There may be an opportunity for you to apply for a work placement as part of your studies. In many cases, this will be possible, but for non-EU/EEA/Swiss students there are restrictions on working in the UK.

You will need to check with your faculty to see if you are able to undertake a work placement as part of your course.

Key Facts

Tier 4 students may be permitted to undertake a work placement as part of their degree programme providing:

• It is an assessed and integral part of the course 

• It is not more than 50% of the length of your programme (unless there is a UK statutory requirement for the placement to exceed this limit )

• You will remain enrolled as a student at the University.

If the work placement meets these conditions, you are permitted to work full time using your Tier 4 visa, as long as you are successful in gaining a work placement. If the work placement does not meet those conditions, you will not be able to undergo the placement as part of your course.

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.

De Montfort University will advise the Home Office/UKVI about the placement and your visa will remain valid (this may not be the case if your placement is overseas). You must continue to abide by the conditions of your Tier 4 visa.

Work placements outside of the UK

If your work placement is based outside of the UK you will need to seek immigration permission from the country where you will work, unless it is your home country. If your placement is an assessed and integral part of your degree programme, your Tier 4 visa may remain valid but this depends on whether the University will continue to sponsor you for this placement.

The advantage to this would be that your visa remains in place without a new application but the time outside the UK would count towards your total study time. You should seek advice from DMU on whether they will continue to sponsor you in this situation and consider whether you would want this to continue. 

Extending your Tier 4 visa due to a work placement 

If you remain registered on the course for which your current Tier 4 visa was granted and need additional time to undertake a work placement, you may be able to apply for a new Tier 4 visa in the UK.  You will need to provide all of the same documentation as you previously did for an extension to your current Tier 4 visa. This includes a new CAS from the University, as well as meeting the necessary financial requirements.

Further Help 

DSU Advice will be able to assist you with help and advice as to a possible Tier 4 visa extension in the UK when you have secured a work placement.  

UKCISA also have some useful information on this on their page.