Work Experience Guidance for Managers

‌This guidance is designed for managers who have been approached by young persons or schools/colleges wishing to arrange work experience placements for students.  It will also assist departments providing work experience opportunities to adults, as the principles are similar.

Placements are arranged directly between University departments and the student, school or college seeking the placement.

The term ‘work experience’ generally refers to a specified period of time that an individual spends with a business, during which they have an opportunity to learn directly about working life and the working environment, this could involve carrying out work like tasks on a voluntary basis or work shadowing/observing.  Time wise, placements will normally range from one day to one or two weeks. 

A student undertaking work experience must not be required to complete a range of tasks set for them in a manner or timeframe that would be deemed as working.  Neither can they be held to specific ‘working times’, as they are not working and so can effectively leave at any time.

It is important that any arrangement for the placement does not make the student a worker for national minimum wage purposes.

Bring your child to work days held by departments/faculties are not covered by this guidance.

Work experience can be a valuable part of a student’s education and offering placements can help them to:

• Gain an understanding of the world of work and the do’s and don’ts of the workplace
• Choose the type of career they might wish to pursue
• Improve their interpersonal skills
• Identify their own skills and learn new key skills
• Show their motivation and thus improve their employability

Offering work placements can also be a positive experience for Imperial College, as it can:

• Promote and raise the profile of Imperial College as a potential employer
• Send a positive message to current staff and the wider workforce community
• Enable us to access a wider range of talent
• Provide new ideas and ways of thinking from young people, allowing us to reflect on the interests and needs of the next generation
• Help develop current staff by providing opportunities to supervise and mentor a young person

5.1 Official placements

Work experience placements will normally be formalised via the respective school or college.  Please also see * below.

Schools may sometimes request to carry out an inspection prior to the placement.  We are not obliged to do this, and it is acceptable for you to inform the school that we do not accommodate such inspections.

5.2 Unofficial placements

If you wish to arrange an informal work placement, for example if you have received a request from a member of Imperial College staff for their family/friends, you may do so.  All legislative processes and Imperial College policy mentioned within this guidance must still be adhered to.

* When offering a placement (either official or unofficial), it is strongly recommended that you document the arrangement that you have made with the student, and keep a record of any oral agreements in setting up the arrangements and any subsequent changes. In particular, if someone claims that they owed minimum wage arrears, you must demonstrate that they are not a worker for minimum wage purposes or that no arrears are owed.  A template Work Experience placement agreement is available for your use and adaptation as necessary.

5.3 Adult placements

There may be instances when you wish to offer a short period of work experience to an adult, i.e. a person over 18 years of age, this could be for the purposes of learning/updating skills, strengthening a CV and increasing employability, or for other reasons broadly in line with the benefits of work experience mentioned above. 

Such a placement must never be used as a substitute for an individual undertaking paid employment and should only be for a short period of no longer than one month.  If in any doubt, please contact the Strategic HR Partner for your faculty. 

If you intend to offer a work experience opportunity to an adult with a learning or physical disability, you may find Imperial College’s Disability Confident Leader webpage of use.  If you would like further advice on supporting an individual with learning disabilities, please contact Imperial College’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team. 

5.4 Authorisation to offer a placement

Unless part of a scheme administered by or in conjunction with Student Recruitment and Outreach, all work experience placements should be agreed in writing with your Head of Department/Division/School or Institute, or with their nominated delegate for this area, prior to an offer being made.  Any perceived issues relating to equal opportunities (see 7.1 below), or the grounds on which the placement will be offered or promoted, should be taken into account prior to approval. 

5.5 Points to consider

When offering a work placement opportunity, you will need to consider the following points:

• The time and resources available to devote to the placement
• Suitable tasks and duties, the student should not have access to highly confidential or sensitive material
• Health, safety and welfare implications
• Regulatory requirements
• The time will take the student to learn and understand the tasks involved
• The timing of the placement and any disruption it is likely to cause to workplace routine/critical tasks, e.g. can your department only accommodate placements outside of term time.

