Offer work experience

Offering work experience has a range of benefits: introduce young people to your sector, develop your recruitment pipelines and contribute to your local community.

By submitting your information via the form below, your organisation name and the details of your work experience offer will be added to our work experience opportunity listings.

We ask that all employers commit to responding to any enquiries within five working days (and ideally sooner).

List your work experience opportunity

All fields marked with * are required

Your name: *

Your job title: *

Your e-mail address: *

Your contact telephone number: *

Organisation name: *

Organisation address: *

Please tell us more about the type of placement/s you're able to offer: *

Please include the location and the nature of the work experience (e.g. office administration, classroom support)

Are there any time restrictions on the availability of your work experiece placements? *

For example, do you offer placements during certain months only?

How should young people apply for your work experience? *

Email us for more information

Submit a CV

Submit a cover letter

Please provide a contact email address for us to include in your listing: *

Is there anything else you would like to tell us? *

By submitting the information above, you consent to being added to our database of organisations accepting work experience placements and the contact email address you have provided being displayed alongside information about your opportunities.*

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Common misconceptions about work experience

Could your organisation give a young person their first taste of working life? A well-planned placement can build confidence, develop skills and introduce young people to the variety of careers in the charity sector.If concerns about paperwork or safeguarding are holding you back, here’s what you need to know.

Myth 1: “We’ll need extra insurance”

Reality: your existing insurance may already cover placements.

HSE says employers’ liability policies from insurers belonging to the Association of British Insurers, or Lloyd’s, cover work experience placements without additional employers’ liability insurance.

Check with your insurer if you are unsure about your policy or the activities planned. If your charity has no employees and does not currently hold employers’ liability insurance, speak to your insurer before offering a placement.

Myth 2: “We need a completely new risk assessment for every student”

Reality: you can build on your existing risk assessment.

You do not need a separate assessment if your existing one adequately covers young people and the planned activities. However, review it before your first placement and whenever a student’s circumstances require changes.

Consider their inexperience, maturity, physical capabilities and any additional support needs. Provide suitable tasks, clear instructions and appropriate supervision. Explain significant risks and precautions to parents or carers of children below minimum school-leaving age, usually through the school.

Myth 3: “Everyone working alongside the student needs a DBS check”

Reality: the student’s exact age and each adult’s responsibilities matter.

There is an important distinction within the 14–16 age range:

• For 14- and 15-year-olds: an adult specifically responsible for teaching, training or supervising them on more than three days in a 30-day period can be undertaking regulated activity. This can make the role eligible for an Enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information.

• Once the student is 16: training or supervision relating solely to their paid or unpaid employment does not, by itself, make the adult eligible for a Standard or Enhanced DBS check.

• Other colleagues: simply working alongside the student does not automatically create eligibility for an Enhanced check. Other responsibilities may do so.

Agree the appropriate checks with the school before confirming the placement. A week-long placement for a 15-year-old should not automatically be treated as too short for checks to be relevant.

Rules affecting regulated activity changed in September 2026, so older advice about exemptions for supervised activity may be out of date.

The student does not automatically need a DBS check either. Under-16s cannot be DBS checked; at 16, eligibility depends on their duties.

Myth 4: “Safeguarding is entirely the school’s responsibility”

Reality: safeguarding is part of hosting the placement.

All students in this age group are children for safeguarding purposes, including those who have turned 16. Your charity needs appropriate arrangements to protect them.

Before they start:

• Identify a named supervisor and safeguarding contact.

• Agree emergency contacts and arrangements for absence or concerns with the school.

• Set clear boundaries for one-to-one working, transport, messaging and photographs.

• Plan suitable supervision and access to confidential information.

• Explain how the student can raise a concern, including about their supervisor.

Staff should understand the procedures relevant to their role. A DBS check supports safer arrangements; it does not replace supervision, clear boundaries or listening to the young person.