Students: Working only in the holidays while being a student

If you are a student on a course in the UK and you work solely in the holiday periods (summer, Christmas, Easter) you may be able to receive your wages without tax being deducted. You will need to complete a student exemption Form P38(S) (Opens new window).

To receive your wages without tax being deducted you must:

• be a student who is planning to continue being a student until after 5 April next
• not have a total income from all sources - apart from student loans, scholarships and educational grants - in the tax year of more than £8,105 in 2012-2013

If you do not meet the P38(S) conditions, or you are on a non-UK college or university course, you should ask your employer for a form P46. We will then tax you under a system called Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Once we have received your completed form P46 (Opens new window), we will:

• issue you with a tax code that shows your entitlement to any allowances and deductions
• inform your employer of your tax code to enable him to deduct the correct amount of tax and National Insurance contributions direct from your wages

National Insurance contributions

You will only pay National Insurance contributions (NICs) if you earn more than £146 a week or £632 a month. If you receive more than these amounts you will pay NICs at 12 per cent on anything over £146 a week (£632 a month) up to £817 a week (£3,540 a month) plus 2 per cent on any amount over £817 a week (£3,540 a month).