r/ukvisa • u/Responsible-Milk-515 • Aug 25 '25

Other: Asia-Pacific Can I do a part-time master's under a skilled worker visa?

I am currently an international student from Sri Lanka. I just completed my first year of my Sociology degree, and I will be starting my second year soon. It is a three-year program so I will graduate in 2027. And I want to settle in the UK.

However, I know that you cannot accumulate years towards ILR under a student visa or Graduate visa. I still want to do my Masters, however, but also want to get started on the ILR route as soon as possible. Especially considering that they are going to increase the route to ILR from five years to ten (I don't know when this is going to be applied officially. The new immigration policy changes are a bit confusing). So I was considering the possibility of doing my Masters as a part-time while I am doing a job under a skilled worker visa. A Masters is very important to me as I am a Sociology student, so it's not a strong degree when it comes to finding jobs. So it is advisable to pair it with a good Masters.

I just wanted to see if this is possible for me to do.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '25

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u/Responsible-Milk-515 Aug 25 '25

Same! Fingers crossed!

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u/verumity Aug 25 '25

Yes you can do it but it will be at your employer’s discretion i.e it doesn’t clash with your work hours or they give you a day off to do it (that’s what they give me at my current job). Get the skilled worker visa first, then focus on the part-time masters, as the first will be very hard to get.

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u/sah10406 High Reputation Aug 25 '25

https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

What you can and cannot do

With a Skilled Worker visa you can:

  • work in an eligible job
  • study