Time off for university examinations

Short answer

No, in general there is no legal right in England and Wales requiring an employer to give you time off specifically to sit university examinations. Whether you can take time off usually depends on your contract, your employer’s policies, and negotiation, rather than a statutory entitlement. There are some limited situations where a legal right may apply, but they are narrow and, importantly, none of them guarantees you paid time off just because you have exams.

The general legal position

For most adult employees studying at university alongside work, time off for exams is a matter of contract and employer discretion, not a statutory right. If your contract, staff handbook, or a study agreement with your employer promises study leave or exam leave, then that becomes a contractual entitlement you can rely on and enforce. If nothing in your contract or your employer’s policies deals with it, the employer is generally not obliged to release you.

In practice this means you would normally need to request the time as annual leave, unpaid leave, or agreed study leave, and the employer can decline unless something in your contract says otherwise.

The statutory right to request time off for study or training

There is a statutory scheme under section 63D of the Employment Rights Act 1996 allowing certain employees to make a request to their employer for time off for study or training. It is important to understand its limits.

First, it is only a right to request, not a right to receive. The employer can refuse the request on specified business grounds, so it does not compel them to give you time off.

Second, it is tightly restricted. To qualify you must be an employee (not an agency worker), you must have worked continuously for the employer for at least 26 weeks, and the employer must have at least 250 employees. This means the right does not apply to staff of smaller employers at all.

Third, the study or training must be aimed at improving your effectiveness in your job and the performance of the employer’s business. General university examinations unrelated to your role may not fall within this.

Fourth, any time off under this route is usually unpaid unless the employer agrees to pay it, and you can generally only make one request in any twelve-month period. If you fall within the scheme and wish to use it, you make a written request stating that it is made under section 63D of the Employment Rights Act 1996, setting out the subject matter, where and when the study or training would take place, who would provide it, any qualification it leads to, and why it will help you do your job better and help the employer’s business.

Younger workers

A separate and more generous right exists for certain 16 and 17 year olds (and in limited cases 18 year olds completing a course they started) under the young persons’ provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996. These give a right to reasonable paid time off for study or training leading to a relevant qualification. This is unlikely to apply to most university students, who are usually older, but it is worth noting if you are in that age group.

Where you may have a stronger position

You are more likely to be entitled to exam time off if any of the following apply. Check each carefully.

1. Your contract of employment, offer letter, or staff handbook expressly provides for study leave or exam leave. Read the exact wording, including whether it is paid, how much is allowed, and any conditions such as passing the course.

2. Your employer sponsors or requires the qualification, for example a professional or apprenticeship-linked course. Employer-sponsored study very often comes with a written learning agreement setting out study and exam leave, and apprenticeships carry their own off-the-job training requirements.

3. There is a settled custom and practice in your workplace of granting exam leave, which in some circumstances can harden into an implied contractual term.

4. A collective agreement negotiated by a recognised trade union covers study or exam leave.

Practical next steps

1. Read your contract and staff handbook, and look for any study, training, or leave policy. Note the exact terms.

2. If your course is employer-sponsored, dig out any learning agreement or funding letter, as these often contain the clearest promises.

3. Give your employer as much notice as possible of your exam dates and ask early. Framing the request in terms of how the qualification benefits your role and the business tends to help.

4. If there is no policy and no contractual right, ask to take the exam days as annual leave or agreed unpaid leave. This is often the most realistic route and employers frequently agree.

5. Consider proposing flexible working, such as adjusting hours around exam periods, or working the time back. A separate statutory right to request flexible working exists and can be used to reorganise hours rather than to obtain leave as such.

6. Put the request in writing and keep a record of the response, so you have evidence of what was agreed.

7. If you do fall within the section 63D scheme and want to use it, make the request in the specific written form described above, and be aware the outcome and any pay remain at the employer’s discretion within the statutory grounds.

What could change the answer

The key missing facts are the size of your employer, your length of service, what your contract and any study or funding agreement actually say, whether the course is employer-required or self-chosen, and your age. If you are under 18 and completing relevant training, the paid time off position is different. If your employer has 250 or more staff and you have at least 26 weeks’ service and the study genuinely improves your job performance, the statutory request route is available, though still only a right to ask. For most adult students at ordinary employers with no supportive contract term, the honest position is that there is no automatic legal entitlement, and securing exam time off is a matter of policy, agreement, and negotiation.