I managed to get a job over the summer working for a firm who makes booking software for Uni accommodation, and ended up learning C# from scratch and doing some relatively complex coding by the end of it. I also designed a couple of WPF forms for their latest release. If I end up going somewhere like BCU who uses their software, I'll be looking at my own work when I book accommodation!
If you're looking for works experience, it might be worthwhile sending an email to several firms that interest you and explaining your situation and where you want to go. You never know, they might take you on and even pay you!