B-Experienced Internships Programme

• Are you keen to offer experience and development opportunities to benefit our students/graduates?

• Can you offer projects, activities and work-shadowing to gain an insight into your working environment?

• Would you like to seek fresh ideas and different perspectives?

• Need assistance and insights to enable growth?

The University of Birmingham is working with host organisations to provide work based learning opportunities exclusively to UoB students and recent graduates from a variety of disciplines and across all degree levels. Importantly, candidates must only have limited work experience to participate in the scheme.  The programme supports students and graduates by reducing barriers to entry and supporting the development of skills required to build and maintain fulfilling careers.

The benefits

• You will get bespoke support from a member of the Internships Team to build your role and receive advice and guidance throughout the recruitment process.

• The team will arrange targeted promotion of your role to ensure that we connect you with the most suitable candidates.

• You will get access to a diverse pool of candidates from  a wide range of disciplines, including our postgraduate community and recent graduates.

• You will have the opportunity to work with emerging talent from the University of Birmingham and help to support our students’ career development through practical work experience and mentorship.

• If funding an intern is a barrier to you, students receive a bursary to financially support their experience and day to day living costs, to undertake a total of 70 hours (10 days) or 140 hours (20 days).

When can an internship take place?

This is a flexible programme with the option for internships to be undertaken full-time or part-time, to suit you and the successful candidate. We encourage all types of internships in terms of including in-person, hybrid or fully remote, and we’ll work with you to find the perfect duration to suit your business needs.

Previously, the B-Experienced programme has been open on a rolling basis. For 2025-26, we will be operating the scheme in three separate cycles, this is to enable us to offer more wraparound support to students, and to improve our administrative processes. Please note you can offer internships across multiple cycles.

The cycles will take place as follows; however, these are subject to change. There will be very limited flexibility to begin internships before the start dates within each cycle, so if you would like a start date of (for example) April, please join Cycle 1 or if (for example) you would like a start date of July, please join Cycle 2.

Cycle 1: Autumn

• Proposal forms submitted – Friday 10th October 2025

• Vacancies go live – Wednesday 22^nd October 2025

• Interns start – From January 2026

Cycle 2: Spring

• Proposal forms submitted – Friday 13th February 2026

• Vacancies go live - Wednesday 25^th February 2026

• Interns start – From May 2026

Cycle 3: Summer

• Proposal forms submitted – Friday 15th May 2026

• Vacancies go live – Wednesday 27^th May 2026

• Interns start – From August 2026

Funding

Unless you are a charity, voluntary organisation, associated fund raising body or a statutory body, students/graduates are legally entitled to be paid at National Minimum Wage if they are a worker. There is the option for the internship to be funded via a student bursary from the University, if you choose this option and you are a private company, it is classed as unpaid, therefore, the intern should not be expected to produce work at the same level of a paid employee.

Your responsibilities as a host organisation

• Applicants to your opportunity must be a student currently undertaking a University of Birmingham undergraduate or postgraduate degree programme or a recent University of Birmingham graduate.  

• You are expected to offer part-time or full-time internships on a flexible basis. The University recommends that students undertake up to 15 hours a week during term time, to fit around studies and other commitments. 

• Interns should undertake no more than 7 hours in a day for the purposes of this programme. A 10-day internship will last a total of 70 hours and a 20-day internship will be 140 hours respectively.  

• When utilising the B-Experienced programme to tap into the University of Birmingham student community, you are expected to provide a positive learning environment from the application process to the end of the placement. To enhance students’/graduates’ personal and professional development, host organisations must offer constructive feedback and offer encouragement (written and verbal).  

• You must be able to provide supervision and guidance, providing named contacts, to maintain a positive learning experience for the intern, committed to deliver an induction; agreeing internship timescales and objectives/expectations with your intern. Exposure to a working environment, offering insights, work shadowing and professional networks will further enhance the experience.  

• Opportunities will only be accepted that do not unlawfully discriminate either directly or indirectly, on such grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sexual orientation or age, within the Equality Act 2010, and all directives relating to equality and discrimination.  

• A Volunteer Agreement will be provided to you outlining further detail. This requires your signature before the opportunity can commence.

Register your interest

You can register your interest by completing our B-Experienced interest form. If you wish to recruit an intern who can start from May 2025, please complete this by Monday 19^th January 2026.

Please note: We receive a significant number of marketing roles for the programme and student feedback has requested a greater variety of opportunities via the scheme, therefore, we will be limiting the number of marketing roles we advertise this year. Please consider expanding the remit of the role to include other areas.

If you would like to offer a paid or voluntary internship solely in marketing, we would encourage you to upload this directly to our vacancies board. Please read our Terms & Conditions beforehand to check your role would meet our advertising criteria. You can find guidance and our Terms & Conditions on our website. Please contact our team on internships@contacts.bham.ac.uk if you would like to discuss this further.

Contact the Internships team

To find out more about the programme and ask any questions you may have, please contact internships@contacts.bham.ac.uk.