Amount of internship/career help at UK universities

Hi,

I am a US student planning to apply to some UK universities for undergrad next year. Many of universities in the US offer lots of support with finding internships, conducting research, and general career help.

How supportive are UK unis in this? Is it common for students to do research or have internships at the undergrad level?

For context, I am planning to study economics or public policy, probably at a London university.

Thanks!

Reply 1

UniLancashire

Official Rep

Original post

by polina_a12

Hi,
I am a US student planning to apply to some UK universities for undergrad next year. Many of universities in the US offer lots of support with finding internships, conducting research, and general career help.
How supportive are UK unis in this? Is it common for students to do research or have internships at the undergrad level?
For context, I am planning to study economics or public policy, probably at a London university.
Thanks!

Hi @polina_a12,

Here at the University of Lancashire, we have a career team who help with cv writing, job applications and much more. Even once you've graduated, you can continue to access our support and services. I have used this team for various things and they were great! 🙂

What careers support do we provide?

•

One-to-one careers guidance appointments

•

Careers fairs and events throughout the year

•

CV and cover letter creation, editing and support

•

Access to online job and career resources via CareerEDGE

•

Inclusive career support to suit individual needs

•

Online and in-person practice interviews

There are also courses that have a placement/internship option which is something I did. I was then able to do a placement year within my third year of studies. This was great to gain industry experience and has helped with further jobs since. You can find out more information about our career support here.

You can also find out about our undergraduate accounting and finance course if it is of any interest as we don't offer economics here. This course also has a placement option.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
Best wishes, ^Zac

Reply 2

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post

by polina_a12

Hi,
I am a US student planning to apply to some UK universities for undergrad next year. Many of universities in the US offer lots of support with finding internships, conducting research, and general career help.
How supportive are UK unis in this? Is it common for students to do research or have internships at the undergrad level?
For context, I am planning to study economics or public policy, probably at a London university.
Thanks!

Hi there!

I would assume that most universities will help you out with career advice or finding placements or internships. I think most universities will want you to do well after uni so I am sure they will help!

At Hallam, we have employability advisors and every student is assigned one who will help you and advise you on anything you need from CV help to interview practice and finding opportunities. They are really good and will help you and I am sure most places would have something similar.

We also have dedicated placement teams who hep you when you are in your second year to find a placement if you want one, as you can often do a placement between your second and third year to help develop your skills and potentially find work after uni. The careers team will also help you with this whenever you need it.

You can often get extra help in finding jobs through the uni websites and sometimes universities will have specific websites where you can find job opportunities.

I hope some of this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador 🙂

Reply 3

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by polina_a12

Hi,
I am a US student planning to apply to some UK universities for undergrad next year. Many of universities in the US offer lots of support with finding internships, conducting research, and general career help.
How supportive are UK unis in this? Is it common for students to do research or have internships at the undergrad level?
For context, I am planning to study economics or public policy, probably at a London university.
Thanks!

Hey,

This is a really good question. In general, UK universities do offer career support. You won’t usually be placed into internships or research roles, but there is a lot of structured support to help you find and secure them yourself. Most universities have a dedicated careers service that supports students from first year onwards.

For example, at the University of Salford, the Careers and Enterprise service offers things like CV and cover letter workshops, one-to-one careers appointments, mock interviews, assessment centre practice, and help with applications for internships, placements, and graduate roles. They also regularly send out updates with new internship and placement year opportunities, employer events, and careers fairs, which makes it much easier to see what’s available without having to search everywhere yourself.

In the UK, undergraduate internships are very common, especially summer internships and optional placement years (a year in industry between your second and final year). Many students do internships with consultancies, banks, think tanks, charities, NGOs, government departments etc. Universities often help by advertising roles, running application workshops, and connecting students with employers, even if they don’t directly place you.

Research opportunities at undergraduate level do exist, but they’re less formalised. It’s more common to get involved by approaching lecturers directly, helping with data collection, research assistance, or policy projects, especially in later years. Some universities also offer paid summer research schemes or undergraduate research internships, though these are competitive.

So, while the UK system is different from the US at first, there’s still plenty of support and opportunity. Especially if you make use of careers services early on and take advantage of things like placement years, summer internships, and employer events.

Good luck 😊
Arslan – University of Salford Student Representative

Reply 4

Kingston Grace

Official Rep

Original post

by polina_a12

Hi,
I am a US student planning to apply to some UK universities for undergrad next year. Many of universities in the US offer lots of support with finding internships, conducting research, and general career help.
How supportive are UK unis in this? Is it common for students to do research or have internships at the undergrad level?
For context, I am planning to study economics or public policy, probably at a London university.
Thanks!

Hi @polina_a12

I am currently a placement year student at Kingston, so I am doing my second internship of the year. I also had two internships during the summer of my first year. So I would consider it normal to have internships at undergrad level.

In terms of support I would say there is lots of career support here at Kingston. We have The Careers Centre which you can find out more about through the link to a post I previously did. The team there helps with a range of things such as applications, job search and interview support.

There is also a placement team that helped me find internships for placement year. And I have found my lectures very helpful in sending and recommending opportunities.

The two posts below may also give you more insight on this topic.
My Placement Year Experience So Far - Ask Me Questions :🙂
How Kingston Prepares you for Industry - The Student Room

I hope this helps and good luck in your future studies!
-Grace (Kingston Rep)