Work Placements

This information is aimed at those with a Student visa for Southampton who are considering taking a work placement. We will explain:

• What is a work placement?
• What to consider before your placement
• How to prepare for starting your placement
• Your responsibilities during your placement
• What to expect after your placement

 What is a work placement?

A work placement must be an integral, assessed part of your course. Integral means the placement is part of your course. This is different from employment in a job separate from your course.

An internship or other employment which is not part of your course must comply with limits on the number of working hours during term-time and must not affect your ability to meet academic engagement expectations. Any work you do must also comply with restrictions on certain types of work. You can find more information about work you can and can’t do on our Student visa conditions page.

If you are studying a course at degree level or above with a Student visa for Southampton, you can spend up to half your course length on work placement. Degree level or above means a course leading to a qualification of RQF 6 or higher, for example a Bachelors, Masters or PhD. You can spend more than half your course length on work placement if there is a statutory requirement, which means by law a certain amount of work placement is required to earn the qualification.

Your employer can pay you for your work placement. Your employer can be outside the UK. Your placement can be full time, even during term time, and you can do it at the same time as other employment which is separate from your course. Although you can work full time at your work placement, any additional employment that is not your work placement is subject to working hour restrictions during term time.

 Before your placement

Check whether the CAS used to apply for your Student visa included work placement, for example in the programme title or Work Placements field. If so, your visa conditions already allow you to start your placement without further action. 

If not, you will need to take the action described below.

Postgraduate research students

Some doctoral training programmes may include a period of integral, assessed placement. Please contact us if you are considering undertaking a work placement so we can check whether your programme includes work placement and, if not, advise on other options available within your Student visa conditions.

Undergraduate and postgraduate taught students: Adding a placement to your course

If your CAS did not include work placement, you must request to change programme or follow the Year in Employment process if you are studying an eligible programme. You cannot begin your work placement until you are enrolled on a course which includes an integral, assessed placement.

As part of the programme change request process, an adviser from the VISAS team will check the conditions of your current visa and advise you about your visa options to add a placement to your course. The VISAS team check visa conditions only once your academic eligibility to change to the new programme has been assessed. The Immigration Rules are subject to change. Our advice will be based on the published rules and guidance at the time we assess your request to change programme.

If you needed an ATAS certificate to apply for your current Student visa, next steps to add a placement include applying for a new ATAS certificate.  The course title on your ATAS application must be the title of your new course with placement.

Things to consider before changing to a programme with placement:

• You may need to apply for a new Student visa. Whether you are adding a placement to your existing course or changing to a completely different course with placement can affect whether you are allowed to start the new course before being granted a new visa for that course.
• If you need to apply for a new visa, this will involve additional cost: Student visa application fees and Immigration Health Surcharge. Adding a year-long work placement will usually mean you need to extend your Student visa to complete your course. Your circumstances will affect when and where you can apply to extend your visa. 
• The maximum period of study at degree level with Student visa permission is currently five years. Degree level means an undergraduate course leading to qualification at RQF 6, for example a Bachelor’s degree. This may affect you if you repeat part of your studies or previously studied at degree level with a Student visa.

Please note : The information contained in this website is correct at the time of publication. The University of Southampton is not responsible for the content of any external websites.