Pathways to Arts, Culture and Heritage

If you would like to express an interest in hosting an intern for Professional Pathways 2026 (internships will take place late June/early July), please complete this short form and we'll be in touch. Applications to submit an internship will open early 2026. Please note, if you are a student this is not the correct form and please email the team instead at professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk who will advise you on how to register your interest or how to apply, if applications are open.

The role or project must:

• Be within the arts, culture and/or heritage sector
• Use undergraduate level skills, knowledge and/or experience
• Aid career development
• Include tasks and responsibilities normally associated with a graduate level position
• Provide training and support
• Be a total of 35 hours and be undertaken either part-time or full-time between 22 June - 3 July 2026.

We will be delivering the training element of the programme on our Streatham Campus in Exeter between 15 - 18 June 2026. The training is designed to give students an insight into the sector, covering as many areas as possible while also providing them with the opportunity to meet professionals working in the arts, culture and heritage sector.

We regularly work with a number of organisations who deliver a 1 hour session for us each year. For reference, please see below the schedule from our 2025 Pathways to Arts, Culture & Heritage training programme. If you would be interested in delivering a session and have a suggestion for a different topic not covered below, we would be happy to hear from you at: professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk

Schedule from our 2025 programme: 

During the training days (15 – 18 June 2026), students will engage in a group project based on a sector-related business challenge provided by an employer. This opportunity allows students to apply the knowledge and skills gained in their training to a set task, which could be particularly of benefit to organisations with under-resourced projects. Students will collaborate for 2-3 hours daily from Monday to Wednesday and present their findings on Thursday 18 June between 10am - 1pm on our Streatham Campus in Exeter. We encourage employers who submit projects to attend the presentations, providing valuable feedback and engaging with the students directly.

Ideally, employers will be offering a project alongside hosting an intern, as your matched student intern(s) would then also be allocated your group project, allowing them to gain insights into the organisation before starting their internship. The project task must differ from the submitted internship but can complement it. Interested employers should contact the team at professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk or indicate their interest through the employer vacancy form when submitting internship opportunities.

All students will go through a rigorous recruitment and selection process conducted by the University, to ensure we select the best candidates.

Students successful in gaining a place on the programme, will be presented with all the internships opportunities on offer and asked to identify their preferences. We will make the final decision of who will be matched to your opportunity and as such, your organisation will not need to undertake any recruitment or selection process of our students.

Once we have identified the most suitable intern for you, we will send you their details in May 2026. We very much hope that you will be satisfied with our selection, however if for any reason this is not the case, you will have the opportunity to withdraw from the scheme. Unfortunately, at this stage of the recruitment process, we will not be able to find a replacement intern. 

We ask that all employer hosts work through a basic induction with their new intern(s). You are welcome to complete your own induction or you may wish to use the Professional Pathways Internship induction checklist we have put together. You can download this checklist here: Pathways induction checklist.‌

We have also put together some notes of guidance for employers hosting an intern via the Professional Pathway programme.  

We ask employers to set clear objectives for their intern(s) and be available to provide information and guidance throughout the 35 hour internship. 

The Professional Pathways Team will be available during the internship to support you and your intern(s) should this be required.

At the end of the internship, we ask that you please complete the Employer Feedback Form. This will be emailed to you shortly after the end of the internship and your comments will be taken into account during our evaluation exercise.

All parties (the employer, the University and the student), must adhere to the Student Secondment Agreement. This agreement ensures the student is committed to the internship and both the employer and the University understand the remit of their duty of care for the student. This document must be signed by all three parties before the internship can begin.

If you would like to hear from previous employers who have participated in the Pathways to Arts, Culture and Heritage programme, you can read some case studies below: 

• Octagon Theatre & Westlands Entertainment Venue
• Exeter Northcott Theatre
• Sid Vale Association (Sidmouth Museum) 
• BLR WORLD
• StreetDraw24 CIC
• Make it Better (mitber) CIC
• Museum of Cornish Life
• Lowender CIO

To find out more about the programme, please email the team at: professionalpathways@exeter.ac.uk 

Hear from employers who have previously hosted an intern via our Pathways to Arts, Culture and Heritage programme: 

"Professional Pathways Interns are incredibly high calibre, making this scheme absolutely invaluable to organisations like ours and enabling us to benefit from the insights and enthusiasm of the next generation of top quality talent." (Holly Lawrence, Exeter Phoenix)

"It has been a pleasure to be part of the Professional Pathways programme. We hosted two fantastic interns here at the Devon and Exeter Institution. They were enthusiastic and dedicated, bringing fantastic research skills to the role. The whole programme has been very well organised. Preparing for the presentation and hosting the interns required a time commitment on our part, but the programme was organised far enough in advance that it was easy to plan ahead for this. The quality of the work produced was very high and has benefitted our organisation." (Sonia Llewellyn, Devon and Exeter Institution) 

"The Professional Pathways programme is a fantastic opportunity to connect with young people, providing realistic work experience to encourage interest in a career in the arts. We were really pleased with the contributions of our intern and their interest to get stuck in with a variety of tasks." (Kaylee Winchcombe, Somerset Art Works)

“This programme brings vast benefits to both the interns and the organisations and employers they are matched with. Working with the Professional Pathways programme is hugely rewarding and something that i would highly recommend.” (Robert Meakings, National Trust - Killerton House)

"From start to finish, our experience of the Professional Pathways programme has been outstanding. We were matched with two brilliant students who were wonderful to have as part of the team, and who both delivered work that went beyond our expectations. If you're an employer thinking about taking part - do it! You won't regret it for a second." (Belinda Dillon, Exeter Culture/Exeter Heritage Champions)

"Exeter's internship programme is nothing short of rewarding. Each year the intern that we have had the pleasure of being paired with has been hard working, committed, enthusiastic and engaging. The internship programme has been of real value to us as an organisation, providing much needed support on our activities and helping us to find creative solutions, but of the intern too as we have supported them to find their way into the creative industries, nurture and grow their confidence and knowledge of the sector." (Katherine Beverley, Octagon Theatre & Westlands Entertainment Venue)

 “I have been continually impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of the interns we have received through the Professional Pathways programme. They are a real asset to the team and their curiosity about the profession and our work makes them a pleasure to work.” (Caroline Walter, University of Exeter - Special Collections)

 “The programme provides our SME with new eyes to look afresh at the impact we make.” (Ruth Purdy Make it Better (Mitber) CIC)

 “Being part of this programme is just as beneficial for us as an organisation as I hope it is for the students involved. We were able to gain insight from young people which can help shape our plans going forward - it is truly worth its weight in gold.” (Paula Clarke - National Trust - Castle Drogo, Dartmoor)

 “The Professional Pathways Internship Placement programme enabled us to extend our work experience offer for local young people in partnership with Exeter University. As an arts organisation and charity we benefited from working in collaboration with our intern to achieve an ambitious brief for arts, culture and heritage in our area: an interactive digital trail using our photographic archive. Her external perspective enabled us to trial and test both local and tourist interpretations, and we couldn't have achieved this in the time available without this opportunity.” (Caroline Preston - Beaford Arts) 

"The programme is an amazing opportunity to inject new ideas into the way we do things. Bright minds lead to bright ideas." (Annette, Museum of Cornish Life)