Definition of an internship

In this policy, we define ‘internship’ as any opportunity where a student will undertake work, which takes place outside course dates and is not a mandatory part of a degree programme. More information on this is available from the UK Government website.

Advertising internships

We thank employers for all the fantastic opportunities that we can advertise to all our students and graduates. We advertise opportunities, free of charge, in a wide range of organisations: small start-ups to large multinational organisations, in all sectors.

Paid-for internships

However, we will not advertise ANY UK-based internships which require our students and graduates to pay a fee to participate. We recognise that international-based opportunities of necessity sometimes attract a cost and will advertise these, on two conditions: - They are filtered separately on MyFuture into ‘paid-for opportunities’ - The payments are made clear in the advert text.

Unpaid/unfunded internships

We also do not advertise unpaid/unfunded internships unless they are:

Short-term insight or vacation schemes of no longer than 2 weeks aimed at providing “work shadowing” opportunities.

Voluntary work with a charity, voluntary organisation, an associated fund-raising organisation, or a statutory body and, where the voluntary work is UK-based, fulfil the conditions for voluntary workers under UK National Minimum Wage legislation. Organisations will need to provide evidence that they fulfil this criteria.

Not-for-profit organisations

If you are in the not-for-profit sector, please note that all not-for-profit sector partners must, as a minimum, offer a stipend or contribution, for example, provide accommodation, reimburse travel or meal costs.

Legal compliance

Please note that it is the responsibility of the host organisation to ensure that it complies with any employment law or other legal obligations, including payment of National Minimum Wage (where applicable), and we assume, if we are asked to advertise an unpaid internship, that the host organisation has made an appropriate assessment and concluded that the opportunity can lawfully be unpaid.

Right to refuse publication

Careers reserve the right not to publish any opportunities we feel are inappropriate for our clients. An opportunity being accepted for inclusion in our vacancy portal MyFuture is not an endorsement of either the organisation or the opportunity and we also make this clear to students.

Feedback

If any student feels there has been a breach of this policy, they should feed this back to Careers using the contact details below.