Finding stem work experience

Hi! I'm a year 12 student looking to study something stem related at universities like Imperial and UCL. Im looking for work experience just to strengthen my personal statement but practically all the ones i have seen tend to have an eligibility criteria - often to give opportunity to those from less fortunate backgrounds. The generic criteria is this :
Students must also meet at least one of the following criteria:
• Be living, or have lived, in local authority care.
• Be a carer.
• Come from a family with a combined household income of below £40,000 a year (pre-tax)
• Be entitled to free school meals, either now or at any time in the last six years.
• In receipt of, or entitled to, discretionary payments at school/college (e.g., EMA, 16-19
Bursary Fund)
• Be the first in your immediate family to participate in higher education (not including any
older siblings).
I dont meet any of this criteria and therefore there is practically no work experience i have been eligible for. I would appreciate any help in finding stem related (primarily biochem) work experiences without these requirements. Thanks!

"Stem related" - can you be a bit more specific about your possible degree subject?

I think you might be looking in the wrong places! I’m planning on studying biochemistry next year and there were loads of work experience opportunities ( I also do not meet any of those criteria). I personally did work experience at the research and innovation centre of an NHS trust and at a local pharmaceutical company. I also did a MOOC.

Hi! Yes sure, sorry i see that could be a bit vague. Sort of biomedical sciences and biochemistry degrees are what im looking to pursue.

Hi! Yes sure, sorry i see that could be a bit vague. Sort of biomedical sciences and biochemistry degrees are what im looking to pursue.

Hi there! That's great to hear thanks. If i may ask, how did you end up coming across such opportunities? I'm really struggling as i know alot of work experiences have applications which are what i'm finding difficult to find.

You dont need work-experience - no Uni will expect it or give you 'bonus points' for doing it.
More useful would be doing some relevant Moocs over the summer so that you have some academic ideas beyond just your A levels to mention in your PS :
An Introduction to Biochemistry - Online Course
Biochemistry explores the chemical processes of life
Introductory Human Physiology | Coursera
Introduction to the Biology of Cancer | Coursera
There are also lots of online / in-person subject Taster sessions that will give you an insight to what these subjects are all about - worth doing even if you dont intend to apply to that specific Uni.
University of Essex Event | British Science Week: Essex Science Exhibition
University of Essex Event | Life Sciences Discovery Day
UniTasterDays Ltd Event | A guide to studying Natural Sciences at university (On Demand Recording)
UniTasterDays Ltd Event | A guide to studying Biochemistry at university (On Demand Recording)
UniTasterDays Ltd Event | A guide to studying Biosciences at university (On Demand Recording)
STEMM Summer School 2025 - Swansea University

Hi! I'm a year 12 student looking to study something stem related at universities like Imperial and UCL. Im looking for work experience just to strengthen my personal statement but practically all the ones i have seen tend to have an eligibility criteria - often to give opportunity to those from less fortunate backgrounds. The generic criteria is this :
Students must also meet at least one of the following criteria:
• Be living, or have lived, in local authority care.
• Be a carer.
• Come from a family with a combined household income of below £40,000 a year (pre-tax)
• Be entitled to free school meals, either now or at any time in the last six years.
• In receipt of, or entitled to, discretionary payments at school/college (e.g., EMA, 16-19
Bursary Fund)
• Be the first in your immediate family to participate in higher education (not including any
older siblings).
I dont meet any of this criteria and therefore there is practically no work experience i have been eligible for. I would appreciate any help in finding stem related (primarily biochem) work experiences without these requirements. Thanks!

Hi, everyone's given really valid advice here but I just thought I'd add on what I did to get my offers for biomed this year (offers from places like KCL and Warwick). I also really struggled to find experience because of those criteria but it's really not essential!
Here are a few non-criteria work experience things I did (not including my non-academia):
-virtual biomed study day offered by Oxford
-the Cambridge aspirational attainment programme
-taster lectures at imperial and Oxford and kcl
-university of Manchester biotechnology MOOC
-academic discussions with people in industry
-research into pfizer/astrozeneca/Russel groups latest research
-read books and articles (I read lifetime by Russel foster which I heavily recommended)
-nhs trust careers in biomed talk (came with a lab tour!!)
-allied healthcare work experience day
-biology Olympiad
-imperial medicine summer virtual work experience
But also keep in mind you don't have the character count to write about EVERYTHING you did, so whilst this seems like a lot, half of it didn't get mentioned 😭
This year I have also attended a virtual 'transforming cancer care' talk from UCL as well as a neuroscience taster lecture at the university of Warwick.
Unis offer LOADS of events - most of the time it's just a matter of submitting your email and receiving a link, super easy!
I think GSK and other similar companies do offer WEX but I missed out on those deadlines so have a look early! Best of luck ☺️