What is Pathways to Professional Services in Higher Education?

• Gain an insight into different roles in the Professsional Services sector in Higher Education
• Increase knowledge of sector specific activities
• Be inspired by experienced professionals
• Gain confidence in your abilities
• Develop your career plan
• Culminates in an essential work experience, undertaking a paid internship at the University of Exeter within the Professional Services sector
• This activity counts towards the Exeter Award
• Receive a certificate

We welcome applications from all disciplines and levels of study from first year to final year, undergraduate or postgraduate as long as you can demonstrate a keen interest in this subject area.

We particularly welcome applications from individuals that are from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, and other groups that have protected characteristics as they are under-represented within the University of Exeter at these levels.

We want to ensure that the application process is inclusive as possible, so if you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know.

Please see full eligibility criteria below: 

Student status

• You must be a current University of Exeter student when you apply for and take part in the programme in June/July 2024 (please note, students graduating in Summer 2024 are eligible to apply).
• Even if the internship is remote working, you must be physically based in the UK to undertake the role.*
• Students from any campus can apply for this pathway.
• If you are an interrupted student, you will not have current student status and are therefore ineligible to apply for Professional Pathways.
• If you are a full-time Postgraduate student, you are limited to working a maximum of 6 hours per week, however if you are able to gain supervisor approval to complete both the training and the 35 hour internship, you will be able to undertake the Pathways programme. You will need to seek approval if you are successful at the assessment centre stage.
• If you are a part-time Postgraduate student, you are limited to working a maximum of 18.25 hours per week, so would need to split your 35 hours across two weeks, unless you get supervisor approval to work full-time (35 hours) in one week. You will need to seek approval if you are successful at the assessment centre stage.

Right to Work (RTW)

• You must have the right to work in the UK at the point the Professional Pathways programme commences in June 2024 and this must cover both the training and the internship taking place into July 2024. 
• In order to expedite the right to work checking process, you will be asked to provide your right to work evidence at the application stage. Please refer to the List of acceptable documents for right to work checks.
• If you have been employed by the University within the last 12 months and provided your right to work evidence, this should still be up-to-date and you would not need to provide it again. You can declare this to us at the application stage.
• For more information about Right to Work please see the eClaims webpages. 

International, EU and EEA students

• You must have the right to work in the UK at the point the programme commences in June 2024 and this must cover both the training and the internship taking place into July 2024. Depending on your visa restrictions, if you are successful onto the programme, we will try to match you with an employer that will accommodate part-time hours across two weeks, if needed.

*Please refer to the university's webpage here for further information on the university's position on remote/homeworking outside the UK.

Applications for our 2024 programmes are now closed.

Professional Pathways takes place annually and applications for our 2025 programme will open around November 2024. Please note, the training and internships will take place in June and July 2025 and you would need to be a current student at this point to be eligible to apply.

The successfully selected students will attend a four day training programme, delivered by industry experts between 17 - 20 June 2024. The training will take place on our Streatham campus in Exeter. You would be expected to attend all sessions for your Pathway programme.

The training will equip you with vital industry knowledge, sector specific information, support to improve your employability and an opportunity to ask the experts any questions and hone your networking skills. You will also attend a session providing preparatory support to help you make the most out of your paid internship.

Accommodation:
When applying, please think carefully about your accommodation situation during the training dates and the internship period. If successful in gaining a place on the programme, you will need to be in commutable distance to the Streatham campus in Exeter to attend all the training days. For successful Cornwall campus students only, we will look to secure and fund accommodation in Exeter from Sunday to Thursday morning to cover the training dates. We will also provide a contribution of up to £75 towards travel expenses to and from Cornwall to Exeter for the training.

If you are on a year-abroad, year-in-industry, first year student with an accommodation contract ending prior to the training dates, or a student who will not have accommodation for any other reason during the training period, it will be your responsibility to arrange this. Please note, you may be able to apply for up to a £200 bursary from the university to support any accommodation costs.

Training schedule: 

Group Project

In addition to the sessions, the training will include experiential learning and group work projects set by industry professionals. This will give you the opportunity to work in small groups on a real life business challenge and put the content covered in the training sessions, into practice. You will be allocated time at the end of each training day to work on this. On the fourth and final day of training, each group will present their findings in front of a panel to receive feedback.

Watch the video below from our 2022 Professional Pathways training days:

 

 

 

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If selected onto the programme, you will undertake a paid 35 hour internship in a role at the University of Exeter in the Professional Services sector. These internships will be either part-time or full-time roles and take place between 24 June - 5 July 2024, after your training has been completed. During your internship, you may be asked to work on a specific project, undertake a particular piece of work or carry out a range of tasks that will enable you to gain an insight into how the University of Exeter operates as a company within the Professional Services sector. 

Once selected, a range of internship projects will be sent to you and you will be required to identify which roles you are most interested in. The internship opportunities on offer via the programme will be a mix of in the workplace, remote-working and hybrid roles. For internships undertaken in the workplace, you will need to arrange and fund your accommodation and travel expenses. For remote-working roles, you must be based in the UK for the duration of the internship due to tax regulations.

A matching process will be completed in late May based on your application form and identified preferences. No guarantee can be made that you will be matched to your top preferences. You will be expected to make contact with your Line Manager prior to starting your internship. Full guidance will be given on this at the relevant time. 

The salary of £13.45 per hour (includes £12.00 basic hourly rate + £1.45 holiday pay) for this 35 hour internship will be paid by the University of Exeter. 

We recognise that with rising costs, the cost of living is very high, and we are therefore looking to try and support students where we can. For those students that meet Widening Participation (WP) criteria and are successful in gaining a place on the programme, you may be eligible to apply for up to a £100 travel bursary to support costs related to your Professional Pathways internship. You will need to have been matched to an internship involving some time spent in the workplace (fully workplace based or hybrid working). Please note, we will have limited funding available and where students are eligible, more information will be provided following the internship matching stage.

If you wish to check your WP eligibility, you can visit the Widening Participation (WP) funding page for full criteria and details, or contact us at professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

For students who have gained a place on the programme, we have put together the following guide on Making the Most of Your Internship. We would recommend reading this prior to starting your Pathways internship to be fully prepared. The guide includes useful information on points to action before your first day, things to consider while in the role and what to do when your internship finishes.

If you would like to ask any questions, please contact the Pathways team at: professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk