Regulations

The purpose of a National Insurance number is to ensure your contributions to National Insurance and tax are solely recorded against your own name.

In order to have a job in the UK, most companies will require you to give a National Insurance number to prove you are legally eligible to work. You are technically able to work without a number, if you are waiting for it to arrive, as long as you are able to prove you are legally allowed to work in the UK.

As a UK resident, just before your 16th birthday, you should automatically receive a National Insurance number. The reason you will receive your National Insurance number before your 16th birthday is because this is the legal age you are able to work with a company and pay National Insurance. Note - if you earn less than £162 a week, you are not required to pay.

If you already have a National Insurance number and are unsure where to find it, check the following:

Moving to the UK? If you have a biometric residence permit (BRP), you may not need to apply for a National Insurance number since they are sometimes already provided. If you do not have your National Insurance number, you can apply for it once you are in the UK. To be eligible for the number, you must have gained the right to work (or study) in the UK.

To travel in to the UK, you may firstly need to obtain a visa. This is different from a work permit and gives you permission to travel to the UK. If you are a citizen of a European Economic Area (EEA) country, you are not required to obtain a visa to enter the UK and can therefore enter without one.

In conjunction with this residents from the EEA, or Switzerland, are eligible to work in the UK without having a work permit. If you are from a country not included in the EEA or Switzerland you will need to apply under the points-based system and you must have a job offer from a licensed sponsor. To add to this, the majority of permits are given to those with specialist skills or qualifications, with your employer needing to specifically apply for your work permit.

Although as an EEA citizen, you are legally able to work the UK, there are certain countries from which citizens are required to register under the Worker Registration Scheme. This applies to those who are interested in working for more than one month from:

If you are a member of the EEA, or Switzerland, you do not require a visa to work in the UK. You are eligible to work and study without obtaining extra paperwork.

Alternatively, if you are a non-EEA national who studies full-time in the UK, for more than 6 months, you are allowed to work part-time during the term and full-time during your holidays.

In order to study in the UK as a non-EU/EEA/Swiss national, students are required to obtain permission before studying in the UK.

If you are a resident from a EU/EEA country, or Switzerland, you do not need to seek permission to study in the UK.

As a non-EU/EEA/Swiss student seeking to take part in a programme more than 6 months long, you are required to obtain a Tier 4 visa within your own home country, before you travel to the UK.

For a programme in the UK which is less than 6 months, if you do not wish to work or stay longer, you can apply for a short term student visa.

Should you wish to study an English course (up to 11 months long), you can also attend the UK on a short term visa.

To find out more information about which visa you should apply for to study in the UK, visit Top Universities.

Bank holidays in 2018

Bank holidays in 2019

The majority of individuals who work a 5-day week are entitled to 28 days’ paid annual leave per year. Mostly all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year, however, part-time workers do receive less paid holiday than full-time workers

For a general rule of thumb, you can work out how many days off you should receive by multiplying the number of days you work each week by 5.6.