The Highest Paid Internships & Placements in the UK
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Want to know which industries pay their interns and placement students the big bucks? Or how much you can expect to earn in the area where you live?
This is your guide to the highest paid work experience schemes in the UK.
Keep reading for a breakdown of average salary by industry and region...
How did we work out the average salaries?
Last year, 5,855 students submitted reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk about their undergraduate work experience. In each review, they responded to 15 questions about their role, the company they worked for and the perks of their scheme.
Students also revealed their salary information, enabling their peers to discover how much they would be paid if they worked for a particular employer, or on a similar scheme.
Using the data from the 5,855 reviews, we were able to work the average salaries for jobs in different industries, and in various regions across the UK.
Highest Paid Internships & Placements 2021
BY INDUSTRY
These are the highest paying industries for placements and internships in the UK. Who knew that you could earn over £25K by getting work experience?
Just imagine what you could do with that sort of money... you could be very sensible and put it all in the bank, or you could be more daring, skip down to the casino and put it all on black.
Internships
POSITION | INDUSTRY | SALARY |
|---|---|---|
#1 | £25,010 | |
#2 | £23,095 | |
#3 | £22,218 | |
#4 | £20,722 | |
#5 | £20,233 | |
#6 | £17,751 | |
#7 | £17,056 |
Placements
POSITION | INDUSTRY | SALARY |
|---|---|---|
#1 | £21,256 | |
#2 | £19,275 | |
#3 | £18,598 | |
#4 | £18,460 | |
#5 | £18,279 | |
#6 | £17,816 | |
#7 | £17,811 |
BY REGION
These are the average salaries for different regions in the UK. (Bear in mind that both London regions tend to have higher average salaries because the cost of living is more expensive.)
POSITION | REGION | SALARY |
|---|---|---|
#1 | £23,146 | |
#2 | £21,353 | |
#3 | £20,262 | |
#4 | £18,461 | |
#5 | £18,436 | |
#6 | £18,346 | |
#7 | £17,947 | |
#8 | £17,811 | |
#9 | £17,769 | |
#10 | £17,763 | |
#11 | £17,709 | |
#12 | £17,068 | |
#13 | £16,638 |
We believe ALL internships should be paid
At RateMyPlacement.co.uk, we believe that ALL interns and placement students should be paid a fair salary for their work.
During a work experience placement, you will effectively assume the responsibilities of a regular employee - so it's only fair that you're rewarded (and paid) like any other worker.
Most companies do now pay their interns a decent wage, and on our jobs page, we don't advertise any unpaid internships in the UK.
If you have a spare 3.5 minutes, read our blog Why I Regret Doing an Unpaid Internship, written by a member of the RateMyPlacement.co.uk team who did four. Mental.
Written by Louise
Louise joined RateMyPlacement.co.uk in October 2018. She now uses her word wizardry to help young people make informed decisions about their futures.