Undergraduate internship scheme 2022–2023

Our undergraduate internship schemes are an exciting opportunity for you to find and participate in a paid internship to gain valuable work experience in a range of employment sectors. There are schemes to suit you – either 8 weeks, full-time over the summer (shorter hours and part-time options are also available) or part-time, term-time (up to 12 hours a week). You’ll be able to build your skills and confidence and you'll earn £10.90 per hour, gross.

Part-time, term-time internships are a great opportunity for you to work up to 12 hours a week over 24 weeks alongside your studies.

These internships would suit project work you will have weekly meetings and check-ins with your employer and your work can be delivered flexibly and remotely so you are able to complete work on weekends or at a time that suits you (whilst considering the needs of the business).

Discuss your timetable and other commitments with your employer and create a working agreement between you to outline expectations.

Our 8 week summer internship scheme is a fantastic opportunity for you to work for an exciting company to gain experience, help inform future decisions and make industry connections.

The internship may be worked on a part-time basis, usually completed over 16 weeks. In-person, working remotely or a hybrid of both can be expected.

As an employee of the company you will be expected to follow their employee standards of timekeeping, work ethics and culture.

• The opportunity to work in full or part-time employment in a sector or industry of your choice totalling 296 hours and earn at least £10.90 per hour.
• Valuable, high-quality work experience that shows initiative to prospective employers during an unprecedented period.
• Developing different ways of working and gaining insight and knowledge.
• A competitive advantage in the job market.
• The chance to build up a network of useful contacts whilst increasing your confidence.
• The challenge of applying knowledge gained during your studies.
• An opportunity to broaden your career options through experiencing work in a sector not directly related to your degree.

You can find your internship by either viewing vacancies posted on InfoHub or by arranging your own internship by a speculative application.

InfoHub vacancies

You can view and apply for vacancies posted by organisations on InfoHub (login required). 

Log in to InfoHub to view the internship opportunities that employers are offering in 2023. Vacancies are added when organisations submit them to us. Once logged in, do the following:

• go to 'Vacancies'
• under ‘Vacancy Type’ select ‘UWE Internship Schemes’
• click ‘Search’
• a list of internships will appear – look for opportunities with 'UWE Bristol PT Internship 2022–2023’ for the part-time scheme or ‘UWE Undergraduate Internship Scheme 2023' for the 8-week summer scheme in the job title.

Arranging your own internship

One of the best ways to get an internship is to find your own at an organisation that interests you. Approaching organisations speculatively or using your existing contacts and networks. Once you have approached an organisation, they should email the Internships Team on your behalf at uweinternships@uwe.ac.uk to formalise the arrangement.

Arranging your own internship demonstrates high levels of personal initiative and offers you the opportunity to explore opportunities that may not have been advertised.

All business sectors are eligible. Don't restrict your thinking to jobs directly related to your degree subject or you'll miss out on some amazing opportunities. Your internship must be either project-based or add value to your CV and include an element of training and/or mentoring.

The internship should give you a meaningful opportunity to build skills, knowledge and confidence in a professional area of work.

Speculative applications

You can view further information about making speculative applications on InfoHub (login required).

We have prepared a statement that you may want to use in your speculative application:

Part-time, term-time internship scheme

"My university, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), is currently offering a part-time, term-time undergraduate Internship Scheme, which offers a £1613.20 subsidy to companies/organisations that employ an undergraduate student for a period of 296 hours over 24 weeks (12-13 hours per week). Interns must be paid at a minimum of £10.90 per hour via PAYE.

Further details about the scheme are available on the UWE Bristol website. If you have any questions, please contact the Internships Team directly at uweinternships@uwe.ac.uk"

8 week summer internship scheme

“My university, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), is currently offering an 'Undergraduate Internship Scheme', which offers a £1613.20 subsidy to companies/organisations that employ an undergraduate student for a minimum eight-week period during the summer vacation. Interns must be paid at a minimum of £10.90 per hour via PAYE.

Further details about the scheme are available on the UWE Bristol website. If you have any questions, please contact the Internships Team directly at uweinternships@uwe.ac.uk"

CV help

We offer a wide range of resources to support with CVs and applications including our useful CV Cycle resource. If you would like feedback on your CV, use our CV360 tool and you’ll be given the option to have a CV review conducted by a member of our career coaching team. 

You will not be employed by UWE Bristol, the company will recruit you on the same basis as they would any other member of staff. You’ll be paid directly by them (through PAYE) on either a weekly or monthly basis.

We will provide the employer with access to an agreement that needs to be electronically signed by you, your employer and UWE Bristol. We recommend that your internship employer provides you with a separate agreement to cover any company policies not included in the UWE Bristol internship agreement.

You will accrue 32.5 hours of leave during your 296 hour internship. This must be arranged as per the organisation’s policies and procedures along with working hours and sickness absence.

Tax and National Insurance contributions

The figure paid to you may be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions. Sometimes, you will be on an emergency tax code and what is deducted from your net pay is more than you should be paying. This will all depend on if you have another job and how much tax you have already paid in the current tax year. For further help, view more information about paying tax as a student and how you would claim a refund if you think you have paid too much.

If you have any questions or concerns once you are on your internship, please contact us on UWEinternships@uwe.ac.uk.

The UWE Bristol Employability Bursary aims to support students to access a range of activities which will add significant value to the student experience but also empower students to achieve better graduate outcomes. An internship is an eligible activity. Bursaries are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and you must meet eligibility criteria.

If we believe you meet the eligibility criteria, we will contact the Bursary Team on your behalf. You can also email us at uweinternships@uwe.ac.uk explaining that you’d like to apply for the Employability Bursary. The Bursary Team will will get back in touch with you with the outcome.