What is work experience?
Work experience is a fixed period of time a student spends with an organisation. This is validated through an assessed piece of work submitted at the end of their placement.
Work experience, embedded in our undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, enables students to apply theoretical learning in the workplace.
During this period students commit to enhancing their own personal development while making a valuable contribution to your organisation.
Types of work experience
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Undergraduate Work Experience
Approximate duration: 30-200 hours part-time / 1 day - 5 months.
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Undergraduate placement / internship
Approximate duration: 40-48 weeks full-time / 1 year.
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Postgraduate internship
Approximate duration: 8-30 weeks full-time / 2-7 months.
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Undergraduate Work Experience
Approximate duration: 30-200 hours part-time / 1 day - 5 months.
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Undergraduate placement / internship
Approximate duration: 40-48 weeks full-time / 1 year.
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Postgraduate internship
Approximate duration: 8-30 weeks full-time / 2-7 months.
Benefits of work experience
Work experience is an opportunity to source new talent and bring new skills and theory into your organisation. It can also play an essential part in contributing to your industry's future skills base and diversity.
Work experience is the umbrella term used for placements, internships and work shadowing.
A work experience student can:
Work experience process – 5 steps to employing a work experience student
- Get in touch - if you are considering offering work experience, contact the Placement and Employment Service. We can offer advice to help develop your opportunity.
- Advertise - once details are confirmed, we will advertise your opportunity on our online jobs board and promote to students.
- Interview - once you have been shortlisted, interviews normally take place on your premises.
- Offer - once a student has accepted your offer we will begin formalising the work experience and send you documentation to complete.
- Hire - once all work experience documentation is received and approved the student will start work experience with you at a scheduled start date.
Student case studies
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Abdul Abdullahi
It's a practical experience where you get to work on real life projects, build your networks and get to learn from and work with professionals in the field. This really helps develop your CV.
I feel like you get this overview of experience that gives you the opportunity to secure a job by the time you are done with your degree.”
- Abdul Abdullahi, Information Technology Management for Business with Industry Placement, Global Technology Placement at Schroders Investment.
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Shernelle Mclean
I enjoyed the work experience because it pushed me to become my best self and it allowed me to practice and deepen my skills and knowledge in Advertising and Public Relations. I made new connections with professionals in the industry and my work received a lot of attention which allowed me to get an opportunity to work in the film industry"
- Shernelle Mclean, BA (Hons) Advertising and Public Relations, Volunteer at New Gen Festival
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Rahul Dahiya
I was gaining a lot of management skills and I was put on opportunities which made me the manager on duty sometimes and responsible for the whole hotel.
On placement, they put a lot of initiatives on you, and if you work hard, you can get to that position and know how to deal with certain situations.”
- Rahul Dahiya, BA (Hons) Hospitality Management Special, Lodging and Hospitality Placement at Sea Pines Resort USA
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Nazar Dragun
The main highlight was receiving actual accounting experience. At the university, we studied a lot of accountancy management and financial accounts, and it's all theoretical and the practical experience is completely different. So, I was very excited to see what that would be like."
- Nazar Dragun, BSc (Hons) Accounting and Finance with Internship, Finance Trainee at NHS
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Afnan Billah Abdulhye
For me, it was mainly a reason to get more experience. If you are an international student like me, you’re only limited to working 20 hours during term time. So, if you're working one whole year full-time you get more experience and you are definitely more confident as well. You notice it from how you were in your first year compared to your third year. A placement is a room for you to grow, improve your skills and just have more knowledge as you are learning hands-on in the industry”
- Afnan Billah Abdulhye, BSc (Hons) Culinary Arts Management with Placement, Chef de Partie at Ixchel London
News stories
Supporting students on work experience
Induction
A typical induction might include:
- An overview of your organisation
- Introduction to members of the team
- Introduction and training on any equipment
- An overview of job role together with specific responsibilities and expectations
- An overview of your policies
eg. health and safety, equal opportunities, absence and sickness reporting, claiming expenses.
Attendance
We advise you to contact us if a student’s attendance or engagement is unsatisfactory, including an unexplained absence from work or if you wish to end the work experience early.
