Finding an Internship or Apprenticeship in Great Britain

Reading behind the title: five labels, five realities

The same word can cover very different situations in Britain. The safest approach is to look at the stated conditions rather than the title.

• Work experience: a short immersion, often one to two weeks, meant to discover a job. It is common for school pupils and young people with no qualifications.
• Internship: an experience lasting several weeks or months, often in the summer, sometimes after graduation. Some are highly competitive and paid.
• Placement or sandwich year: a year in industry built into a university course, between the second and final years.
• Graduate scheme: an early-career programme, which is not an internship.
• Apprenticeship: a genuine employment contract combined with recognised training.

Ask three questions before accepting: what exact tasks, what supervision, what pay. An offer that is vague on all three deserves clarification in writing.

Great Britain or the United Kingdom: four systems not to mix up

Apprenticeships and training are devolved responsibilities. England, Scotland and Wales each have their own rules and portals; Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom but not of Great Britain, has its own scheme as well. An English portal therefore does not describe the steps to follow in Scotland or Wales.

In Scotland, the public body Skills Development Scotland presents three formulas: Foundation Apprenticeships for school pupils, Modern Apprenticeships for the world of work and Graduate Apprenticeships at university level. In Wales, information comes through Welsh government careers and guidance services. In England, a national service publishes vacancies and describes the levels, from the equivalent of lower secondary school up to a university degree.

When you read a personal account, check which nation it refers to, then when it was written, because these schemes evolve.

What the law says about pay

The general principle is simple: a person who works for an employer is normally entitled to the legal minimum wage. Unpaid internships are only possible in specific situations, for example a compulsory placement within a higher education course, genuine volunteering or simple observation without real work. Adverts for an “unpaid internship” aimed at graduates who would be doing real work should therefore be treated with caution.

Under the rates applying from April 2026, the hourly minimum wage is £12.71 for those aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds and £8.00 for under-18s. The apprentice rate is also set at £8.00: it applies to apprentices under 19 and, beyond that age, during the first year of the apprenticeship only. These amounts are revised every year; check with the relevant UK government service before you negotiate.

Pay above the minimum is common in finance, law, engineering and technology.

Apprenticeships: a job with training built in

A British apprentice is an employee. They work for an employer, follow training with an approved provider and work towards a recognised qualification. In England, a significant share of the time is devoted to off-the-job training, and the minimum duration is generally more than a year. Levels range from entry-level programmes up to master’s-level qualifications in some sectors.

These routes lead to a very wide range of careers: electrical work, cyber security, healthcare, accountancy, engineering, law, logistics, catering. Degree apprenticeships make it possible to earn a university degree with no tuition fees payable by the apprentice, because the employer and the state fund the training under rules specific to each country.

A foreign national must first settle the question of the right to work: an employer cannot hire someone without valid permission. For a European Union citizen arriving after Brexit, a suitable visa is generally required, and some jobs call for sponsorship by the employer.

Visas and the right to work for a candidate coming from France

Since Brexit, French citizens no longer benefit from free movement. The rules depend on the nature of the stay, and the same word (“internship”) guarantees no easier route.

• Student at a British university: the student visa limits part-time work; a compulsory placement within the course follows the rules of the sponsoring institution.
• Internship through an approved exchange programme: an approved work-based exchange category allows sponsoring organisations to host trainees within a defined framework.
• Stay as a visitor: does not allow you to work as an intern.
• Skilled employment: requires an employer holding a sponsor licence.

The United Kingdom no longer takes part in Erasmus+, except under bilateral arrangements. A youth experience scheme between the European Union and the United Kingdom has been discussed; its final conditions must be checked with the authorities before any decision.

Where to look: employers, platforms and careers services

Large employers publish their internship and placement programmes a year in advance. Financial institutions, audit and law firms, engineering companies and the civil service open applications in the autumn for the following summer, and sometimes close as soon as places are filled. A central bank, for example, presents its own programmes with distinct criteria, selection stages and dates.

Several editorial websites devoted to student careers bring together advice and vacancies: types of work experience, virtual experiences, volunteering, sectors. They are useful for comparing options, but the original advert remains the reference.

The careers services of British universities run fairs and CV workshops. If you study in France, also ask your school’s employer relations office, which sometimes knows alumni settled in London, Manchester or Edinburgh.

Applying: CV, covering letter and a British-style interview

A British CV runs to one or two pages, with no photo, no age and no family situation. It puts education first, then experience, with concrete results. The covering letter takes the place of the French letter of motivation: concise and targeted, it explains why this organisation and this role.

Many employers screen first through an online form, reasoning tests and a recorded video interview, then a day of evaluation (an assessment centre). Plan to practise for each stage. In interviews, behavioural questions (“describe a situation where…”) are common: structure your answer as context, action, result.

For a French-speaking candidate, two precautions are essential: a careful proofread in English by a native speaker, and the use of British spelling (organisation, programme).

An illustrative example: a business-school student in London

Imagine a French master’s student in management who wants a six-month internship in London at a consulting firm. The figures are hypothetical and rounded.

1. He starts searching in September for a March start, with fifteen applications.
2. Three employers invite him to online tests, two to an interview.
3. One firm offers him a six-month contract with monthly pay of a few thousand pounds, well above the legal minimum.
4. The school signs the agreement; the employer checks the right to work and supports the visa application in a suitable category.
5. He looks for shared housing, usually rented by the room, with a deposit and a month in advance.

This example is meant to show the order of the steps; each case depends on the rules of the moment and on the candidate’s nationality.

Frequent pitfalls and alternatives

• Accepting a prolonged “discovery” placement that looks like a job, without pay.
• Booking housing before the right to work is confirmed in writing.
• Overlooking the differences between nations and applying English rules to Scotland.
• Forgetting health insurance and transport costs, often high in London.
• Applying late: several programmes close as early as the autumn.

If an internship is not possible, look at the alternatives: a graduate programme, a university exchange year, seasonal work, or an internship in the French subsidiary of a British company. Each route has its own steps, but they all build experience that employers value.