As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links marked Ad are paid links: if you buy through one, this site earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
A notice period is often treated as dead time: a few weeks of handing over work while the real planning waits for the last day. If you are leaving to change career, those weeks are also the cheapest time to test the idea, because you are still paid. This article covers what the law gives you, what your contract controls, and how to use the time without breaching your terms. The notice period calculator tells you how long yours is.
The legal position in short
If you resign, you must give at least a week's notice once you have been in the job for more than a month. Your contract may set a longer period, and if it does, that is the one that applies. Notice usually runs from the start of the day after you hand it in, so the date you give it matters when you are planning a start date elsewhere.
GOV.UK says employees and employers must stick to a contract until it ends, and that includes the notice period. Any clauses on outside work or confidentiality will normally still apply while you are working your notice, so read them before you sign up for anything that involves a client or a competitor.
The right to time off to arrange training
There is a statutory right to time off to look for work or arrange training, but it is narrower than it sounds. It applies when you have been given notice of redundancy, not when you resign. You need two years of continuous employment by the time the notice ends, and the time off must be reasonable and taken during your working hours.
Acas says there is no fixed number of days: it depends on circumstances such as how hard it will be to find work and the length of your notice. You ask during your notice period, and your employer can refuse only on reasonable grounds. Pay for the time is capped at 40% of a week's pay across the whole notice period. Acas gives an example of someone on £500 for a five-day week who takes five days off during a 12-week notice period and receives £200, the equivalent of two days.
If you are resigning, none of that applies. Any time off for a course, an interview or a taster day is a matter for your employer's goodwill or your contract, so ask early and put it in writing.
What garden leave changes
If your employer puts you on garden leave, you are still employed even though you are not working. Acas says you must be paid as usual during the notice period, including any work benefits in your contract. The contract continues, so check what its terms on outside work allow before you enrol on a course or take on paid work elsewhere.
Our article on garden leave explains what employers can and cannot require of you.
Starting with the free and the cheap
Before you pay for anything, look at what is available at no cost.
The National Careers Service. Its website has a skills assessment that suggests careers based on your interests, job profiles that describe what different roles involve, and a course search for online and classroom courses.
Free Courses for Jobs. In England, the government pays the fees for certain qualifications for adults aged 19 or over who earn below £25,750 or are unemployed. It covers level 3 qualifications in around 19 subject areas, and level 2 qualifications in construction, engineering and manufacturing. GOV.UK last updated the page in July 2025, and it says local rules on maximum earnings and existing qualifications may differ. The figures refer to the 2025 to 2026 funding year, so check eligibility with the training provider before you rely on it. If you are not eligible while employed, you may be once your notice ends.
A plan for the weeks you have
A short notice period suits small steps. A longer one allows something more structured. Either way, three tasks are worth doing before your last day.
- Pick one direction to test. Use the skills assessment and two or three job profiles to narrow the options, then read what the typical entry route is for each.
- Do a taster. A short online course, an evening class or a few hours of reading will tell you whether you want more.
- Write down what you need to afford it. Compare the cost of training with what you will earn between jobs. The notice calculator gives your last day, so you can count the weeks of pay you still have.
Evenings and weekends are the natural study time. Working hours stay with your employer unless they agree otherwise.
Setting up to study
A few things make a short stretch of study easier to keep up.
Ad A weekly study planner lets you block out the hours you actually have, which is usually fewer than you expect during a handover. If you are exploring a career change, Ad a book on changing careers can help you test your reasoning before you spend money on a course. For note-taking, Ad a set of A4 ring binder dividers keeps notes from different courses apart. Ad A spiral-bound A4 notebook suits worked problems and diagrams.
If you will be studying at home, Ad a desk lamp with an adjustable arm is a small spend that makes evening sessions more comfortable. Ad Wired over-ear headphones help if the house is noisy. For portfolio work or saved course files, Ad a USB flash drive is useful for moving between machines, though never copy your employer's files onto anything personal.
Before you commit
Check three things before you spend money.
- Your contract. Look for clauses on outside work, confidentiality and restrictions after you leave.
- Your leaving date. Work out the last day from the date you handed in notice and the length in your contract, using the calculator.
- What your employer will fund. Some employers contribute to training. Ask before you pay.