York Internships

We consider an internship to be a project-based, high-quality piece of work that can be completed within a defined period of time (4-12 weeks). 

Projects should provide clear and tangible outcomes for the intern and your organisation, and should be of an appropriate standard and nature. 

Virtual internships

We aim to be as flexible as possible to find the right working arrangement for you, which is why we also support virtual internships, where interns can work remotely.

They can largely be completed on a flexible basis without the need for regular face to face supervision, which allows the intern to get on with the project in hand and the supervisor to get on with their day to day work.

Some examples of the types of projects that have been completed on a virtual basis recently by University of York students include Digital Marketing, Social Media Management, Research, Business Development and Analysis. Read more about some of the tasks associated with these roles.

We have hints and tips to support businesses during recruitment, selection and the duration of the virtual project.

Step 1 - Project scoping

• Speak to the York Internships team to discuss your ideas for an internship, the scope of the project and the skills and experience required to achieve your outcomes
• Download and complete one of the Expression of Interest forms linked above, after which we'll prepare a project brief that forms the basis of the advert that the students see
• Sign up as an employer on Handshake (this helps us manage employer relationships and track analytics effectively)

Step 2 - Advertising

• The York Internships Team will share a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with you for recruiting an intern
• Once the project brief is agreed and confirmed, the opportunity will be advertised through our Careers Portal, Handshake, for a minimum of two weeks
• York Internships will monitor applications throughout this period and promote the internship as needed through various marketing channels appropriate to your particular role

Step 3 - Shortlisting and Interviews

• When advertising is completed we will shortlist the applications and provide you with the applications of the most suitable candidates. Once you’ve reviewed the applications you may contact some or all of the candidates to arrange interviews at your convenience. We are happy to provide interview space on campus if needed.
• Remember to keep York Internships informed along the way of interview dates agreed, and advise us of your decision once you’ve chosen your intern and provided additional feedback to unsuccessful interviewees
• Confirm to York Internships the agreement made with the student regarding a start date, hours/days of work and any flexible working arrangements if applicable (especially for part time roles)

Step 4 - Contracting & payroll

• Complete onboarding process and prepare the required paperwork for both parties to sign. This should be arranged directly with the intern
• Add the intern to your payroll in accordance with your organisation’s standard processes

Step 5 - During and after the internship

• York Internships will contact you in the first couple of weeks of the project to ensure that everything is progressing as expected
• Interns may be visited in the workplace during the project and an evaluation will be sent electronically to all intern hosts at the end of the project

We encourage payment at the Real Living Wage wherever possible; however, all interns must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

Please note that for full-time internships, we will work on the assumption that any bank holidays that occur over the course of the project will be paid as normal unless informed otherwise.

Funding: Please note that the Santander Universities SME Internship Programme has now come to an end. We thank Santander for their generous support over the years as their agenda now moves to a different focus of supporting students directly.

If you've got a project in mind, please download and complete the relevant Expression of Interest form below and return via email to careers-placements@york.ac.uk

Type of host	Expression of Interest form
External employers	York Internships Employer EOI (MS Word , 72kb)
APP part-funded University of York departments	York Internships On-Campus Department EOI (MS Word , 76kb)

The White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership brings together seven universities - Leeds, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Hull, Manchester Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam - to offer high-quality, interdisciplinary doctoral training in the social sciences.

3 month placement projects are welcome from host organisations of any industry, sector and size, and hosts can benefit in the following ways:

• Little (or no) cost to hosts as the researcher is funded through their studentship
• Specialist research and analytical skills to tackle a discrete project, challenge or research question
• Extra capacity to deliver projects you may not have time to progress
• Fresh perspectives from a researcher trained across multiple disciplines
• Projects welcome from organisations in any industry, sector & size

This process is managed externally through the White Rose Doctoral Training Programme. For more information, please read their host guidance.

To chat through potential project ideas or any queries you might have, please contact us at careers-placements@york.ac.uk.

Previous projects, which have produced significant benefits for the hosting company, have included:

• Establishing a China desk and creating the content for an inward investment page for a chartered accountant's website in Mandarin and English by two of our international students.
• Researching, developing and implementing a more comprehensive customer outreach and engagement plan for a heating and renewable energy company.
• Investigating the removal of chemicals from hard surfaces by rainfall and washing for a research agency.
• Executive assistant to senior management team for a mental healthcare provider, creating an electronic record of serious incidents and ensuing investigations.
• Carrying out detailed household surveys with a housing trust's residents to ascertain household characteristics, circumstances and their awareness of key issues. 

