Most guides to UK student visa work rules stop at the 20-hour limit. That's the easy part. The harder, more consequential question — and the one that actually determines whether your time in the UK becomes a long-term career rather than a two-year bridge — is what happens after your degree, and what the points-based immigration system now actually requires to get there. Here's the full chain: part-time work rules, the Graduate Route, Skilled Worker sponsorship, and genuine settlement.
While you're studying, the framework is straightforward: up to 20 hours a week in term time for degree-level courses (10 hours below degree level), full-time during official vacations, with self-employment, professional sport, and full-time permanent roles off-limits regardless of hours. None of this affects your later visa options directly — but it's worth getting right, since a recorded breach can count against the "good character" requirement much further down the line, at the point you're applying for something as significant as settlement.
Once you complete your degree, the Graduate Route lets you stay and work with no job offer, no minimum salary, and no employer sponsorship required — a real contrast to everything that follows it. The timing here matters more than usual right now: applications submitted on or before 31 December 2026 receive the full 2 years (3 years for PhD graduates); applications from 1 January 2027 onward receive 18 months for the same degree levels.
The Graduate Route is genuinely useful, but it's worth being clear-eyed about what it is: a temporary, unsponsored window to find and start a role that can carry you into a sponsored route — not a settlement pathway itself. Time spent on it doesn't count toward the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
This is where the picture has genuinely tightened, and it directly affects what "good use of your Graduate Route window" looks like in 2026:
The practical implication: if long-term UK settlement is genuinely your goal, the subject you study and the career track you build toward during your Graduate Route window need to plausibly clear both the skill-level and salary bar within that 2-year (or 18-month) window — this is worth factoring into your course choice well before you ever reach the Graduate Route stage.
If you secure Skilled Worker sponsorship, Indefinite Leave to Remain becomes possible after 5 years of continuous residence on the route (or a qualifying predecessor like Tier 2 General) — but the requirements at that point are reassessed, not locked in from when you started:
The part worth knowing now: time spent on the Student or Graduate Route does not count toward this 5-year Skilled Worker qualifying period — only time actually spent on Skilled Worker (or a qualifying predecessor) counts. It can, however, count toward a separate, longer 10-year continuous residence route to settlement, which is a genuinely different and slower path.
A November 2025 government white paper proposed a significant "Earned Settlement" overhaul, and it's worth knowing about even though it isn't in force:
The consultation on these changes closed in February 2026 with a very high volume of responses, and government statements as of mid-2026 suggested a finalised policy announcement was expected in autumn 2026, though the effective date for any changes remained unset at that point. None of this is current law — but if you're several years into a Skilled Worker sponsorship and planning your settlement timeline, it's a live risk worth tracking rather than assuming the current 5-year rule will still apply by the time you reach it.
Compliant part-time work during your studies, a well-used Graduate Route window, and a genuinely sponsorable career track aren't three separate decisions — they're one continuous plan. If settlement is the real goal, the choice that matters most happens earliest: picking a subject and career direction with a realistic path to an RQF Level 6, £41,700+ role within your post-study work window, well before you ever reach the point of needing Skilled Worker sponsorship.
Does time on a Graduate visa count toward settlement (ILR)? No — only time spent on the Skilled Worker route (or a qualifying predecessor like Tier 2 General) counts toward the standard 5-year ILR qualifying period. Graduate Route time can count toward the separate, longer 10-year long residence route instead.
What salary do I need for a Skilled Worker visa in 2026? The general threshold is £41,700 a year, or the going rate for your specific occupation code, whichever is higher. This applies at entry, at extension, and is reassessed again at the point of your ILR application — not fixed at whatever rate applied when you were first sponsored.
Has the Skilled Worker visa gotten harder to qualify for recently? Yes, in two significant ways: the minimum skill level rose from RQF Level 3 to RQF Level 6 (graduate level) in July 2025, and the English requirement for new applications rose to CEFR B2 in January 2026. Both changes narrow the range of roles that now qualify for sponsorship compared to previous years.
Will the qualifying period for settlement change from 5 years to something longer? It's been proposed, not yet enacted. A November 2025 white paper suggested extending the Skilled Worker settlement qualifying period to 10 years for roles at RQF Level 6 or below, with a faster track for high earners. The consultation closed in February 2026; as of mid-2026, no confirmed start date had been set, so the current 5-year rule remains in force for now.