Admission of Students Under the Age of 18
Age Restrictions under English Law 1
At 13 years old an individual:
 may be employed for a certain number of hours a week
At 14 years old an individual:
 may go to pubs, but cannot drink or buy alcohol
 is responsible for wearing a seat belt
At 16 years old an individual can:
 leave school
 choose their own doctor
 claim social security benefit
 work full time
 leave home with their parents’ consent
 get married with one parent’s consent
 drink wine or beer with a meal in a restaurant
 hold a licence to drive a moped
 buy a ticket in the National Lottery
At 17 years old an individual can:
 hold a licence to drive any vehicle except certain heavy goods vehicles
 engage in street trading
 purchase an air rifle
 leave home without parents’ consent
At 18 years old an individual can:
 buy cigarettes or tobacco
 appear before adult courts
 get married without parents’ consent
 vote
 act as an executor of a person’s will
 bet/gamble
 buy fireworks
 change their name
 apply for a passport
 own houses and land
 apply for a mortgage
 go abroad to sing, play or perform professionally
 sit on a jury
 be a blood donor
 buy alcohol
 drink alcohol in a pub
There are also restrictions on positions that can be held within the UCL Union before
the age of 18, in particular UCLU student trustees are required by law to be 18.
1
Adapted from http://www.essex.police.uk/default.aspx?page=4641. Notwithstanding other
laws or legal restrictions, e.g. those relating to citizenship, visas and immigration.