working & staying after study
The UK's post-study route is open and needs no sponsor — but it shrinks in January 2027, and what comes after it is harder than most people expect.
The Graduate Route is genuinely good, and unusually simple: no sponsor, no job offer, no minimum salary. You can work, be self-employed, or job-hunt. You apply from inside the UK once your university confirms you have completed.
Current length: 2 years for bachelor's and master's; 3 years for PhD
Conditions: no sponsor, no job offer, no salary threshold — work, self-employment or job-search
For applications on or after 1 January 2027 the Graduate Route drops to 18 months for bachelor's and master's graduates. PhD remains 3 years. Apply by 31 December 2026 and you still get 2 years.
This is the most decision-relevant date on the whole UK guide. If post-study work time is a material reason you are choosing the UK, aim to apply for the Graduate Route by 31 December 2026 — which in practice means targeting a 2026 intake rather than 2027.
Here is where the UK differs sharply from Australia and Canada, and where a lot of Nepali applicants are surprised.
The UK has no points-based study-to-settlement pathway. Studying here does not, by itself, put you on a route to staying permanently.
To stay beyond the Graduate Route you must switch to the Skilled Worker visa, which needs an eligible sponsored job at or above the salary and skills thresholds. Both were raised across 2025–26, and the general salary threshold is now substantially higher than it was.
Skilled Worker English requirement: B2, required from 8 January 2026
Settlement (ILR): typically follows years of qualifying leave, and the rules are themselves being tightened
An honest read, because the Graduate Route only helps if you convert it into sponsored work before it expires.
Strongest demand: health, IT, engineering, finance and shortage occupations
The structural squeeze: a shorter Graduate Route from 2027 plus higher Skilled Worker thresholds make the study → work → settlement chain harder than before
The practical implication is about sequencing. With 18 months rather than 24 from 2027, the job search effectively starts during your degree, not after it. Students who treat the Graduate Route as a runway to begin searching tend to run out of it.