Part Time Student Employment

The Student Employment Service is part of the Careers & Enterprise Centre at Durham University. We work with local employers to help promote suitable paid opportunities to our students. Any questions or wish to advertise a vacancy, please contact us - [email protected]

Why use the Student Employment Service?

• There is no cost for local employers to advertise vacancies with the Student Employment Service
• The service is quick and simple to use making it easy to recruit as the need arises
• Vacancies are promoted to all students and recent graduates through our dedicated online portal and weekly email bulletins
• Through advertising your vacancies with the Student Employment Service you are also raising your organisation's profile amongst our students
• Our Student Employment Coordinator is on hand to offer advice where appropriate, including; rates of pay, information on employing international students and employment legislation for job adverts
• The Student Employment Service is a professional service that follows nationally recognised Codes of Practice
• Get involved in events hosted by the Careers & Enterprise Centre, such as Fairs, employer-led presentations and skills sessions

Maximum Working Hours Policy

At Durham University, we have a policy regarding the maximum number of hours we recommend students work during term time. Therefore, we are unable to promote any vacancies that would require students to work more than the recommended amount. 

For full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students, we recommend no more than 15 hours per week.

There are no restrictions from the University on the number of hours that students can work during vacation periods so we are happy to advertise any such vacancies. Please click here for our term dates.

Please bear in mind that International Students may have further restrictions on the number of hours they can work whilst studying. Further information can be found on the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.

A student visa issued for full-time degree-level studies usually allows a student to work for a maximum of 20 hours per week during term-time. This is a maximum of 20 hours in total in any one week, including paid or unpaid work and for one or more organisation. The 20 hours cannot be averaged over a longer period. A 'week' is defined by the Home Office as a period of 7 days beginning with a Monday and ending on a Sunday. This also includes both paid and unpaid work.

If a student works irregular hours and/or have more than one employer they will need to retain records of how many hours they work on any given day, to ensure that they, and you, do not breach the Visa working conditions.

Suitable Vacancies

The Student Employment Service has worked with a variety of local employers to help recruit students for a wide range of positions. Here are some examples of work undertaken by our students:

• Events Staff
• Bar/Catering Staff
• Sales Consultants/Retail Assistants
• Telesales
• Call Centre
• Administration
• Data entry
• Marketing
• Fundraising
• Brand Ambassadors/Promotional work
• Sports/Dance/Drama coaching
• Web design/Social Media management
• Receptionists
• Translation work

As long as it is a legitimate opportunity that meets our employer guidelines, code of practice and terms and conditions then we are happy to advertise it to our students.

All vacancies must be paid at least National Minimum Wage.

Unsuitable Vacancies

At present, we do not advertise the following types of jobs to our students:

• Self-employed positions
• Freelance positions
• Working in a private home (eg careworker, nanny, tutor etc.)
• Unpaid work (unless a genuine volunteering opportunity from a registered charity or a short term work shadowing opportunity)

For further information, please see our Vacancy Advertising Policy and Terms of Conditions.