The Postgraduate Work Experience Bursary allows current postgraduate students to access UK-based work experience opportunities that are unpaid or are low-paid (i.e. in line with the national minimum wage) and are due to take place between January 2025 and August 2025. This may include:
- Internships
- Work shadowing
- Volunteering
- Presenting at conferences
- And professional organisation membership fees
Please note that we no longer accept CPD courses. For CPD courses, please utilise resources such as LinkedIn Learning. Free to access through the University, LinkedIn Learning provides over 13,000 professional, certified courses, all developed by industry experts.
The bursary can contribute towards reasonable costs, including accommodation, conference tickets, travel expenses, and necessary clothing (e.g. a suit or other smart wear). Bursary funds are not to be used as a substitute for wages, and are to be used to contribute towards the cost of essential expenses.
The maximum amount you can request from The Postgraduate Work Experience Bursary is £1500. All applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may not be granted in full, so it is important that applications justify the requested costs. Applications for more than £1500 will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
Applications will be reviewed in the first week of each month, or as soon as possible thereafter. As such, we advise that you submit your application at least one full month prior to the proposed start date of your work experience opportunity. This is to ensure that it can be approved in a timely fashion. For example, if your work experience opportunity is due to start in mid-April, we advise you submit your application in time for it to be reviewed at the start of March. Applications for retrospective work experience opportunities will not be granted.
Applications will remain open until May 31 2025, or until all funds have been allocated.
Please note that the above process and timeline may be subject to change (last updated: April 2025).