration advice and services by an order made under section 84 (4) (d) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and regulated by the Immigration Services Commissioner.

OISC Logo

Contact student immigration advice and compliance

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