In this article
In the UK, 13 is the youngest age you can legally take on paid part-time work, and you will need a work permit from your local council. At 14 the list widens to include market stalls, gardening and tutoring younger kids, with hours capped at 12 a week in term time and 25 in the holidays. At 16, most rules relax and the National Minimum Wage kicks in at £7.55 per hour (April 2026). If you can't find a formal job, you can start earning through your own side hustle at almost any age. This guide covers every legal option for 13, 14, 15 and 16 year olds - and what to do if the traditional route isn't working.
If you're 14: the short version
- ✓ Legal jobs: paper round, dog walking, car washing, babysitting siblings, gardening, market stall helper, tutoring younger kids, kennel or stables help, and your own small side hustle
- ✓ Hours: 12 a week max in term time (2 on a school day); 25 a week max in the holidays
- ✓ Pay: no legal minimum under 16 - typically £4-£7/hr, or £15-£25 a week for a paper round
- ✓ You need a council work permit for any formal job - your employer arranges it, free of charge
- ✓ No permit needed for your own enterprise: baking, reselling, tutoring on your own terms
Key takeaways
- ✓ 13 is the legal minimum age for paid work in most of the UK - a council work permit is required
- ✓ Term-time cap: 12 hours a week; holidays: 25 hours (13-14) or 35 hours (15-16)
- ✓ National Minimum Wage for 16-17 year olds is £7.55/hr (April 2026)
- ✓ Under 16, there's no legal minimum - part-time pay is usually £4-£7/hr
- ✓ All teens get the £12,570 tax-free personal allowance - most pay no income tax
- ✓ Self-employed side hustles are legal much younger and often pay faster
Quick summary: what's realistic at each age
What jobs can you legally do at 13, 14 and 15? The UK law in plain English
UK employment law for under-18s is set by the Children and Young Persons Act and enforced by your local council. The essentials:
- Below 13 - not legally allowed to work in paid employment, except in specific performances (TV, theatre) with a licence. You can still do your own hobby-based earning (baking, art, tutoring friends) informally.
- 13-15 - allowed to do a limited list of "light work". A work permit from your local council is legally required for each job. It's usually free and the employer arranges it.
- 16-17 - most jobs open up, National Minimum Wage applies, and you must legally be in some form of education or training until 18 (school, college, apprenticeship, or 20+ hours of work-based training).
- Always banned under 18 - selling alcohol, betting, working with dangerous machinery, delivering fuel, working in an industrial kitchen alone, working past 10pm.
Northern Ireland & Scotland note: byelaws are set locally, and the light-work list can vary slightly. Always check your council's website for the exact rules that apply to you.
How many hours can 13-16 year olds work, and what is the pay? (UK 2026)
This is the bit most guides get wrong. Here's the legally accurate summary:
Term-time hours (ages 13-16)
Max 12 hours a week. Max 2 hours on any school day or Sunday. Max 5 hours on a Saturday (13-14), or 8 hours (15-16). No work before 7am or after 7pm.
School-holiday hours (ages 13-14)
Max 25 hours a week. Max 5 hours on any weekday or Saturday. Max 2 hours on Sunday. At least 2 clear weeks off work in the summer holiday.
School-holiday hours (ages 15-16)
Max 35 hours a week. Max 8 hours on any weekday or Saturday. Max 2 hours on Sunday. At least 2 clear weeks off work in the summer holiday.
Pay (April 2026 rates)
Under 16: no legal minimum, typically £4-£7/hr. Age 16-17: £7.55/hr (National Minimum Wage). Apprentice: £7.55/hr for under-19s or first-year apprentices.
Work permit
Legally required for every 13-15 year old in paid employment. Free, arranged by the employer via the local council. Doubles as insurance cover.
Tax & National Insurance
Personal allowance is £12,570 - almost no teen earns above it, so income tax is usually £0. NI only applies once you earn over £242 in a single week. Self-employed teens must register with HMRC if profit exceeds £1,000/year.
Jobs for 13 year olds UK
At 13 the door to paid work opens - but the list is short and hours are tightly capped. These are the roles UK 13 year olds actually get hired for:
- Paper round / leaflet delivery - the classic UK first job. Ask your local newsagent or Royal Mail depot. Typical pay £15-£25/week.
- Dog walking - post on Nextdoor or ask neighbours. £5-£10 per walk, add up fast.
- Babysitting - usually for siblings or close family friends. £5-£8/hr.
- Car washing - door to door on your street with a bucket and sponge. £5-£10 per car.
- Gardening / weeding / leaf clearing - seasonal, high demand from older neighbours.
- Own online mini-business - Etsy prints, custom bracelets, baked goods for the school gate, digital art commissions on Instagram.
