Work experience

Work experience

Work experience can offer you the opportunity to earn money, develop skills and acquire experience relevant to your future career or test out a particular field to see if you would like to work in it.

You can count any paid or unpaid work in any country towards your Award, including part-time work in term time or at home during the holidays, as long as you've done it during your time as a student at University of Exeter.

If you run your own business you can also count this work, providing the business is actually trading. Please contact the Exeter Award team at exeteraward@exeter.ac.uk and describe the work you are doing, including some kind of proof of trading (i.e. link to a website/business card/invoices/testimonial from client or other) where possible.  

The following internships are eligible:

Information on local job opportunities are available on Handshake.

Volunteering

You can count any formal volunteering placement with a recognised charity or community organisation in any country towards your Award, as long as you've done it during your time as a student at University of Exeter.

You will need to complete 35 hours of volunteering and sport or music activities and/or work experience.

Most volunteering experience is accepted for the Exeter Award, but if you're unsure about whether your experience counts, please get in touch with the Exeter Award team by asking a question in My Career Zone.

Volunteering activities associated with the University that count include:

Facilitating music means contributing something definite to the functioning or organisation of a musical ensemble or society, e.g.

  • setting up a new group;
  • directing, teaching (e.g. clarinet choir beginners) or conducting;
  • helping with the organisation of a non-society ensemble;
  • holding any committee post in a music society.

Performance by itself does not count towards your 35 hours work experience.

If you are not an elected officer of a society, but can demonstrate that you have spent the required number of hours assisting in the running of a society as a volunteer, (for example, driving the minibus or distributing hundreds of concert fliers) then these things can also be counted provided you can document them.

Facilitating sport means making a quantifiable difference by organising, promoting or improving a club.  Taking part in matches or training sessions does not count, but you can use the following activities:

  • organising or leading training sessions;
  • holding any committee post in an AU club or society;
  • attending specific seminars on nutrition/time management/drug awareness etc.

Visit the Exeter Sports Theme to find out more about the sport activities that can count towards the Exeter Award. 

The components set out above are to be viewed as an indication of the criteria and level of commitment required to complete The Exeter Award and Leaders Award. The University, Students' Guild and Students' Union reserve the right to change this structure in part or full at any point without prior warning.