Widening Participation Placement Programme

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Home Placements Programme Widening Participation Global Placement Grant For Employers FAQs

The Faculty of Social Sciences offers a range of paid placements exclusively to students who are underrepresented in higher education. Our dedicated teams are committed to not only increasing accessibility to higher education for students from widening participation backgrounds, but also to ensure these students get exclusive support and career related opportunities once they are enrolled.

Students from underrepresented backgrounds in higher education can fully access the opportunities available to all students and therefore improve social mobility. Students are offered three week-long summer bursary-paid placement opportunities to support them in gaining practical experience to support their future career development. Annually we are able to support up to 20 students with a three-week paid placement bursary, paid at the UK ‘Living Wage’.

The Summer 2025 Widening Participation Programme will open to applications on 24 February 2025, and will close to applicants on the 16 March 2025. You can view vacancies from 16 March+.

Application criteria

Applicants must be home fee paying undergraduate students in their first or second year of study from the Faculty of Social Sciences (Law, Economics, Politics & IR, Sociology & Social Policy, Criminology, Geography, Nottingham University Business School and School of Education). The student must be due to return to continue studies at the University of Nottingham (UK) campus after the summer vacation in the year they undertake their funded work experience.

Applicants must also meet at least one of the criteria listed below:

Be in receipt of a University of Nottingham Core Bursary or a Nottingham Potential Bursary.
Have a declared disability. If you haven't declared a disability to the university but would like to choose this option, please contact stephen.vaccarini@nottingham.ac.uk before continuing with your application.
Identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME).
The home address used on your UCAS application is in an area where people are less likely to go to university. A postcode check is carried out post application to confirm this so there may be instances where applications aren’t accepted on this basis.
Received Free School Meals on any census day in the 6 years up to the end of key stage 4 (i.e. the year you were aged 15-16 years old) in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. We receive verified Free School Meal data via UCAS from the Department of Education, so you do not need to provide evidence of this.
Be a mature student (21 or over at the start of your course).
Have spent more than three months in local authority care (this can be at any point in your life).
Be under 25 and estranged from your family.
Be a carer.
Have refugee status from the Home Office.

PLEASE NOTE:

Not eligible to apply are final year undergraduate, postgraduate taught, PhD/postgraduate research, and foundation year students. International students on exchange at the University of Nottingham (UK) campus for one year only or less are also not eligible to apply.
Also not eligible are students whose most recent school/college was an independent school (non-state school such as a private fee-paying school). • Only one Grant is allowed per person during your time at the University. If you have had a previous application accepted and a grant has been awarded to you, you are not eligible to apply for further funding through this scheme.

Example placement opportunities

Marketing and Fundraising Assistant for the Rosie May Foundation
Classroom Assistant at Phoenix Aspirational Learning Support
Researcher at The Ditchley Foundation – bringing together decision-makers across government, finance, technology, academia and civil society to engage in formal conferences and small-scale meetings

More information

We would like to thank Faculty Education Student Experience, Faculty Ops, and the Access and Participation Fund for providing this generous grant to enable these placement opportunities to take place.

If you are interested in placements and want to know more, email Steve Vaccarini, Faculty Placements Manager at stephen.vaccarini@nottingham.ac.uk

"The programme gave me confidence and independence in a working environment."

— Katie Wiseman, BA Sociology and Criminology, placement at Rosie May Foundation

More testimonials

Farah worked exceptionally well remotely. She requested information where needed and used a great degree of professional discretion and independence in her work as the task requires.
Fearless Youth Association

I developed a lot whilst working on the programme and gained the confidence to interact with peers and superiors in a professional environment.
Holly Kawuma, LLB Law, placement at The Ditchley Foundation

Both interns really shone with their individual strengths during the time they were with us. Work ethic from both was excellent and I had great feedback from the wider team.
Imara CIO

Katie was a proactive, engaging member of our team, was very responsive to activities and grew in confidence. She was a pleasure to deal with and provided some very high-quality work.
Rosie May Foundation