Volunteering Guidance for International Students
If you are an EU or International student, there are restrictions to the types of volunteering that your Visa will allow you to do while you are in the UK.
Volunteering (the act of working for free), is defined in 2 different ways, each of which have different conditions according to the type of Visa you have. These are:
Volunteering
‘Volunteering’ is defined as an unpaid role that has no contractual obligations for time commitment e.g. your role does not have fixed days or working hours and your volunteering hours and days are mutually agreed according to your own schedule and requirements.
Students who are ‘volunteering’ are not allowed to be paid (including expected gifts e.g. gift cards), although can be paid out of pocket expenses e.g. travel costs
‘Volunteering’ has no hour’s restrictions. You can do as many hours of ‘volunteering’ as you like per week, although the Volunteer Centre recommends a student in full time study to limit their number of volunteering hours to 15 hours per week as a guide.
Voluntary Work
‘Voluntary work’ is defined as an unpaid role that does have defined and contracted time commitments e.g. your role has specified days and/or working hours.
For example, if you are contractually obliged to do 7 hours of work per week, every Wednesday.
‘Voluntary work’ usually differs from ‘volunteering’ because the employer is contractually required to provide the work although the work must not be a replacement for a previously paid role. ‘Voluntary work’ contracts to do not need to be written.
You are only allowed to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and any paid work up to the maximum number of hours as permitted by your Visa and study level. Your ‘voluntary work’ and paid work combine to this maximum number of working hours.
For example, if your Visa permits you a maximum number of 20 working hours per week, you could take part in a combination of five hours of ‘voluntary work’ and fifteen hours paid work, equalling a total of twenty hours.
Students who are doing ‘voluntary work’ are not allowed to be paid (including expected gifts e.g. gift cards), although can be paid out of pocket expenses e.g. travel costs
Your Visa Volunteering Conditions
Your Visa will have the following conditions to volunteer:
Tier 4 Visa
Students will hold a Tier 4 Visa if they are from a country outside of the UK and the EU and settled, or started their studies before 31st December 2020 and applied for their visa before 5th October 2020.
During term time:
- You are eligible to take part in any ‘volunteering’ activities without any hour’s restrictions.
- You are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and/or paid work up to a combined 20 hours per week.
Outside of term time:
- If you are an undergraduate student, you are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ full time.
- If you are a Postgraduate Taught (masters) student you are limited to 20 hours of combined ‘voluntary work’ and paid work per week while you are writing your dissertation
- If you are a Postgraduate Research student, you are limited to 20 hours of combined ‘voluntary work’ and paid work per week.
Student Visitor Visa
- If you hold the old ‘Student Visitor’ Visa you are not allowed to take part in ongoing ‘volunteering’ activities or ‘voluntary work’. However, you can get involved in one-off ‘volunteering’ activities e.g. a 1 day event.
The new ‘Student Visa’
Students will hold the new Student Visa if they are from a country outside of the UK, including EU students and settled, or started their studies after 31st December 2020 and applied for their Visa after 5th October 2020.
During Term Time:
- You are eligible to take part in any ‘volunteering’ activities without any hour’s restrictions.
- You are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and/or paid work up to a combined 20 hours per week.
Outside of term time:
- You are eligible to take part in any ‘volunteering’ activities without any hour’s restrictions.
- You are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and/or paid work without any hour’s restrictions, including the time before your course starts.
All further information in regards to the new ‘Student Visa’ can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route
How do I know if a role is ‘volunteering’ or ‘voluntary work’?
Identifying a role as ‘volunteering’ or ‘voluntary work’ can be difficult, but a few quick checks will help you to feel confident which role is which:
1. Look at the role description – A ‘volunteering’ role will often state that the role has flexible working hours, even if it states a minimum number of required hours. A ‘voluntary work’ role however will often state the difinitive number of required hours per week, or state specific days and times that you are required to volunteer. This inflexibility in hours will hint that the role is ‘voluntary work’.
2. Ask the organisation – If you are really unsure if a role is ‘volunteering’ or ‘voluntary work’, ask the organisation who is running the role. You will be able to have a conversation about the hour’s requirement and negotiate dates and times that work for you. If the hours and dates are inflexible, the role will be a ‘voluntary work’ role.
3. Ask the Volunteer Centre – If you identify a role you are interested in, ask a member of the Volunteer Centre team to review it for you. We will be able to help identify if it is either ‘volunteering’ or ‘voluntary work’.
Applying for a role through the Volunteer Centre
The organisations that the Volunteer Centre partner with understand that students require flexibility to fit around their studies.
The majority of the roles we advertise through the Volunteer Centre are considered ‘volunteering’ roles although it is always important that you clarify and double check if the role you are applying for is either ‘volunteering’ or ‘voluntary work’, to ensure you are fully complying with the conditions of your Visa.
If you have any further questions regarding visa restrictions to volunteering, please contact us on volunteering@angliastudent.com