Work experience is unpaid. Students are not entitled to receive the national minimum wage when undertaking a placement that does not involve any work being performed, such as work shadowing. They are only observing and are not performing work.

Additionally, students who are undertaking a placement on a voluntary basis are not workers for national minimum wage purposes.

Students will normally be responsible for paying their own travel costs to and from the placement, although it is at each department’s discretion if they wish to cover this cost.

7.1 Equal Opportunities

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, Imperial College is committed to equal opportunities and encourages work experience for all students regardless of  gender, race and disability, including mental health. Equality of opportunity in relation to work experience openings should also be taken into account when offering and authorising placements.

7.2 Eligibility

Work experience is governed by the Education Act 1996, as amended by the Schools Standards & Framework Act 1998. To ensure a child or young person is eligible to undertake work experience, the following must be followed:

• Only students in their last 2 years of compulsory schooling (usually age 14 to 16), or students taking post-16 courses are eligible.
• Placements occur on the employer’s premises; and
• Pre-16 placements generally will last for up to two weeks, but post-16 placements can be more varied in length.

 7.3 Right to Work check

7.4 Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

As part of the risk assessment, attention must be given to Imperial College’s legal requirements in relation to DBS checks.  It is a criminal offence to knowingly employ an individual barred by the DBS to work in a ‘Regulated Activity’ with children (under 18) and adults invulnerable situations.  For working with children this will generally be unsupervised teaching, training, instructing, or supervising on a frequent (one day a week on a regular basis or four or more days in a 30 day period).

Any member of staff who is likely to be or will be alone with a child under the age of 18 or a vulnerable adult as part of a work placement, there will be a requirement to obtain a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to the start of the placement. This is to ensure compliance with Imperial College’s Child Protection Policy.  This will also be required where a member of staff will have regular 1-2-1 contact with a child under the age of 18 for more than three days.  In the latter circumstance, having two members of staff working together (to avoid regular 1-2-1 contact) would negate this requirement.

Any queries regarding DBS checks should be directed to Imperial College’s Staff Compliance team.

7.5 Permitted placement hours

Under the Children and Young Persons Act, no child under 13 may be employed but there are several restrictions on when and where children are allowed to work.

Work experience arranged by a local authority or school

Provided the work experience is arranged by a local authority or a school with a view to provide a child with work experience as part of their education, and that child is in their last two years of compulsory education, then particular restrictions in relation to working hours should not apply.  However, children should usually work no more than eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. 

All other work involving children

In relation to all other form of work experience, children are not allowed to work:

• without an employment permit issued by the education department of the local council, if this is required by local bylaws
• during school hours
• before 7am or after 7pm
• for more than one hour before school (unless local bylaws allow it)
• for more than 4 hours without taking a break of at least 1 hour
• in any work that may be harmful to their health, well-being or education
• without having a 2-week break from any work during the school holidays in each calendar year

Term time rules:

During term time children can only work a maximum of 12 hours a week. This includes:

• a maximum of 2 hours on school days and Sundays
• a maximum of 5 hours on Saturdays for 13 to 14-year-olds, or 8 hours for 15 to 16-year-olds

School holiday rules:

During school holidays 13 to 14-year-olds are only allowed to work a maximum of 25 hours a week. This includes:

• a maximum of 5 hours on weekdays and Saturdays
• a maximum of 2 hours on Sunday

During school holidays 15 to 16-year-olds can only work a maximum of 35 hours a week. This includes:

• a maximum of 8 hours on weekdays and Saturdays
• a maximum of 2 hours on Sunday

Full-time work

Children can only start full-time work once they’ve reached the minimum school leaving age (16 years of age), they can then work up to a maximum of 40 hours a week.

8.1 Safeguarding

All work experience must comply with Imperial College’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, to ensure the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This includes the following areas:

8.2 Risk Assessment

To reduce the possibility of the young person having an accident, it is important to carry out a risk assessment in advance of the placement start date.  Consideration of the student’s immaturity as well as their inexperience should be noted and that they may have a different understanding to adults of  what constitutes a risk in any given situation You must provide information to the parent/guardian on the risks identified in the Safeguarding risk assessment template, associated control measures and the provision of information necessary for training, and the supervision provided, before the Young Person starts work.

