Student Widening Participation (WP) Funding

WP funding is designed to support eligible students into paid internship roles with employers in the UK who are Micro, SMEs, registered Charities, Statutory Organisations or departments within the University of Exeter.

Students must meet the Widening Participation (WP) Criteria to qualify for funding support.

• The funding will pay for 140 hours of work which can be completed in a block or spread over a longer period of time
• The university will transfer funding to external employers as soon as possible once the appointment is confirmed and the A2I team are notified
• The employer must add the student to their payroll system so they can pay them directly
• Eligible students are encouraged to speculatively approach employers and apply from mid-September until June 

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SW Funded Internships

The university offers eligible employers support to employ an Exeter student into a challenging role which they can undertake alongside their studies.   Funding is usually available between the end of October until June. Employers can register their interest by contacting the team at A2I@exeter.ac.uk

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Students who are elgibile for WP funding are encouraged to approach employers to arrange their own paid internship. If you have been approached and would like to offer an internship opportunity to an Exeter WP student, contact the A2I team who can confirm the funding available and provide further information. You can contact the team at A2I@exeter.ac.uk or by calling 01392 722617.

Employers who are eligible for funding through the Southwest Funded Internship Scheme, will be supported by the Internships Team who will advertise your opportunity to help you find the right candidate. 

 Advertising

• Employers can provide the details of their internship by completing the Internship Vacancy Template
• The completed template should be sent to internships@exeter.ac.uk and the team will then confirm the next steps
• Your opportunity will be advertised for a minimum of two weeks and promoted via Handshake, mail campaigns and social media
• Students are asked to apply using a set application form to make the shortlisiting process easier
• The day after the closing date, the team will send you the applications recieved so you can review, shortlist and arrange interviews
• You are asked to provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates, when requested
• The team will provide guidance when you are ready to appoint your intern and offer on-going support throughout the internship

Due to the Equality Act 2010, we will not be able to advertise roles for employers who specifically want to employ students who are eligible for Widening Participation (WP) funding. Instead, eligible students are encouraged to speculatively approach employers to arrange their own paid internship. If you have already appointed an intern, with the intern’s permission we will be able to if they meet the funding criteria and potentially award funding to your company.

If you would like to discuss your vacancy or if you need support creating a job description, you can contact the Employment Schemes Manager, Andrea Hodges on 01392 722617.

• Employers must allow the university to share their details with the funders
• All parties must agree to the A2I Terms and Conditions as outlined in the A2I Internship Agreement - External or in the A2I Internship Agreement - Internal (employed by the University of Exeter).
• Employers can receive up to two subsidies per year across all A2I funding sources available
• Students, graduates or employers cannot apply for further funding to extend an internship contract or employ the same student or graduate after the internship has completed
• If claiming more than one subsidy, this cannot be used for the same student
• The university will transfer funding to the employer as soon as possible after the A2I Internship Agreement has been signed and returned

Any data provided to the Uuniversity by any party will be processed in accordance with Student Employability and Academic Success (SEAS) Privacy Policy.

The short answer is yes, it is illegal for any employee to begin work without this documentation in place. At the University, any work undertaken before RTW is verified will be treated as voluntary work. We would therefore recommend following the below guidance before the intern begins any work with you:

If you able to meet face-to-face before the internship begins:

• You will need to ask the intern to bring their original RTW documents with them, along with a photocopy of these to leave with you.
• Check the original documents face-to-face with the candidate to confirm likeness. Also check the documents are genuine and they have not been tampered with.
• Sign and date the photocopies to confirm originals have been verified. Record on each page “I certify that this is a true copy of the original document”.
• If you are an external organisation, please retain the signed and dated photocopies of the RTW documents for your own records.
• If you are a University of Exeter employee, you will need send the verified copy of the RTW evidence via email to the eclaims team at e-claims@exeter.ac.uk.

If you are unable to meet face-to-face and/or the internship is a remote opportunity:

• Ask your intern to send you a scanned copy or photograph of their RTW documents via email.
• Arrange a video call with the intern and ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents which you have been sent.
• Sign and date the photocopies to confirm originals have been verified. Record on each page “I certify that this is a true copy of the original document”.
• If you are an external organisation, please retain the signed and dated photocopies of the RTW documents for your own records.
• If you are a University of Exeter employee, you will need send the verified copy of the RTW evidence via email to the eclaims team at e-claims@exeter.ac.uk.

