Eligibility

This page explains the requirements you must meet if you want to come to the United Kingdom to work during your gap year.

To come to the United Kingdom in this category you must:

• be between 17 and 19 years old;
• have completed secondary education (usually school) less than 12 months ago;
• have an unconditional offer of a place on a university degree course in a country outside the United Kingdom and this course will start after you leave the United Kingdom following your gap year;
• have a written offer of employment in a school in the United Kingdom to work for three consecutive school terms as a teacher or teaching assistant;
• intend to take this job and not intend to take any other employment;
• have enough money to pay for your return to your home country or onward journey from the United Kingdom;
• be able to support yourself in the United Kingdom without seeking help from public funds; and
• intend to leave the United Kingdom at the end of your stay and to take up your place at university in another country.

Schools that employ gap year workers may use different job titles for the work they offer but the work must include direct involvement in the teaching process in the classroom. Some administrative work associated with teaching is also allowed.

You cannot apply to switch into the gap year category if you are already in the United Kingdom under a different category of visa. You will need to return to your home country and make your application from there. See Visa applications for more information about applying.

Citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) are not included in this scheme but can live and work in the United Kingdom under the rules that apply to EEA citizens. See European citizens for more information.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the European Union (EU) but citizens of these countries have the same rights to enter, live in and work in the United Kingdom as EU citizens.Public funds are income-related benefits paid by the state. They include income support, income-based job seekers allowance, housing and homelessness assistance, housing and council tax benefit, working families' tax credit, a social fund payment, child benefit and any disability allowance. Benefits paid as a result of contributions, such as the state pension, are not considered to be public funds. Social housing is not considered to be a public fund either. Claiming public funds when you are not eligible is known as benefit fraud and it is a criminal offence.