Gateway To Work Experience Bursary

• Eligible students undertaking unpaid or lower-paid work experience (national minimum wage) may receive up to £1000. The amount depends on individual circumstances, proposed work experience, and funding requirements.
• Funds are available until all bursary funding is allocated. 
• Awards are available for work experience opportunities or investigative career events that are in the United Kingdom only. They can take place at any point from February to September 2025.
• The review panel meet the first week of every month. The last entry for applications to receive funds must be submitted no later than Wednesday 4^th June when the panel meets for the final time.
• If you are seeking international work experience and funds, please visit the Go Global Homepage and Enrol in My Global Story for any current opportunities open for applications. You will be considered for an international Gateway top-up as part of the Go Global process. There is no need to apply for the Gateway funding separately.

The Gateway to Work Experience Bursary is open to:

• Birmingham Scholars, defined as:
  • Students in receipt of a Pathways to Birmingham - (P2B) which includes the programmes Access to Birmingham, Routes to the Professions, National Access Summer School
  • Students in receipt of a Realising Opportunities offer
  • Students in receipt of a Sanctuary Scholarship
  • Care experienced or Care Leavers 
• And/or students who have a home address in an IMD Quintile 1 (indices of multiple deprivation, IMD Deciles 1 and 2, lowest 20%) neighbourhood*

*If your home address is in Northern Ireland you will need to contact us with your home postcode so that we can check your eligibility to apply.

You can use the post-code checker above to see whether you are eligible to apply. 

Please note:

• If you received Gateway funds in the past and this academic year for an international experience, the team may reject your application due to a limited budget or hold it until the final panel session in June for fairness.

For more information about how the University aims to improve access, provide equal opportunities, and enable progress through higher education and in to graduate levels roles click here: Widening Participation and Access - University of Birmingham  

The Bursary is designed to support students financially, offering a contribution to cover costs associated with:

• Unpaid or low-paid work experience/national minimum wage work in a location far from home including work shadowing, observational experiences, and summer employability programmes which are low paid
• Springboard/explorative career opportunities e.g. career insight days, insight weeks, conference presenting
• Interviews

Specifically, you can request the funds to cover:

• modest and reasonable accommodation: (not to cover usual rent costs) - up to £120 per day (e.g. university halls of residences in vacation periods, budget hotels, or similar)
• travel: train travel, bus travel, ferry, tram, metro, and coaches, subject to individual circumstances and location. Please contact us in advance if you require an alternative method of transport. 
• formal work clothing (including shoes): up to £150 total (for opportunities where you will be required to work in an office where the dress code is smart or smart casual, i.e. in industries such as Investment Banking and Corporate Law where formal work wear is expected)  
• conference fees if you are presenting
• dependent care costs if these are not being funded by other sources.

We recognise that you may have other costs, and your application will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The budget template enables to you to state other reasonable costs which apply to you, and your individual circumstances, but it is not a wage. 

• International experiences and associated costs
• Bills
• Food items
• Course related placements or electives where the experience is outside of the summer vacation period and 12-month placements which form part of a degree
• Non-observational ‘hands-on’ work experience, unless insurance/indemnity from a relevant professional body covers this (see Terms and Conditions below)
• Retrospective work experience bursary applications

• Work experience bursary applications for academic year 2025/26

The Bursary also cannot be used to support work experience or internships considered to conflict with the principles or policies of the University or the Student charter. More information on the University’s charter and statutes can be found on the University Legislation webpage.

Applications are open from January to 4^th June 2025.

• A panel will review your application in the first week of every month (the last review being June). Funds are therefore granted monthly. You should expect to hear of an outcome after the panel meets, in the following week or soon after.
• Please note that the Gateway team from Careers Network will not chase you for missing information which you have not submitted, or if it is unclear. A new application will have to be submitted, where you will start the process again. 
• Funds are available until all bursary funding is allocated. Careers Network reserve the right to close the Gateway to Work Experience Bursary before the 4^th June 2025. An announcement will be made on the webpage if this occurs.

