21 September 2023
The Best Places for Internships in the UK
“You need more experience” – it’s the phrase all graduates dread to hear. After putting in the hard work, meeting deadline after deadline and continuing to strive for a chosen career it’s the brick wall they continuously hit.
Internships are a great way for students to get experience, without delaying their career. They allow students to get hands-on experience that compliments their degree (all while earning a few pennies, too).
With the popularity of internships skyrocketing in the last few years, it means there are opportunities everywhere to be considered.
Analysing our review data across 2022 to 2023, we’ve been able to pinpoint where the best locations are for internships in the UK based on the best reviewed, the average salary and per sector.
The places with the best rated internships
If, like us, you value what other students think then you’ll want to head to the cities that previous interns value, too. The top ten locations for internships according to interns can be seen below.
The results showed that interns preferred it up north as Newcastle has the highest-rated internships on average, with 4.74 stars out of 5.
This is followed by Nottingham (4.73) and Glasgow (4.72).
| City / town | Average star rating |
| Newcastle | 4.74 |
| Nottingham | 4.73 |
| Glasgow | 4.72 |
| Belfast | 4.68 |
| Edinburgh | 4.67 |
| Epsom | 4.65 |
| Manchester | 4.65 |
| Sheffield | 4.64 |
| Reading | 4.64 |
| London | 4.64 |
The cities with the highest paid internships in the UK
While the interns may have loved the North the most, unfortunately, our analysis showed that’s not where the money is. Unsurprisingly, London has the highest-paid internships averaging £26,704 a year.
The top cities and towns with the highest average salaries can be seen below.
| City/town | Average salary (£) |
| London | 26,704 |
| Glasgow | 26,349 |
| Farnborough | 23,679 |
| Edinburgh | 23,214 |
| Dublin | 22,829 |
| Leicester | 21,787 |
| Sheffield | 20,616 |
| Belfast | 20,603 |
| Nottingham | 20,494 |
| Manchester | 20,446 |
However, interns might be better off in Glasgow – where the cost of living is significantly lower and the average salary is just £355 less than the average London salary.
For example, consumer prices (including rent) are 38% lower in Glasgow than London, while the cost of groceries are 13% lower. This means much more bang for your buck!
If you want to know where the highest-paid internships are we’ve broken this down even further.
Best places for internships in the UK per industry
If you’ve already got your heart set on a specific career then we’ve also got you covered. Analysing our reviews we found the highest concentrated cities per sector so you know exactly where to head.
| City/town | Top sector | % of reviews |
| Belfast | Business Management | 17% |
| Birmingham | Accountancy and Tax | 33% |
| Bristol | Engineering | 24% |
| Cambridge | Sciences | 48% |
| Dublin | Business | 32% |
| Edinburgh | Banking | 21% |
| Glasgow | Technology | 24% |
| Leeds | Accountancy and Tax | 25% |
| London | Legal and Law | 19% |
| Manchester | Legal and Law | 19% |
| Milton Keynes | Business | 27% |
| Newcastle | Accountancy and Tax | 31% |
| Nottingham | Technology | 28% |
| Oxford | Business | 31% |
| Portsmouth | Engineering | 41% |
| Reading | Accountancy and Tax | 31% |
| Southampton | Accountancy and Tax | 35% |
| Warwick | Business | 31% |
| Windsor | Business | 23% |
| Cardiff | Engineering | 61% |
| Leicester | Engineering | 32% |
| Huddersfield | Engineering | 52% |
| Sheffield | Legal and Law | 38% |
| Epsom | Business | 30% |
| Coventry | Business | 38% |
| Liverpool | Business | 24% |
| Derby | Engineering | 50% |
| Farnborough | Technology | 30% |
The results revealed over 60% of reviews in Cardiff were for engineering roles, so it’s likely that there is a good concentration of engineering roles within the city for those looking to relocate for their engineering career.
Internships in the UK
It can be overwhelming trying to find an internship that pays well, that is in the specific industry you want to gain experience in and which provides potential for a career long term.
Internships are becoming increasingly available and are much more likely to be paid now than they would’ve been a few years ago.
Here at RateMyPlacement, our main aim is to help students and potential interns navigate where their next opportunity lies.
Find your next internship with us today.
