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.

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 , 73kb)

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.

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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.