Santander – funded work experience initiatives

Supporting student and graduate career development
Santander – funded work experience initiatives

The University of Plymouth has worked in partnership with Santander for several years. Funded internship and work experience initiatives have always proven popular and beneficial for students, graduates and employers. Building on previous successful schemes we are pleased to announce two new programmes available to SMEs for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic cycle.

If finances are currently holding you back from offering a workplace experience to our students or recent graduates then either initiative could be the solution for you, whilst the funding is available.

Funding will be allocated on a first come first served basis, to those who meet the eligibility criteria and at the discretion of the Employer Engagement team within the Careers Service. All bursary payments will be coordinated by the University and made payable direct to the individual. 

What are the benefits to offering work-experience?

  • A student or graduate can bring fresh ideas, enthusiasm and a new perspective to the team
  • The opportunity to focus efforts on a designated project and tasks
  • An excellent way to potentially identify a talented individual for your team longer-term
  • Helps to raise the profile of your business to the student network
  • Provides the individual with the opportunity to gain work-experience and expand upon a number of ‘employability skills’
  • Enables the individual to start developing their own professional network

Santander Employability Scheme

Through this brand-new scheme, SMEs have the opportunity to host a current student or recent graduate, who will help the business with a small project and other associated tasks, over a condensed experience.

As one of the Santander Partner Universities, we can provide funding to students and graduates who will receive a one-off bursary payment upon completion of the experience, meaning there is no financial commitment needed from the business. If the individual does well for you, and you would like to employ them directly afterwards, that’s entirely possible!

What's involved?

  • Create an opportunity and advertise via the Careers Service, followed by your normal recruitment process
  • The student or graduate will assist with a small project and ad-hoc tasks (up to 100 hours, 20 hours per week maximum for students in term time)
  • End of experience de-brief on the project and time spent with the team
  • Bursary payment made to the student by the Careers Service, upon completion
  • Host and student to complete a case study about the experience.

SME eligibility Criteria:

  • You are a small to medium enterprise (SME) with fewer than 250 employees
  • You have a turnover of less than £50 million a year
  • Your organisation has suitable liability insurance and H&S procedures

Careers Insight Programme

We believe that anyone with the potential to succeed at University should be given the opportunity to do so and we understand that some students may have additional barriers to overcome in order to develop their career.

With this in mind, and in collaboration with Santander, we have developed this new targeted initiative to help our less-advantaged and under-represented undergraduate students with developing important employability skills and an opportunity to gain a hands-on insight into the working environment. This will also be an opportunity for the student to develop their own professional network.

The programme is designed to replicate a normal recruitment process as closely as possible and can be completed with either a department internal to the University or an external business.

What’s involved?

  • An authentic experience of graduate recruitment (application and interview process, induction and relevant training)
  • A five-week period of part-time work experience (up to 20 hours per week)
  • Assisting a host with a small project, ad-hoc tasks and some work shadowing
  • Insight into the organisation’s structure, sector and typical career journey of the team
  • End of experience de-brief on their project and time spent with the host
  • Bursary payment made to the student by the Careers Service upon completion
  • Host and student to complete a case study about the experience

For more detailed information

The process is simple and our team is here to help throughout. If you are interested and would like to find out, please contact the team via internships@plymouth.ac.uk to arrange a call.

Other ways employers can engage

Via the Careers Service employers can engage with students in a number of ways. For more information on work placements, internships, employer mentoring and the various events that we facilitate, please see our Employer engagement opportunities page.

Hear from past Santander bursary recipients

Megan Pearce – BSc (Hons) Environmental Science

Santander gave me the opportunity to gain experience in an industry that I have not previously had exposure to. I had considered a technical role in the environmental sector and this experience confirmed for me that this is what I would like to pursue.

Emilie Ehrhardt – BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare

This bursary enabled me to complete this internship with good gear and thereby helped me develop skills and build up an impressive portfolio to use for future employment.