Voluntary Work: Overseas Students
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people currently residing in the UK on a Student visa that are studying part-time are permitted to undertake unpaid volunteering roles within the NHS, including training as a volunteer paramedic; whether volunteering is distinguished from voluntary work for the purposes of visa conditions; and whether she has issued guidance on these matters.
Answered by Mike Tapp
All students may volunteer, provided they are still able to prioritise their studies.
Voluntary work involves working under a contract, unlike volunteering where you give your time freely. Only students with permission to work can do voluntary work. Students on a part-time course are not permitted to work, and so cannot do voluntary work.
This is set out in the Student and Child Student caseworker guidance, which is published on Gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route.
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