2023

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2022

• Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) Case Study

2021

• Rural Arts Case Study (PDF , 523kb)
• Ellers Farm Distillery (PDF , 77kb)‌

Did you know that just over 20% of the University of York's student population come from outside the UK, from almost 100 countries across the world? Many international students are actively seeking work experience and internship opportunities both to develop their skills and knowledge in the workplace, and to contribute to UK business' competitive advantage in the global market.

The cultural knowledge and language skills that come with an international student could benefit your business in a range of ways, from developing international marketing materials to providing insight into an overseas business market for potential import/export activities.

Contact us to discuss how the University's international student population can drive your business forward this year. 

Previous University of York interns have undertaken a wide range of projects with companies in York and the North Yorkshire region, giving businesses a unique insight into overseas markets, and for potential import and export activities. Examples of previous projects include:

• Multilingual web content translation project for an executive search agency
• Establishing an inward investment China Desk in York for an accountancy firm
• Researching the latest products being used and marketed abroad, and their success and viability in the UK for a renewable energy company
• Organising a business summit for international visitors to York for a conference business
• Developing a market report exploring the opportunities for export to the Far East for a food manufacturer 
  

Case study: Developing a China desk in York

Garbutt & Elliott engaged two Chinese postgraduate students, Jingwen Feng and Xu Wang, to develop a China Desk for the company and to create content for an inward investment web page in Mandarin.

Garbutt & Elliott commented that, ‘Jingwen’s and Xu’s outstanding commitment has enabled us to begin development of a reputation as a trusted advisor to Chinese firms investing in the UK. It is important for world-class universities such as the University of York to demonstrate the great opportunities available to students by taking on internships in companies with vision.’

Are you an SME manager or owner wondering whether to recruit a student or graduate? Perhaps you want to explore what a student or graduate could offer your business and find out more about what might be involved.

Our SME toolkit is designed to give you information, advice and tips to help you with your next steps, learning more about the potential benefits to your business, different ways to access and utilise student expertise, and how to support and retain them once they are on board.

Q. Is taking on an intern only for large businesses?

Not at all - York Internships are available for businesses of all sizes. There is no limit to the number of projects you can run or the number of interns you can hire. 

Q. Why do I need to register as an employer?

This is so that we can manage our employer relationships and also effectively track analytics. It's helpful for us to know as a careers service whether businesses have hosted interns in the past. It also means that if you want to advertise other opportunities that don't quite fit the internship programme, you're already set up on the system.

Q. What type of projects can it cover?

The sky's the limit, as long as it's deliverable against our timeframes and is designed to have a significant impact on your business - take a look at our case studies for inspiration. Some past examples of intern roles have included software developers, CRM programmers, market research assistants, website translators, social media content creators and data analysts.

Q. How long is the internship? Can I keep an intern on afterwards?

Our internships generally last between 4 and 12 weeks, and if you start at the lower end, you're welcome to extend it once the internship has started. If you wish to retain your intern after the project has ended, this is fine as long as the intern is agreeable.

Q. Do I need business premises – can they work hybrid?

As well as in-person internships, we also offer remote and hybrid projects, which are perfect for businesses that have limited working space or premises. Take a look at our hints and tips to support businesses undertaking a virtual internship.

Q. Can you help with the job description and can I interview the applicants?

Of course. Once we receive your EOI, we draft up a project brief that forms the basis of your advert. At this point we also confirm key dates such as interviews and start date. Once we've drafted this we share it with you to make sure you're happy with the wording, and then we'd advertise this via Handshake. After the advert closes and we've completed the first round of shortlisting, we send the candidate list onto you so that you can review this and arrange interviews directly with candidates. 

Q. Do they go on my payroll? How much should I pay them?

Yes, they would be added to your payroll in the same way as any other employee. As a Real Living Wage Employer, we encourage payment at the Real Living Wage wherever possible; however, all interns must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

Q. Do I need Employers Liability Insurance?

We ask that all hosts have Employers Liability insurance to cover any potential risks and/or issues that could occur such as damage or illness. If you don't have this, most insurance providers will allow you to take out a short term policy to cover you for the duration of the internship.

Internship projects

Intern projects are generally between 4 and 12 weeks in duration and can be completed full time or part time.

They centre on projects with defined outcomes which will add value to the work of the department, and do not replace or ‘stand in’ for existing, regular work.

All internships should be project based and offer tangible benefits to the department while providing challenging and graduate-level work experience to the student, allowing them the opportunity to develop and build skills.

