The Highest Paid Internships & Placements in the UK

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.

• The average salary for placements this year is £20,558 a year
• The average salary for interns this year is higher, at £28,198 on a pro-rata basis

Keep reading for a breakdown of average salary by industry and region…

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How did we work out the average salaries?

Last year, 4,977 students submitted reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk about their undergraduate work experience.

In each review, they responded to a series of 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 4,977 reviews, we were able to work the average salaries for jobs in different industries, and in various regions across the UK.

*around 5-10% is taken off the top and bottom figures to make averages more realistic.

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Highest paid internships and placements

By industry

These are the highest-paying industries for placements and internships in the UK.

Who knew that you could earn over £30k 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 book an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai.

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Highest paid internships by industry

POSITION	INDUSTRY	SALARY
#1	Banking	£39,788
#2	Technology	£31,594
#3	Financial Services	£27,677
#4	Business	£25,466
#5	Marketing	£25,303
#6	Design	£25,292
#7	Engineering	£23,938

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Highest paid placements by industry

POSITION	INDUSTRY	SALARY
#1	Design	£24,587
#2	Banking	£22,851
#3	Technology	£22,439
#4	Financial Services	£21,836
#5	Media & Arts	£21,754
#6	Construction & Property	£21,697
#7	Accountancy and Tax	£21,056

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By region

These are the average salaries for different regions in the UK. (Bear in mind that London tends to have higher average salaries because the cost of living is more expensive.)

POSITION	REGION	SALARY
#1	London	£26,398
#2	Scotland	£24,414
#3	Northern Ireland	£20,961
#4	East of England	£20,957
#5	North West	£20,569
#6	South East	£20,029
#7	Wales	£20,026
#8	East Midlands	£20,003
#9	South West	£19,886
#10	Yorkshire and Humberside	£19,744
#11	West Midlands	£19,732
#12	North East	£19,559

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Looking for work experience? Find out more about the Best Student Employers in the UK. They are the creme de la creme when it comes to paid placements and internships.

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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? Wow.

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