Work & volunteering · England
Trying work and learning new skills
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Work experience can help you try tasks and learn about a job.
Check what is agreed before you start.
Think about the work you want to try.
Ask what you will learn.
Agree your tasks, hours and when the placement ends.
Ask who will support you.
Work shadowing means watching someone do their job.
Doing their work is different.
Ask which kind of placement you are being offered.
Ask whether you will be paid.
Calling something unpaid does not decide your rights.
Ask Acas for advice if you are unsure.
A supported internship is a type of education programme.
It includes workplace learning and a job coach.
Ask your college or council whether you can apply.
Explain what helps you learn and communicate.
You may need clear instructions, pictures, demonstrations or breaks.
Ask who will arrange and pay for support.
Check travel, meals and other expenses.
Check how the placement could affect your benefits.
Ask how to do tasks safely.
Tell someone if you feel unsafe or are treated badly.
Ask for feedback you can understand.
Check what you have learned and what you want next.
A placement does not guarantee a paid job.
Use the worksheet to agree a useful next step.
What you can do next
Ask for a clear placement agreement.
Check pay, support and the review date.
Read about placements and pay Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- GOV.UK: internships and pay Web page
Employment status, minimum wage and important exceptions.
- Supported internships in England Web page
The official programme, job coaches, eligibility and intended outcomes.
- Acas: recruitment and unpaid trials Web page
Questions about a recruitment trial and when payment may be needed.
- Access to Work eligibility Web page
Check the rules for your circumstances and type of work.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Work experience, placements and supported internships
Plan a useful placement, check support and pay, and understand the difference between learning, shadowing and doing a job.
People aged 16 and over · England · School-age placements have separate rules
Choose a useful purpose
A placement can help you explore an occupation, learn tasks and decide what work suits you. Agree what you want to learn, the tasks, hours, start and end dates, supervision and feedback. Ask who will help if things go wrong. Repeated unpaid placements without progress should prompt a discussion about different support and routes into paid employment.
Understand what kind of opportunity it is
Work shadowing means observing someone rather than doing their work. A placement or internship may involve work and learning. An apprenticeship is a paid job with training. These names do not settle employment status or rights. Ask the organisation to explain the actual arrangements, whether you will be paid, and why it considers any unpaid placement lawful.
When minimum wage may be due
Someone classed as a worker will normally be entitled to the minimum wage unless a specific exemption applies. Agreeing to an “unpaid internship” cannot remove an entitlement that exists. Exceptions can include qualifying course-required placements, certain government programmes, compulsory-school-age experience and qualifying voluntary workers. Shadowing without performing work is different. Check the exact conditions with Acas; do not assume all students or charity placements are exempt.
Check unpaid trials carefully
An unpaid recruitment trial is not automatically lawful because it is short or called a test. Relevant factors include whether there is a genuine job, how much observation occurs, the length of the trial and whether the work benefits the employer beyond assessing the applicant. There is no universal safe unpaid duration. Keep the advert, messages, tasks and hours, and seek advice if a trial looks like free staffing.
Supported internships in England
The main supported-internship programme is a structured study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 with special educational needs and disabilities and an education, health and care (EHC) plan. It includes a substantial work placement with a job coach and aims for sustained paid employment. Interns remain in education; placements are normally unpaid and last six months to a year. Someone ready for paid work should be supported to move into it promptly, even before the planned finish. Ask the college or council about current eligibility and provision.
Arrange support before starting
Discuss accessible instructions, demonstrations, task breakdown, processing time, communication aids, breaks, sensory needs and travel. Agree a named supervisor and, where relevant, job coach. A passport can record what helps, with agreement about sharing. Access to Work has specific provision for eligible supported internships and some work-related arrangements; ordinary volunteering is excluded. Confirm eligibility, funding responsibility and approval before incurring costs.
Safety, inclusion and problems
Ask for accessible induction, emergency information and any equipment or training the tasks require. Explain concerns promptly to the supervisor and education or placement provider. Employment and Equality Act protections depend on status and arrangements; education duties may also be relevant. Do not assume that being unpaid removes every protection. Ask for independent advice if support is refused, treatment is discriminatory or you feel unsafe.
Check money and benefits
Clarify pay, expenses, meals, travel and who buys equipment. Ask when payments will arrive and how to claim them. Placements and study can affect benefits differently from ordinary volunteering. Check with a benefits adviser or the office paying your benefit before starting or changing hours. Do not rely on an employer’s assurance that an unpaid placement cannot affect benefits.
Review progress and the next step
Agree review dates and feedback you can understand. Record the tasks you learned, support that helped and work you would like to try next. Ask about a reference and routes into paid work. A successful placement does not guarantee a job. Use the worksheet to agree actions rather than allowing the placement to continue without a purpose or end date.
Words you could use
“Please explain the placement’s purpose, tasks, hours, pay or unpaid-work exemption, support and review date. I would like to learn … and need these adjustments: …”
More useful links
- GOV.UK: internships and pay Web page
Employment status, minimum wage and important exceptions.
- Supported internships in England Web page
The official programme, job coaches, eligibility and intended outcomes.
- Acas: recruitment and unpaid trials Web page
Questions about a recruitment trial and when payment may be needed.
- Access to Work eligibility Web page
Check the rules for your circumstances and type of work.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- GOV.UK: employment rights and pay for interns Web page
Status, legal rights, shadowing and minimum-wage exceptions.
- GOV.UK: minimum wage and work experience Web page
The reality of the arrangement, exemptions and record keeping.
- GOV.UK: minimum-wage eligibility Web page
Case-specific assessment of unpaid recruitment trials.
- Acas: interviewing job applicants Web page
Genuine recruitment trials and avoiding unpaid work that should be paid.
- Department for Education: supported internships Web page
Study programme, age/EHC-plan criteria, job coaching and transition to paid work.
- DWP: Access to Work staff guide Web page
Specific rules for supported internships and work-related placements.
- GOV.UK: Access to Work eligibility Web page
Main work eligibility and the exclusion of ordinary volunteering.
- GOV.UK: volunteering and claiming benefits Web page
Distinguishes volunteering from unpaid work and explains possible notional earnings.
- Acas: supporting disabled people at work Web page
Support and adjustments for employees, workers and applicants where employment duties apply.
- DWP: Access to Work factsheet for customers Web page
Supported-internship placement support and limits on other unpaid internships.
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