Yes, interns are legally entitled to paid holiday however this is dependent on how many hours the intern has worked with your organisation. If a bank holiday falls over the course of the internship you are welcome to include this as part of the interns leave or you are welcome to adhere to your organisations usual practice for bank holidays. For further details on holiday pay and holiday entitlement please see gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights.

Please note, if the intern is working for the University of Exeter and/or using the University's temporary payroll system, eClaims, then the intern will not be entitled to take paid holiday as their hourly rate of pay includes holiday pay - £11.09 (£9.90 basic + £1.19 holiday pay).

If you are an External Organisation

Once we have received the details of the internship, the A2i team will be in contact via email to confirm the funding allocation and provide further guidance.

You will be asked to...

1. Check and sign an A2i Internship Agreement confirming the terms and conditions. This is sent to you via Adobe Sign.
2. Complete an ‘New Supplier External Form’ in preparation for paying your invoice.
3. Invoice the University, once you have been provided with a Purchase Order (PO) number to quote on your invoice.

2022-23 Deadlines

All paperwork must be completed by Friday 30th June 2023 and invoices submitted by Friday 21st July 2023.

Funding will be transfered 30 days after receipt of the invoice. You must be in a position to pay your intern even if you are still waiting for the funding to be transfered to you.

University of Exeter Line Managers

Once we have received the funding application from the student, the A2i team will contact you via email to confirm the funding allocation and provide further guidance.

You will be asked to...

1. Check and sign an A2i Internship Agreement confirming the terms and conditions. This is sent to you via Adobe Sign.
2. Follow 4 steps to set up and pay your intern on eClaims, details of which will be sent to you as soon as possible once your intern has applied for funding.
3. Use the A2i costcode which will be provided, when approving your interns timesheets on eClaims.

If you are an External Organisation:

The intern is to be paid their salary via your own payroll system on a set monthly payday, once the internship has commenced.

The University payments terms are 30 days from receipt of invoice. Where the organisation has not invoiced for or received the agreed employer subsidy from the University by the intern’s payday, we ask that you pay the intern’s salary from your own budget whilst the funding is being processed.

If you are a University of Exeter Employee:

We ask the intern to submit their hours (claims) weekly via the University's temporary payroll system, eClaims. You will then need to approve the intern's claims on the eClaims system each month and by the monthly approval deadlines using an A2I account code that we will provide. The last date you can approve an intern’s claims is Friday 8th July 2022, after this date funding will not be available due to the end of the financial year.

The University of Exeter VAT office advises that our subsidies are VAT exempt as the internship does not represent any supply to the University. Therefore, monies paid to your organisation are not payment for any supply you are making. The employing organisation is being awarded an amount of money equivalent to paying the costs of an intern going into the company for a short duration. These monies provide the intern with an insight into working life and also benefit the organisation in providing additional labour, consequently the monies should be regarded as outside the scope of VAT.

Employers can receive up to two subsidies per year, across all A2I funding sources available.

Employers and students cannot apply for further funding to extend an internship contract or employ the same student once the internship has completed.

External Employers:

You and your intern both have responsibilities in law for your intern’s health and safety at work, this includes remote working. You may have your own paperwork and/or an alternative process to assess risk, but if not, you could use this General Risk Assessment template document and you can find additional information to help you consider consequence, likelihood and risk score on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Toolbox: How to control risks at work and HSE Toolbox: Protect home workers.

Now we have COVID-19 there are additional risks to take into account as some people are more vulnerable to the infection than others, due to age, underlying health conditions, ethnicity, gender and body mass. You may wish to incorporate COVID-19 risks in your general risk assessment, or undertake a separate COVID-19 risk assessment. You can use the HSE’s what to include in your COVID-19 risk assessment to guide you. There is no need to share the risk assessment with University of Exeter unless you would like to seek support for managing the risk or you need to report an Intern’s COVID positive test result.

Internal Employers:

If restrictions allow and you wish for your intern to work on campus, then they will need to complete and adhere to the Universities of Exeter’s returning to campus procedures including completing a COVID-19 Age Individual Vulnerability Risk Assessment, completing the Mandatory training and reading the ‘return to campus guide’. For further information on what you and your intern need to do before coming to campus please see ‘What you need to know and do before you come to campus (Staff)’.