Part Time Work
Many students work alongside their studies, to boost their income and to gain work experience and skills. As most maintenance loans no longer cover living costs at university working part-time may be essential for covering your costs whilst studying.
The University strongly advises that students in general work no more than 15 hours per week (undergraduate) and 6 hours per week (postgraduate – full time), as extra work may adversely affect their studies. If you are an International Student on a Student/Tier 4 visa you can only work up to 20 hours per week in term time.
The University Career Zone has information on casual jobs here and provide a jobs board called Handshake that advertises roles suitable for students. Handshake is also where you will find any casual work opportunities with the Guild or University.
Save the Student provide some advice as well as a database of part-time student jobs. Other commercially-run job sites such as Indeed may also be useful sources of information in finding potential jobs to supplement your income.
If you are an international student, your visa may include conditions relating to your right to work. The University provides information on this here, the UK Council for International Student Affairs also provides advice on this page. If you need to clarify anything about your eligibility to work in the UK, we would encourage you to contact the International Student Support team here.
Income tax
If you are working alongside your studies, you will be required to pay income tax if your earnings exceed the employee personal allowance. In 2022/23 this allowance is £12,570 for the year, which runs from 6th April 2022 to 5th April 2023. In practice, tax is usually administered over the period in which you are paid. So, if you are paid monthly and earn over £1,048 then you may be taxed. You will also be required to pay National Insurance if you earn over £123 per week.
If you earn over the tax thresholds but then leave a job early or your income drops, you may be able to claim back any tax overpayments based on your total earnings across the financial year. See the Government webpage here for more information.