B-Experienced Internship Programme

The B-Experienced Programme is for undergraduate students, postgraduate students and those who graduated in 2023 or 2024 with no or limited professional work experience. 

We welcome applications from students and recent graduates with the following types of work experience: 

• Part-time jobs in non-professional roles e.g. bar/restaurant work and customer facing retail 

• Volunteering  

• Work shadowing 

• Insight days/weeks 

• Virtual ‘internship’ programmes such as those on Forage and Bright Network’s Internship Experience UK

• Employer challenges, e.g. Impact Challenge, Birmingham Project, Masters Consultancy Challenge 

• Members of a student society and members with positions of responsibility, e.g. President, Social Secretary etc 

• Student/Course Reps and Student Ambassadors 

• If you are an international student with no UK work experience or have gained limited experience from the above examples, and have work experience in your home country, we welcome you to apply.  

Please do not apply if you already have secured the following types of work experience in the past, or are attending currently: 

• Any formal/professional work experience lasting 70 hours/10 days or more, including placements and internships  

• Part-time jobs in professional roles, developing higher level skills and lasting 70 hours/10 days or more, e.g. in marketing, web development, accounting or anything which requires a more significant level of responsibility or scope 

• Any B-Experienced internship 

• Any other internship programme or short voluntary placement organised by the University lasting 70 hour/10 days or more, including opportunities funded through the Turing Scheme 

• If you are an international student, please do not apply if you already have professional/formal UK-based work experience, that meets the criteria outlined above. 

If you already have formal work experience as outlined above, Careers Network can support you with finding paid internships, part-time work and graduate roles. Please check out the Careers Network events page for details about our workshops, events and drop-ins, or contact our team on workexperience@contacts.bham.ac.uk. 

1. Interns will receive a bursary (provided by University of Birmingham) of the following amounts for undertaking an internship through the programme, based on: 
   • £855 if undertaking a 10-day internship.
   • £1710 if undertaking a 20-day internship.
2. You must be able to commit to a part-time or full-time internship lasting 10 or 20 working days in length. Time can be taken flexibly to fit around studies and other commitments.
3. A day is 7 hours long for the purposes of the programme: a 10 day internship will last a total of 70 hours and a 20 day internship will be 140 hours respectively.
4. Due to popularity and demand, you can only accept and undertake a maximum of one 20-day internship OR one 10-day internship.
5. Students on a confirmed leave of absence are not permitted to apply or undertake an internship during the period of their absence.
6. You must provide your bank details via the University Funding Administration System (UFAS) to enable the bursary funds to be transferred to an eligible bank account.
7. You should arrange your hours/days prior to starting with your internship provider and inform Careers Network and your host organisation of any changes or challenges early on.
8. Successful candidates must read, agree and sign the B-Experienced ‘Internship Agreement’ prior to commencing the internship experience.

Santander UK have generously provided funding to support our B-Experienced Internship Programme. Should you be successful securing a 10-day internship through the B-Experienced Programme, you may be awarded the £855 bursary from Santander Universities to assist your attendance (subject to funding availability).

As well as receiving the funds, you will also gain access to a catalogue of training courses for free, via the Santander online platform ‘Open Academy’. The aim of these courses is to enhance students' skills and to complement their education for academic and professional development. Courses relate to languages, business, finance, technology, sustainability, among others.

Recipients will need to register with Santander’s ‘Open Academy’ to secure funds and to gain access to the courses and the wider content. Your bursary payment will be sent to your bank account by the University of Birmingham. Santander’s privacy notice can be found here.

The Work Experience team will contact you if you become a recipient of Santander funding, providing further information. 

The University of Birmingham has an Agreement in place with Santander.

Successful applicants will be required to complete a digital ‘Internship Pathway’ on Careers Connect, which will include internship evaluations and reflection logs. For participating, you’ll also be invited to submit a case study at the end of the internship.

By undertaking a B-Experienced Internship you are eligible to gain recognition on The Birmingham Award (formerly the Personal Skills Award)! The Birmingham Award is the University’s employability award for undergraduate students. Gain recognition for participating in activities you are already doing! Register your interest on the Birmingham Award website.

Please note that successful applicants need not apply to any separate work experience bursaries for these particular opportunities. For employer funded internships, details of payment arrangements will be clarified within the internship advertisement. It will be clearly indicated on each advertised position, whether it is a bursary funded opportunity or an employer funded opportunity and what the specific compensation will be for that role.

This activity will be automatically featured on your Enhanced Transcript, please email workexperience@contacts.bham.ac.uk if you would like to remove this from your transcript.

B-Experienced Internship opportunities are available to apply year-round on a rolling basis as opportunities arise. Internships will be advertised on Careers Connect and will be distinguishable on Careers Connect by a title starting with ‘B-Experienced Internship'.

Please note you will be prompted to sign in with your university username and password when accessing Careers Connect - all current students will automatically have access. If you are a recent graduate you will be required to register first and wait until your account has been verified in order to access the vacancy, which can take up to three working days.

If you are having trouble registering for a graduate account, please email careersenquiries@contacts.bham.ac.uk for support.

You can speak with your host organisation during the application process and before your work experience starts to highlight any reasonable adjustments that you may need. This is to ensure that you do not experience any barriers or challenges during the application, interview stage and when undertaking the role. These adjustments can include physical adjustments (such as adapted equipment), flexible working patterns and any support or training. You can also request for reasonable adjustments to be made during the application process.

It is your responsibility to inform the host organisation of what you need and why so they can make amendments in due course for your experience.  For more information on what reasonable adjustments are and how you can request them here are some helpful links: 

• Adjustments in the recruitment process
• Reasonable adjustments at work
• Reasonable adjustments and your rights

The B-Experienced Internship Programme application form will provide you with the opportunity to highlight any reasonable adjustment requirements for recruitment and selection purposes.

Please email the team at workexperience@contacts.bham.ac.uk if you would like to discuss your particular circumstances before your application is forwarded to the organisation hosting the internship.

As an international student on a student visa, it is important that you understand and have an awareness of any restrictions you need to follow on your student visa.

• International students who are on a visa must ensure their visa regulations permits them to undertake the internship they are applying to or scheduled to undertake.
• It is the responsibility of applicants on a visa to ensure they comply with their visa requirements and do not exceed the maximum hours they are permitted to work in the UK. This may be a combination of their B-Experienced internship and any other work you are taking on outside of the programme.
• Successful applications need to inform the host organisation of any restrictions to arrange a working pattern so that their weekly working hour limit is not exceeded.

Further information about studying and working in the UK can be found on our Working in the UK webpage. Please note: it is a criminal offence to exceed your working hours. If you have any questions about your ability to work in the UK whilst on a student visa, contact the University of Birmingham’s International Student Team.