For international students who hold a Student Visa Route, we will contact you on a fortnightly basis to confirm attendance. This is to adhere to the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) compliance regulations for students undertaking work experience.
Please contact placements@uwl.ac.uk for further information.
Exit interview and student feedback
Employer feedback is an important part of a student’s development. Many employers have an employee appraisal system in place and we would encourage you to include work experience students in this process. However, if you do not have this in place, you can offer an exit interview to our students in order for them to learn from the experience gained within your organisation.
Mentor support
As an example of good practice, we would recommend that an employee is nominated to act as a ‘mentor’ for the student during their work experience period. This can offer learning opportunities and personal development for your staff in addition to offering support to the student.
FAQs
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Do I need to pay students on work experience?
For undergraduate and postgraduate long-term placements employers are required to pay the National Minimum Wage.
The University encourages all employers to pay an industry appropriate salary. Where a salary is not offered, we have found that employers receive fewer applications.
If you need help setting a fair salary, please contact placements@uwl.ac.uk
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Are paid work experience students entitled to holiday pay?
Although the individual is a student at UWL, they are also an employee of your company and as such are entitled to paid holiday under UK Employment Law.
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How long can a work experience opportunity be?
This can vary depending on the work experience duration and the course requirements.
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Can I employ students before or after the work experience?
Yes. Students are able to work part-time during term-time and full-time over official university holiday periods (e.g. summer and Christmas).
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How do I advertise my work experience opportunity?
Please contact the Placement and Employment Service:
- email pes@uwl.ac.uk
- phone 020 8231 2700 / 2102
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How can I make my work experience opportunity stand out?
As well as advertising on our online jobs board, we offer various initiatives for employers to engage with our students. You can find out more on our Recruit Our Talent page.
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Are there any fees for your services?
There are no fees for our work experience service. We are happy to help you promote your opportunities, host interviews* on our site and help facilitate a smooth recruitment process.
We are committed to having our students engage in work experience and the world of work.
*dependent on availability
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I have offered a work experience opportunity to a UWL student. What happens next?
The University will contact you regarding the offer and relevant paperwork that will need to be completed:
- Health and Safety Checklist
- Work Experience Tripartite Agreement
We will also require valid copies of your Employer Liability and Public Liability insurance certificates.
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Why do I need to have Employer and Public Liability insurance cover?
We ask that all employers offering work experience to our students provide us with scanned copies of their valid Employer and Public liability insurance certificates. This is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students while they are out on work experience with you.
Please visit the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) website for further guidance.
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I have recruited a student who is a non-UK national. Is there anything that I need to be aware of?
From 1 January 2021 all non-UK national* students holding a Tier 4 Student Visa/ Student Visa Route will need to be monitored by the University. This means that as a point of contact, you will need to confirm the student's attendance on a fortnightly basis.
*including EEA/EU, Swiss and Iceland nationals.
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The student's visa states they can only work a restricted number of hours per week. Is this still applicable while they are on their work experience?
Students undertaking an integrated undergraduate or postgraduate work experience are allowed to work full-time hours for the duration of the work experience period only (including term-time).
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Can I employ a non-UK national student before or after the work experience?
Yes. All non-UK national* students holding a Tier 4 Student Visa/ Student Visa can work to the hours stated on their visa during official university term-time and full-time over official university holiday periods (e.g. summer and Christmas).
*including EEA/EU, Swiss and Iceland nationals.
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Do I need to inform the university when a non-UK national student has any periods of annual leave?
Yes. We would encourage you to inform us of any requests for annual leave of more than two weeks. This is so the University is aware of any authorised absence for UK Visas and Immigration compliance purposes.
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Are there any additional responsibilities that I have in terms of the student's learning?
Some employers host regular 1-2-1 meetings to assess the student’s progress and also offer a mentor to support them in their role. We would request at the end of the work experience period that the student be offered an exit interview where their progress and achievements can be discussed.
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Where can I find further advice on work experience and recruitment matters?
Contact us
Email: pes@uwl.ac.uk
Call: 0208 231 2700 / 0208 231 2102
We are very proud to have UWL as one of our partnering universities for the award-winning IHG Future Leaders Programme.
