First jobs · 5 min read
How do I get a summer job as a student?
How to find a summer job as a student in the UK: the sectors that hire in bulk, when to apply, what you'll earn, and how to make eight weeks count on a CV.
The short answer
Summer jobs cluster in a few places: tourism and hospitality, festivals and events, holiday camps and sports coaching, retail, farm and fruit picking, and temp agency work in warehouses and offices. Most hire from March to May for June starts, so apply before exams. Expect your age rate of minimum wage or a little above, and choose a job that leaves you one specific skill to name in September.
Key takeaways
- Apply in March, April and May; by June most seasonal rotas are set.
- Holiday camps, outdoor centres, festivals, tourist attractions, farms and temp agencies hire students in volume.
- At 16-17 the floor is £8.00 an hour, at 18-20 it's £10.85, and seasonal employers often pay more to fill shifts.
- Pick the job for the skill it leaves you, not only the money: a till, a certificate, a reference, a language.
On this pageWhere summer jobs actually are
Where summer jobs actually are
| Sector | Hiring window | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday camps and outdoor centres | January to April | Training, a qualification, long days, a tight team |
| Tourist attractions, cafés, hotels | Easter onwards | Customer service at pace, tips in some roles |
| Festivals and events | April to June | Short bursts, odd hours, often through agencies |
| Farms and fruit picking | May to July | Outdoor, physical, paid by the hour or by the crate |
| Temp agencies (warehouse, office, admin) | Year round | Flexible weeks, a look inside different workplaces |
| Sports coaching and childcare camps | February to May | Coaching badges, DBS check, references |
How to find them
- Search the big seasonal employers directly: holiday parks, outdoor education providers, national attractions, the large festival staffing agencies.
- Register with two temp agencies in your town in April. Bring ID and proof of right to work.
- Ask your school, college or university careers service; many hold summer job lists employers send them.
- Walk the high street or seafront with a one-page CV in the Easter holidays, when managers are planning summer rotas.
What you'll earn, and the paperwork
Your age rate of the minimum wage is the floor: £8.00 at 16-17, £10.85 at 18-20 and £12.71 at 21 and over from April 2026. Seasonal employers who struggle to fill shifts often pay above it, and live-in roles may deduct accommodation up to £11.10 a day. On day one you'll complete a starter checklist; tick the box that says this is your only job so you're not taxed as if it were a second one.
Choosing between two summer jobs
If the pay is similar, pick the one that leaves something behind in September. A lifeguard qualification, a food hygiene certificate, a coaching badge, a reference from a manager who saw you for eight weeks, or a job that tests a direction you're curious about. Two months in a hotel kitchen tells you more about whether you want to cook than any amount of reading.
Illustrative example: the attraction job that was a test
A first-year student takes a summer job on the gate at a heritage railway, mostly to fund September. She's moved to the booking office after two weeks, then asked to help with the schools programme. By August she's run three family workshops. She'd gone in for the money and came out with evidence that she likes explaining things to a crowd, which changes the modules she picks.
Questions people ask
- When should I apply for a summer job?
- March to May. Holiday camps and outdoor centres recruit from January for staff who need training; tourist attractions and hospitality hire from Easter; farms and festivals fill up in May. Applying in June still works for retail and temp agencies, but the best-paid and most interesting seasonal roles are gone by then.
- Can a 16 year old get a summer job?
- Yes. Once you've passed school leaving age at the end of Year 11 you can work up to 40 hours a week over the summer at £8.00 an hour or more. Before that, holiday limits apply: 35 hours a week at 15-16 with a work permit. Cafés, shops, leisure centres and farms all hire 16 year olds for summer.
- Do I pay tax on a summer job?
- Probably not. You only pay income tax on earnings over £12,570 a year, and a two-month job rarely reaches that. You may be put on an emergency tax code and see tax taken in the first payslip; it comes back once your tax code is corrected or when HMRC reconciles the year. Fill in the starter checklist on day one.
- Is a summer job worth putting on a CV?
- Yes, if you write it as what you did and learned. 'Eight weeks as a kitchen porter at a 200-cover hotel; promoted to breakfast service in week four' tells an employer or an admissions tutor more than most of what a student CV contains. Ask for a short written reference before you leave.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates · GOV.UK
- Child employment · GOV.UK
- Starter checklist for PAYE · HM Revenue and Customs, GOV.UK
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.