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 2022
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 is a Senior Content Writer at RateMyPlacement.co.uk. Having started her own career with four unpaid internships, she jumped at the chance to help others make better, more informed decisions about their futures. Since joining in 2018, Louise has penned countless blogs and how-to guides, alongside award-winning campaigns that connect millions of young people with top employers like Lidl, J.P. Morgan and Police Now. With seven years writing experience, Louise has previously covered everything from Wowcher vouchers to Ghanaian music festivals - making her more versatile than Vaseline. She currently works in Bristol with her cat Peggy