Volunteering Guidance for International Students
Volunteering alongside your studies allows you to make a positive impact in your community whilst connecting with others and building your skills. If you are an International Student, there are some restrictions to the types of volunteering that your Visa will allow you to do while you are in the UK. If you are an international student, it is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the conditions of your visa at all times, including any restrictions on working in the UK.
Volunteering (the act of spending unpaid time doing something to benefit others), 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.
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.
- 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
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 restrictions.
- You are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and/or paid work for up to 20 hours per week.
Outside of term time:
- You are eligible to take part in any ‘volunteering’ activities without any restrictions.
- You are eligible to take part in ‘voluntary work’ and/or paid work without any restrictions.
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.
Please note this is just a guide. If you’d like further information about your working restrictions, please contact international@aru.ac.uk or book an appointment with our volunteering team by clicking here.