The Graduate Route

It is up to you to decide what the right path is after your course, but here are some positives to the Graduate Route: 

• Excellent opportunity to enhance your CV with UK work experience 
• Your employer will not require a sponsor licence 
• Not bound to one employer like with Skilled Worker 
• Can do any level of work, not restricted to graduate-level employment 
• No travel restriction 
• Unsponsored route – no one will be checking up on you! 

If you have completed an undergraduate course or a masters degree, you will get two years permission. If you have completed a PhD, you will be given three years permission. 

Almost anything! You can work full-time, part-time, in a graduate job or an entry-level position. You could be unemployed, and just looking for work. You can be freelance or self-employed. The only work restriction on the Graduate Route is that you cannot be employed as a professional sportsperson. 

You can study, provided you would not ordinarily be required to have a CAS for the course. i.e. you would not be able to enrol on a full-time masters course, but you could do a part-time course or a short course that would not ordinarily need a CAS.  

Yes, there are no travel restrictions on the Graduate Route. 

Please bear in mind that while you are waiting for a decision to be made on any visa application, you should not leave the UK as this would automatically withdraw your application.

Student visa holders who have successfully completed the course that their CAS was issued for (unless you were permitted by the University to change course part-way through without having to apply for a new visa), and received an exam board decision before their student visa expiry date. 

You must have lived and studied in the UK for the relevant period:   

Short periods spent outside of the UK, for example a week’s holiday in Europe during the spring vacation, or two weeks back in your home country over the Christmas break would not count against you. 

UK bachelors, masters and PhDs are all eligible qualifications for the Graduate Route. There are some additional qualifications that meet the eligibility criteria such as PGCE and some law conversion courses. For a full list, see Immigration Rules Appendix: Graduate, paragraph GR 5.2. 

You will have completed the course that was named on your CAS. If you do not achieve the required number of credits and you are given a lower award, such as a Diploma, you will not be eligible. 

You should have received an email from the student records team, confirming that an exam board has considered your results and will be recommending to Senate that you are given your Bachelors/masters/PhD.  

Keele University also requires you to have paid your tuition fee in full. 

The application is entirely online. You will give your biometrics via the UKVI ID checker app, unless you have dependants under the age of 16 who are applying at the same time as you. 

However, you must be inside the UK. If you want to travel home after your course, please make sure you return to the UK before your student visa expires. 

You will need your CAS number 

You will not need to upload any evidence to support your application (no bank statements, no evidence you have finished your course), unless you have dependants; in that situation you will need to upload evidence of your relationship. 

After you have received your “recommendation to Senate” email confirming you have completed your course, but before your student visa expires.  

Once you have submitted the application, you cannot leave the UK, otherwise your application will be withdrawn. Therefore, you should consider whether you want to do any travelling and whether you should do this before or after you apply.  

There will be no refund for any period of time that you have double-paid for the IHS.  

Provided you submitted your Graduate Route application before midnight on the date your student visa expires, your status in the UK is protected while you wait for a visa decision, therefore, if you have not had your Graduate Route approved by the time your student visa expires, you should remain in the UK. Your current rights continue to apply and you will not be considered an overstayer. 

Application fee: £822 

Immigration Health Surcharge: £1,035 per year per person 

If your children who are applying with you are under 18, their IHS is £776 per year 

Examples: 

• For a masters graduate applying alone, this would be a total of £2,892 ([1,035 x 2] + 822) 
• For a masters graduate applying with their spouse and 2 children under 18, the cost would be £10,532 ([1,035 x 2] + [776 x 2] + [822 x 4])

Yes – if they were already in the UK on dependant visas reliant on your student visa. 

If your baby is born inside the UK before your student visa expires, they will be eligible to be your dependant on the Graduate Route. 

If you are not permitted dependants on your student visa, or if your spouse and child did not have dependant visas and join you in the UK before the expiry of your student visa, you will not be able to add them to your Graduate Route visa. 

You can only have this visa once 

If you get offered skilled worker sponsorship a few months in an switch, you lose any remaining time on the Graduate Route 

It's not a route to settlement  

You cannot extend your Graduate visa. However, you may be able to switch to a different visa, for example a Skilled Worker visa. 

You can call in to the Claus Moser building, Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm to speak to an advisor. 

Or, you can call us on +44 (0) 1782 734314 

Or, you can email visa@keele.ac.uk to ask a question or request a teams meeting. 

We will be happy to discuss your individual circumstances with you, and although we cannot advise you on the Graduate Route, hopefully we will be able to help you consider your options and help you find the answers to your questions.