Not sure what to try? Our AI Idea Machine takes 60 seconds to suggest 5-10 realistic UK ideas based on what you already like doing. Or read the full breakdown in how to make money as a teenager in the UK.
Jobs for 14 year olds UK
At 14 you can do everything above plus a bit more responsibility. If you'd rather work for yourself, see our business ideas for teens. Popular options:
- Market stall helper - Saturday mornings at farmers' markets, food halls or car-boot sales.
- Tutoring younger kids - reading, maths, music, gaming. £8-£15/hr informally, more if you're really good.
- Bakery / café pot wash - back-of-house only, limited hours. Ask small independents, not chains.
- Kennel / stables help - if you have a local farm, riding school or dog kennel. Pay is often in experience + a small wage.
- Fiver Challenge / Tenner Challenge - the UK schools challenge that gives you £5-£10 to turn into more in 4 weeks. Real earnings, no boss.
- MyPocketSkill freelance micro-tasks - MyPocketSkill pays 13-18 year olds for small digital and local tasks. Legit, DBS-checked, on our resources page.
Jobs for 15 year olds UK
At 15 more employers will take you on, and Saturday shifts can stretch to 8 hours. Real UK options:
- Shop assistant - independent shops, corner shops, gift shops, garden centres (chains usually wait for 16).
- Café / ice-cream parlour - front of house, non-kitchen, limited hours.
- Sports coaching assistant - if you're a strong swimmer, footballer or gymnast you can qualify as a Level 1 assistant coach.
- Farm work - fruit picking, egg collecting, pumpkin patches. Seasonal but well-paid at £6-£8/hr.
- Wedding / event stewarding - car parking, ushering, cloakroom. Often family-business connections needed.
- Serious online business - resell on Vinted or Depop, build an Etsy shop, freelance as a video editor on MyPocketSkill - no boss, no permit needed.
Jobs for 16 year olds UK
At 16 you enter the real UK job market. National Minimum Wage kicks in at £7.55/hr and most restrictions fall away. You still must be in some form of education or training until 18 - a Saturday job counts as "work" but you can't drop out of college to do it alone.
Realistic first jobs at 16 in the UK:
- Supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons and Waitrose all hire 16 year olds. Check "Careers" on their websites.
- Fashion & beauty retail - Primark, Boots, Superdrug, H&M, JD Sports.
- Hospitality - McDonald's, Costa, Nando's, Greggs, Pret, Wagamama. Kitchen and front of house both allowed (no alcohol service).
- Cinemas & leisure - Odeon, Vue, Cineworld, David Lloyd, PureGym.
- Warehouse / logistics - seasonal shifts at Amazon, Yodel, Royal Mail, retail Christmas hires.
- Delivery - some third-party services (delivery cycling) require 16+.
- Apprenticeships - the biggest 16+ move. Search Find an Apprenticeship, Apprentago or urfuture.
- Freelance & enterprise - build a proper micro-business alongside education. Content creation, tutoring, print-on-demand, dropshipping, digital services.
Where to find UK teen jobs
The best places to look, in order of what actually works for under-18s:
Local & low-friction (13-16)
- • Your street / neighbours / family friends
- • The Nextdoor app - dog walking, gardening
- • Community Facebook groups
- • Corner shops & independent cafés (walk in)
Teen-specific platforms
- • MyPocketSkill - paid tasks, ages 13-18
- • Fiver Challenge - £5 → business in 4 weeks
- • Tutorful - if you can teach a subject
Mainstream (16+)
- • Indeed UK - filter age 16+
- • Reed, Trabajo, employer careers pages
- • Find an Apprenticeship (GOV.UK)
Careers & advice
- • National Careers Service - free advice, 13+
- • Barclays LifeSkills - CV & interview prep
- • The Mix - support for under-25s
Every one of these platforms is vetted and listed on our free UK resources library - filter by age to see what applies to you.
If you can't get hired: start your own thing
The UK teen job market is competitive - a 15-year-old in a rural town can genuinely struggle to find an employer. The fastest workaround is enterprise: start earning as your own small business instead of waiting to be hired. You keep 100% of what you make, you can start today, and you build a story that's worth more than a CV.
Test an idea in an afternoon
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Micro-side-hustles pay this week
Reselling clothes on Vinted, digital prints on Etsy, dog walks on Nextdoor - real UK cash within days.
Real UK role models
Every founder in our 250+ directory started with less than you. See exactly how they did it.
Skills employers actually want
Running your own tiny business teaches sales, pricing, customer service, marketing - all things a first employer scores you on.
Start with the AI Idea Machine, then read from side hustle to real business and browse 250+ British female founders for proof it works.