You should contact the Safety Department regarding any concerns in this area.  Any dangerous activities should be avoided, and arrangements should be made for adequate supervision.

Work related social events must be risk assessed, especially when alcohol is being served.  The age, safety and wellbeing of the young person must be considered, and work colleagues must assess the appropriateness of such events. Imperial College has a duty of care, if the young person is on Imperial College premises.

8.3 Children and Young Persons on campus

Imperial College's webpage on Children and Young Persons on campus provides further advice on the actions departments should take in order to prevent children from being exposed to danger whilst on University premises. 

When a work experience placement is offered, managers should contact insurance@imperial.ac.uk to ensure that the individual is covered by Imperial College’s employer’s insurance liability.

8.4 Data Protection

You must hold work placement students’ personal details in line with Imperial College’s Data Protection policy and Retention Schedule.

The student should also be made aware of how their personal information will be used/shared in order to administer their work experience placement.  The Privacy Notice for Staff and Prospective Staff broadly covers this. and you may share this with them.  The Workplace Agreement provides a link to Student Recruitment and Outreach Data Privacy Notice, applicable for students who confirm their information may be recorded by Student Recruitment and Outreach.

A copy of Imperial College’s Work Experience Placement Agreement form should be forwarded to Student Recruitment and Outreach (outreach@imperial.ac.uk) for their records, once all parties have signed this.

9.1 Induction

A child or young person may have very limited experience of working.  Formal supervision should be arranged, to ensure that they have adequate support in their new role. The supervisor must monitor working hours, ensure the Safeguarding Code of Conduct is being followed and look after the wellbeing and safety of the young person.  It can be helpful to have regular feedback meetings, to ask about the placement and any areas where they are excelling or require additional support.

In addition to formal supervision, it can be useful to provide a ‘buddy’ for the placement period, who will be their informal supervisor and/or coach. The purpose of a buddy is to provide informal guidance and encouragement, and a familiar face. It is important that work experience students are encouraged to ask questions whenever they are in doubt, to ensure they become more confident in their role, and learn from experiences. Section 7.4 on DBS checks, mentioned above, should also be referred to, alternately a Buddy should not be put into a position where a DBS check would be required.

The Work Experience checklist sets out useful points to note, along with items to include and documents to provide when planning the induction.

9.2 Day One Health and Safety Induction

Work Experience students must complete the Day One Health and Safety Induction.  Both the form and guidance for managers can be located on the Safety webpage.

9.3 Access to College online systems

Access to Imperial College online systems will not normally be given as a matter of course to work placement students due to the administrative burden and risks involved.  However, if the nature of the learning activities would be benefited by access to Imperial College online system, e.g. TalentLink, Planon, you should contact the relevant department/team to enquire whether temporary access is possible, after first gaining any locally required approvals.

Please do think carefully about the potential risks involved prior to requesting this type of access and ensure that access is revoked at the end of the placement.

9.4 Confidentiality

Where work placement students are given access to any confidential information or data, you must inform them of their responsibility to maintain confidentiality. Be mindful that they might not appreciate when something is confidential and so what is considered confidential should be explained to them.          

9.5 At the end of the placement

At the end of the work experience placement, it is good practice to meet with the young person to review how everything went, for both the person on work experience as well as you.  Some students may have a log or diary which they must fill in during, and at the end of their time with you. You should review any such documentation from a confidentiality of Imperial College information perspective and if there is space to write a comment or feedback, offer to do so.

Further information on work experience is available from:

• Work Experience guidance - Health and Safety Executive
• Employers guide to Work Experience – Gov.uk
• Making work experience work, Top Tips for Employers – CIPD

Appendix 1: Work Experience Placement Agreement

Appendix 2: Work experience Induction Checklist