• Apply as early as possible due to budget limitations.
• A bursary award is not guaranteed and may not cover all your costs. It is a contribution.
• Incomplete applications are likely to be rejected.
• Read the application instructions carefully
• Ensure you have an offer for work experience or have booked an explorative career opportunity (e.g., conference, insight day).
• Retain evidence such as a confirmation email or offer letter, including start and end dates.
• Retain evidence of pay/grant (if applicable), such as within the offer letter, to upload to the application form.
• Investigate your essential costs and add them to the budget-evidence document.
• Read and understand the terms and conditions before applying

1. Provider Declaration Form: Contact your work experience provider to complete a Provider Declaration Form if using Gateway funds for work experience (for health and safety purposes).
2. Risk Assessment Form: Complete the Risk Assessment Form if using Gateway funds for secured work experience (to assess potential risks).
3. Budget Template: Complete the budget template to indicate what you are requesting and how much.
4. Submit Application

Please ensure budget template, risk assessment, and provider declaration files are named with your student ID and full name (e.g., ‘123456 - JOHN SMITH – RISK ASSESSMENT’).

Note: You do not need to provide a risk assessment form or provider declaration if you are requesting funds for an explorative career event/opportunity (e.g., insight day) or an interview. You can find links to the application form and documentation templates in the section below.

*Failure to provide this documentation and with your name/ID may result in your application being rejected. Therefore, a new application will have to be submitted in lieu of these. 

• Provide your personal details, work experience opportunity details, a summary of the opportunity, and an understanding of how it will contribute to your personal and professional development.
• Provide relevant and necessary documentation (see Terms & Conditions below)
• Wait for the review panel to meet in the first week of every month.

*The final review will take place in the first week of June. Submit your application by Sunday, 1st June 2025.

Link to application

Link to documentation to complete the application 

• Your work experience must not be part of your degree or placement programme if it is not undertaken in the summer or is a 12-month placement.
• The experience does not exceed the recommended hours of work in term-time (a maximum of 20 hours per week).
• The experience must not compromise your health and safety, or that of those around you.
• If you are due to attend a health / medical related opportunity, you understand that these are observational opportunities only. Students are not to engage in any hands-on involvement. This is because the University’s insurance policy does not cover you for indemnity. However, if you’re a member of a relevant professional body, such as, but not exclusively, the MDU or Royal College of Nursing  they may be able to arrange this type of policy for you. Please make yourself aware of any relevant exclusions.  
• If you are covered for clinical indemnity or have arranged this policy with your relevant professional body, we will need to see evidence to be able to provide Gateway funds.
• It must not endorse illegal activity. 
• The organisation has the required Public Liability and Employers insurances in place, a Health & Safety Policy, Equal Opportunities Policy and has conducted a risk assessment to minimise possible risks to you.
• The experience must not ask you to undertake illegal activity in the UK or internationally
• It must not be from (or associated with) the tobacco or vaping Industries, the sex industry or pyramid style selling schemes.
• The work experience does not require you to work in a private residential address that is not your own.
• You have structured supervision in place, to ensure you are fully briefed, assisted and regularly receive feedback on your progress. 
• You complete the post-programme evaluation form, to help you reflect on your experience and how beneficial you found the bursary. Your evaluation is vital to help assess whether funds should be committed again.

We will not be offering bursaries for international work experiences through The Gateway to Work Experience Bursary. To learn about international work experiences and gain funding, please access the Go Global homepage. You can find out about the different summer opportunities (volunteering & internships) available via Enrol in My Global Story. Should you have any questions, please contact: goglobalsummer@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

• Student Development Scholarships - for all undergraduates and postgraduates undertaking worthwhile and original vacation projects (in the UK or abroad), which do not constitute an examinable part of their degree programme. This award is not available to students who are fully funded, for example through scholarships, Research Council awards or equivalent. Closing date: 31^st January 2025.

• Students who apply through Go Global Summer will be assessed for Turing grant funding and international Gateway as part of the same application process via the Go Global team. Priority will be given to students from widening participation backgrounds. Placements must have a minimum duration of 4 weeks (a minimum of 28 days including travel). For any enquiries regarding international opportunities, please contact goglobalsummer@contacts.bham.ac.uk Turing Funds also offer extra support for students with special educational needs and disabilities.

• Additional sources of funding for work experience can be found reviewing our ‘Alternative sources of funding’ webpage and the Undergraduate Funding Database to explore other funding options that may support you, or to contact the CN internships team for more information.

Postgraduates are not eligible for The Gateway to Work Experience Bursary.

If you are a postgraduate student with an Access Scholarship, please visit the Postgraduate Work Experience Bursary webpage

For more information about how the University aims to improve access, provide equal opportunities and enable progress through higher education and in to graduate levels roles click here: Widening Participation and Access - University of Birmingham

If you have any questions, contact the Careers Network bursaries team via workexperience@contact.bham.ac.uk.