Previous intern projects have involved:

• designing activities to enhance student engagement
• creating online outreach and learning activities for local schools
• auditing marketing channels and creating new content to support departmental outreach and recruitment
• evaluating inclusion and diversity in the curriculum
• reviewing the accessibility of learning resources 
• providing research assistance and data analysis support for existing projects

Rates and administration

The current intern rate of pay is £12.60 per hour (in line with the University's real living wage commitment, increasing to £13.45 from 1 May 2026. The cost to the department is currently £16.12 per hour (increasing to £16.97 per hour from 1 May 2026) to allow for employer on-costs (inclusive of holiday pay, apprenticeship levy and NI). 

Our processes vary depending on whether you are interested in an APP part-funded summer internship or not so please see below and read the relevant information carefully.

If you have any questions please email the Placements Team at careers-placements@york.ac.uk.

With the exception of internships which are supported by APP funding during the summer vacation (which are administered by Careers and Placements), we ask that departments advertise these directly through Handshake and administer the internship engagements directly with the University's Casual Worker Team. This allows you flexibility to manage recruitment and on-boarding, and the Placements Team in Careers is happy to support you with any questions you may have around what makes a good project. For details about how to use Handshake, please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk 

Please note that we encourage payment at the Real Living Wage wherever possible; however, all interns must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. Should departments wish to use it, there is an Internships hourly rate available on the casual workers hourly rates list, which is aligned to the Real Living Wage.

Please contact the team at careers-placements@york.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

We will continue to offer full advertising support, and completion of the administration for internships which are part-funded via the *University’s Access & Participation Plan (APP). 

If you would like to recruit a summer intern that aligns with the APP eligibility criteria, this means that we will help you form a project brief as well as advertise the internship to our students, shortlist applicants and provide you with the candidates best suited to your project. We will also complete all the relevant paperwork for the project and pay students via Dashboard using your designated workorder (for your contribution to the project).  

*Eligibility criteria for these internships aligns with the Office for Students’ guidance on those student groups eligible to receive funding under the Progression part of York's specific Access and Participation Plan. This means that students applying for, and completing, part-funded APP summer internships, administered by Careers and Placements, must be undergraduate home students, and meet one or more of the characteristics listed under the dropdown 'Internal UoY Staff: APP funding - student eligibility criteria'. 

Funding

APP funding can cover 50% of the cost of a project. Each department can express an interest in accessing funding for up to two interns.

How to apply

The application window for funding runs from 1-31 March. Please complete an Expression of Interest form by 31 March, which can be found under the 'Expressions of Interest forms' drop-down further up the page.

We will endeavour to provide participating departments with a 50% subsidy wherever possible. All applications will be reviewed once the window closes on 31 March, and applicants will be contacted once the review process is complete.

Departments should be aware that they will need to provide Careers and Placements with a workorder for their internship contribution; this will be requested at the point of advertising a project, and departments should ensure that they have authorised Careers and Placements to be able to use the workorder; without this authorisation intern payments may be delayed.

The full recruitment process can take up to six weeks in total. The above deadlines allow for this.

If you have any questions please email the Placements Team at careers-placements@york.ac.uk.

For departments wishing to appoint a part-funded summer intern through the University’s Access & Participation Plan (APP) funding, applicants must meet one or more of the following characteristics:

Characteristics

• I am a care leaver (meeting the student finance definition)

• I am care experienced (not meeting the student finance definition of being a care leaver)

• I am estranged from my family

• I am a recipient of York Bursary

• I was eligible for free school meals or discretionary payments at high school/college (not including universal infant free school meals)

• I have unpaid caring responsibilities for a parent, family member, partner or friend.

• I am a student parent

• I am currently seeking asylum in the UK

• I have refugee status in the UK

• IMD Postcode Quintile 1 or 2

• Neither of my parents attended university (or they went to university as a mature student during my secondary education)

• Disabled students (this includes students with long-term health conditions, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health conditions)

• I am a mature student (21+ on the first day of undergraduate study at the University of York)

• My gender identity is different to that assigned to me at birth

• I identify as LGBTQ+

• I am from a military family (while I have been in education my parent(s) have served in the military)

Ethnicity:

• Black or Black British - African 

• Black or Black British - Caribbean

• Black or Black British - Any other Black background

• Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen or Boater background

• Arab

• Asian / Asian British - Bangladeshi

• Asian / Asian British - Chinese 

• Asian / Asian British - Pakistani

• Asian / Asian British - Indian

• Asian - Any other Asian background

• Mixed - White and Asian

• Mixed - White and Black African

• Mixed - White and Black Caribbean

• Mixed - Any other multiple ethnic background

• Other