You can get work experience in your first year at university. The useful starting point is to search for opportunities that accept your graduation date, then compare the work, hours and pay. A summer internship is one route; insight programmes, university projects and paid student jobs deserve a place in the search too.
UK guidance for the 2026–27 academic year. Programme information checked on 23 September 2026.
Can first-year students apply for internships in the UK?
Some programmes accept first years; others require applicants to be in their penultimate year or returning to study afterwards. The word “undergraduate” alone does not settle eligibility. Read the specific vacancy before preparing an application.
EY illustrates the distinction. Its Discover EY events are aimed at first-year undergraduates, or second-year students on a four-year course. Its summer internship generally targets penultimate-year students, with specified exceptions for some graduates taking a master's or gap year. Those are different programmes with different entry rules. EY's student FAQs explain the details; check the relevant vacancy for its current requirements.
A second-year student on a three-year degree and a second-year student on a four-year degree may therefore need different shortlists. Record your expected graduation month and year in your internship application tracker.
Check these six things before applying
| Check | What to record |
|---|---|
| Graduation date | The dates the employer accepts, including any return-to-study requirement |
| Course | Required subject, qualification or placement-year arrangement |
| Access | University membership or other programme-specific eligibility |
| Timing | Application deadline, programme dates and clashes with exams |
| Practical fit | Pay, hours, location, travel and accommodation costs |
| Application rules | Required documents, assessment stages and official work-authorisation requirements |
If a requirement is unclear, use the named recruitment contact or ask your careers service. Do that before writing a long answer for a role you may not be able to take.
Work experience routes worth searching in first year
Insight days and spring programmes
Search for “first year insight programme” alongside a sector or employer. Use the event to investigate what people actually do: which tasks occupy a new starter, which skills they use and what later recruitment involves. Attend with two questions and write down what changes your view of the work.
An insight event is something you attended. Describe it that way on an application; attendance does not mean you worked as an intern.
Short projects through your university
Ask about micro-internships, research bursaries, employer projects and vacation work. Access, funding and selection vary by institution. Oxford's micro-internships, for example, are two-to-five-day opportunities for Oxford students. They are voluntary and unpaid, with specified travel and lunch expenses for in-person attendance. They are not a nationwide paid internship scheme. Oxford's programme information sets out those terms.
Use that example to ask your own university a precise question: “Which short projects can someone with my graduation date apply for, and how are they funded?”
Paid student jobs and campus work
Search your university vacancies, students' union and local employers. Look at the tasks alongside the title. A visitor-services job might involve explaining information to different audiences. Retail work might involve handling competing priorities or training a new colleague.
You do not need to turn every shift into a career exercise. When something useful happens, save a brief private note about your responsibility, decision and result. Our student skills evidence guide shows how to develop that note into an application example.
Societies, volunteering and independent projects
Choose a defined contribution you can finish: maintain a society's event budget, edit a publication, run a small experiment or improve an existing project. Agree the scope and time commitment first. If paid work is your priority, you can build examples from that experience rather than taking on another commitment.
Online job simulations can help you explore tasks. Label them as simulations or training, with the provider and what you completed; do not list the sponsoring company as your employer.
A realistic first-term example
Consider an illustrative first-year history student interested in communications who also works in a café. Their initial plan could be:
- Check one employer insight event that accepts their graduation date.
- Save a coursework example showing how they compared sources and explained a conclusion.
- Record a real occasion when they clarified a customer request or helped a colleague during a busy shift.
- Ask the careers service about paid communications or campus roles for the next vacation.
This creates material to discuss without requiring an internship title. Keep group contributions clear and remove customer details from any example you share.
When should you start looking for next summer?
Check your target programmes during autumn, then keep looking as later opportunities appear. Different routes have different calendars; our guide to when to apply for UK internships explains how to separate opening dates, deadlines and programme dates.
If your first search produces mostly ineligible schemes, change the route or the search terms. The guide to student work experience beyond internships includes a small-employer research workflow.
Once you have something relevant to show, building a portfolio with no formal experience can help you choose and describe it. FolioBuild's student and graduate portfolio guide explains how those examples can become a shareable page. Start with the work you can explain clearly, then choose the format that suits the application.