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No employer needed. Module 1 takes you from idea to a priced, tested offer you can actually sell this month - and it looks far better on an application than a shift at a till. Free, about 20 minutes, no card.
Interview & CV tips for teen jobs
Most 13-16 year olds have never written a CV. You don't need much - one page, honest, tidy. Include:
- Your name, age, town, email, phone.
- 2-3 sentences on who you are and what you're good at.
- School and predicted GCSE grades (leave out primary school - it dates you).
- Any hobbies, clubs, sports teams, volunteering, or side hustle - especially anything you've organised or led.
- One or two references - a teacher and a family friend are fine.
For the interview: dress smarter than you think you need to, get there 10 minutes early, and prepare 2 questions to ask them. The Barclays LifeSkills free interview simulator is the single best UK tool for practising.
If you are 16 and thinking about university, the part-time job or side hustle you start now is exactly the kind of evidence admissions tutors want to read about. Our guide to how to write a personal statement for university shows you how to turn real experience into a UCAS statement that stands out.
For parents: how to support (not push)
A first job is the single most powerful confidence, money-skills and life-skills lesson a teenager can get - but it has to be their idea. Some things that actually help:
- Help them open a bank account (age 11+ for most UK banks). They need somewhere to be paid.
- Read the GOV.UK child employment page together - it removes 90% of the confusion.
- Talk about money openly - our post on how to talk about money with your teen is a gentle place to start.
- If they're anxious about interviews, start with a self-run mini-hustle first. Wins first, CVs second.
- If your teen is at risk of becoming NEET, our full guide to the NEET crisis and Milburn report covers the practical UK support available.
Can't find a job? Make one.
Free tools to generate a UK-friendly business idea, price it, brand it and launch it - designed for ages 6-18. No permit, no interview, no boss.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the youngest age you can legally work in the UK?
13 is the youngest age you can legally take on paid part-time work in most of the UK, and you will need a work permit issued by your local council. There are strict limits on the type of work, the hours and when you can do them. Some jobs - like babysitting, dog walking, tutoring or your own online side hustle - do not count as formal employment and are allowed earlier.
How many hours can a 14 year old work in the UK?
During term-time, 13 and 14 year olds can work a maximum of 12 hours per week - up to 2 hours on a school day and Sunday, and up to 5 hours on a Saturday or a non-school day. During school holidays, the limit is 25 hours per week (5 hours per day, max 25). You must have at least 2 weeks of the summer holiday completely work-free.
How many hours can a 15 or 16 year old work in the UK?
15 and 16 year olds who are still of compulsory school age can work up to 12 hours per week in term time (up to 2 hours on a school day/Sunday, up to 8 hours on a Saturday) and up to 35 hours per week in the holidays (up to 8 hours per day). Once you have finished Year 11 (usually the summer you turn 16) you are no longer of compulsory school age and adult working rules start to apply.
Do teenagers pay tax in the UK?
Everyone in the UK - including under-18s - gets a personal tax-free allowance of £12,570 per year (2025-26). Almost no teenager earns more than that from a part-time job, so most pay zero income tax. You may still see National Insurance deducted if you earn over £242 in a single week, and self-employed teens (side hustles) may need to register with HMRC once they earn over £1,000 in a tax year.
What is the minimum wage for teenagers in the UK?
From April 2026 the UK National Minimum Wage for under-18s (school-leaving age up to 17) is £7.55 per hour. 16 and 17 year olds are entitled to this rate. Under 16 there is no legal minimum - pay is set by the employer, and part-time work at 13-15 is often paid £4-£7 per hour depending on the job.
What jobs can a 13 year old do in the UK?
Common legal jobs for 13 year olds in the UK include: paper rounds and leaflet delivery, dog walking, car washing, gardening, babysitting siblings, tutoring younger children, market stall helper, farm work (with restrictions), and their own online side hustles - selling art, prints, digital downloads, or running a small crafts or baking service.
What jobs can a 16 year old do in the UK?
At 16 you can do most jobs a young adult can do. Popular UK options include retail (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Primark, Boots), hospitality (waiting, kitchen porter, McDonald's, Costa, Greggs), cinemas, leisure centres, warehouse work, delivery, admin, apprenticeships and any online freelance work. Some sectors - bar work, betting, dangerous machinery - are still restricted until 18.
What if I can't get a job? Can I earn money on my own?
Yes - and often faster than a Saturday job. UK teens are increasingly turning to micro-side-hustles: freelance tasks on MyPocketSkill (13-18), reselling on Vinted or Depop, tutoring on the neighbourhood app Nextdoor, or building a small product to sell locally. This is enterprise activity, not employment, so the strict work permit rules do not apply in the same way. We Can Be's free tools help you find and price your first idea in an afternoon.
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