Please Note: The following information relates to the 2023 programme. The 2024 programme is on pause while we review our wider offer for the Young Community. We have left our Work Experience guidance available on the website as resources for anyone considering organising a placement offer directly through their place of work, but we advise that organisations seek their own legal and HR advice.
What kind of providers are you looking for?
- We want a wide range of placements that's a mixture of onsite, online, and hybrid (mix of remote and in-person)
- We'd love to hear from all types of creative and cultural freelancers and organisation - especially in fashion, TV, film, music, theatre, and games
- We want each placement to be an eye-opening taster for your industry. Great work experience tasks are varied, informative, challenging and fun!
- We want to cater to a wider range of our Young Talent’s backgrounds
Who can offer an offer Work Experience?
Freelancers, sole traders and organisations can offer online placements. Only organisations with an office can offer on-site placements.
- If you are a mentor, please check our Mentoring Work Experience FAQs for more information on what to expect.
- If you are not a mentor, please look out for our annual work experience programme updates.
Where can the placements be?
You can offer an online placement anywhere in the UK. On-site placements should be in Manchester, Merseyside, Brighton and London only.
Why do you offer work experience for a minimum of 5 days only?
We'd love to offer longer work experience placements, but we believe that it is unfair to expect a young person to work for free for any longer than 5 days. We do understand that it is challenging for budgets. But the rising cost of living extends to young people too. Not all of our young people are in education and/or live at home or have financial stability.
Budget
Do we have to pay for expenses?
If you are hosting a 5-day online placement, you do not have to provide expenses.
If you are hosting a 5-day hybrid or onsite placement, you are expected to cover lunch and travel expenses. The minimum all organisations should provide is a total of £75 in expenses (this is based on £15 per day)
What happens if I want to host a work experience placement longer than 5 days?
If there are any work experience placements (including online) which last longer than 5 days, they must be paid at the real Living Wage rate.
While the UK government's statutory National Living Wage covers people over 23, Arts Emergency believes that organisations should pay the real Living Wage. This is in our Organisation Code of Conduct which all work experience placement providers must sign to deliver work experience with Arts Emergency.
With paid work experience placements, do you expect us to pay Living Wage for young people aged under 18?
Yes. This is particularly important for the young people we work with as we prioritise those who need Arts Emergency support the most. You can find out more information about our eligibility criteria here.
With paid placements, providing expenses on top of the Living Wage is optional.
For help calculating the cost of a placement please use our work placement calculator below.
What do you expect from all work experience providers?
to sign up to our Network if they have not done so already
to sign and adhere to our Code of Conduct
commit to providing a 5 day placement as a minimum. We ask that anything longer is paid at the Living Wage for your area.
fill out our risk assessment template that is relevant to the type of placement you're offering
read our safety guidance
have an informal interview with the young person before the placement begins
What are the additional expectations from hybrid and on-site work experience providers?
they must be located in or within commutable distance to London, Brighton, Manchester or Merseyside
they must provide expenses for up to £15 a day to cover lunch and travel
they must send us an up to date Employer's Liability Insurance certificate which covers the period the placement takes place
I’m a mentor and can find my mentee work experience!
If you are a mentor and can find work experience for your mentee through your own networks, that’s great! We need your paperwork one month before it begins.
We will need
- confirmation that it is a minimum of 5 days
- to know if it's online, on-site, or hybrid
- the organisation’s risk assessment
- a valid Employers Liability Insurance certificate (cannot be expired)
- confirmation that the organisation will adhere to our code of conduct
To arrange a work experience placement for your mentee, please fill out our form via the mentor report page as soon as possible, ideally one month before it begins. This gives us time to review the paperwork and sign everything off.
If you have any questions, please email your Programme Officer and cc in community@arts-emergency.org
Important documents you’ll need:
- Work experience guidance pack: Contains all the information you might need for running work experience. (Large text version of the guidance pack available).
- On-site risk assessment template: A template for you to fill out and send to us if you are running an on-site placement.
- Online risk assessment template: A template for you to fill out and send to us if you are running an online work experience placement.
- Hybrid risk assessment template A template for you to fill out and send to us if you are running a hybrid work experience placement.
- Organisation Code of Conduct: You must read and agree to this code before you offer us a work placement. (Large text version of the Code of Conduct available)
Need to contact us?
Please get in touch with the Community team at community@arts-emergency.org
Sign up to be notified about our Work Experience Programme
Insight Week Org Interest Form