If part-time work is part of your budget plan for studying abroad, the question of how many hours you're actually allowed to work has a real, specific, government-published answer in both the UK and Ireland -- not a vague "check with your school" non-answer. This isn't personalized immigration advice; it's what each government's own published policy states, in its own words. For anything specific to your own situation, your university's international student office or a licensed immigration adviser is the right next step -- this is the starting-point policy, not a substitute for that.
The UK: 20 hours a week during term, unlimited outside it
Per the UK government's own Immigration Rules (Appendix Student), a Student visa holder at a higher education provider studying at degree level or above is permitted to work 20 hours per week during term-time, with full-time employment permitted outside of term-time. Students on a below-degree-level course at a further education college face a lower limit -- 10 hours per week during term-time -- with the same unrestricted outside-term-time allowance.
The Rules also set real boundaries on what kind of work is allowed regardless of hours: a Student visa holder generally cannot be self-employed or engage in business activity, cannot work as a professional sportsperson or entertainer, and cannot fill a permanent full-time vacancy (with narrow exceptions for students simultaneously applying to transition into the Skilled Worker or Graduate routes). The 20-hour figure is a cap during term, not a guarantee of hours -- actual availability of part-time work depends on the usual factors of any job market. What that Graduate-route transition actually looks like -- how long it lasts, what it costs, and how it compares to Ireland's own post-study permission -- is covered in full in our piece on the UK Graduate visa vs. Ireland's Stamp 1G.
Ireland: 20 hours during term, 40 during specific vacation windows
Ireland's system, for non-EEA students on Stamp 2 permission, works on a similar term-time cap with a real, dated exception structure. Per Ireland's Immigration Service Delivery, Stamp 2 students may work 20 hours per week during term-time -- the same headline figure as the UK -- but the vacation allowance is more specifically defined: 40 hours per week during June, July, August, and September, and again between 15 December and 15 January. Working more than 20 hours during term-time, per the same guidance, is a breach of the conditions attached to the student's immigration permission.
The practical difference from the UK: Ireland's "outside term" full-time allowance isn't a blanket "any time you're not in class" rule -- it's tied to those two specific calendar windows, which is worth checking against your own university's actual term dates (see how UK and Irish term dates compare to a US college calendar) rather than assumed to cover every gap in your schedule.
What this means for you
- Use the 20-hour figure as your term-time planning number in both countries -- it's the headline limit in both the UK and Ireland, confirmed directly on each government's own immigration pages.
- Don't assume "outside term" means unrestricted in Ireland the way it does in the UK -- Ireland's 40-hour vacation allowance applies specifically to June–September and 15 December–15 January, not to every week your university isn't formally in session.
- Check the specific course-level distinction in the UK -- a below-degree-level course at a further education college caps out at 10 hours during term, half the university-level limit, so confirm which category your specific programme falls into.
- Treat self-employment and business activity as off-limits under a UK Student visa -- the Rules state this plainly, with only narrow, specific exceptions that don't apply to most students.
- Talk to your university's international student office for anything specific to your situation -- this article covers the government's own published general policy, not a review of your individual circumstances, and real regulatory stakes mean a specific question deserves a specific, qualified answer.