1. About this guidance
1.1. The purpose of this guidance is to outline the requirements of managers when offering work experience to school students. This policy applies to all work experience placements at St George’s, University of London.
1.2. When approached with a request for work experience, managers should respond and, if appropriate, agree to the request. It is not necessary to refer the request to Human Resources (HR).
1.3. This policy does not apply to employees bringing a relative to work for a short period (less than 1 week) such as a “bring your child to work” day. In such circumstances the employee would be entirely responsible for the child, as outlined in the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy.
2. Work experience placements
2.1. Work experience placements should adhere to the following requirements:
- Students must be in full-time secondary education.
- Students must be aged 16 or over. If you wish to consider work experience for a child under 16 please contact HR (HRhelp@sgul.ac.uk). There are restrictions on the activities a child under 16 can undertake (eg they cannot take part in laboratory procedures), they must be supervised at all times and the person supervising their placement will most likely need to be DBS checked.
- The placement must be for a short period of time (1-4 weeks).
- The placement will be unpaid.
- Work experience students are not defined as employees.
2.2. Students on work experience should work for not more than eight hours each day and 40 hours per week. They must also have:
- A break of 30 minutes every 4.5 hours of work.
- A rest period of at least 12 hours between each working day.
- 2 days off per week.
3. Risk assessment
3.1. It is important to carry out a Young Person’s Risk Assessment (Word) for any students undertaking work experience, paying attention to the health and safety implications of young people working at St George's, Universtiy of London. Consideration of their immaturity as well as their inexperience should be noted when this is done.
3.2. Any dangerous activities should be avoided and arrangements should be made for adequate supervision.
3.3. The work experience student is required to adhere to St George's University of London’s Health and Safety policies and should be provided with a copy.
4. Right to work checks
4.1. You are required to carry out Right to Work checks for young persons aged 16 years or over. There is no legislative distinction between paid and unpaid work, therefore these checks must be carried out before work experience can commence.
5. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks
5.1. Where employees have substantial unsupervised contact with children St George's, University of London requires them to obtain a satisfactory DBS clearance. However, DBS clearance is not required to supervise work experience placements where the student is aged 16 or 17. DBS clearance, prior to the start of the placement, would likely be required to supervise a work experience placement where the student is aged under 16.
5.2. If you are require further information about DBS clearance, please contact HR.
6. Safeguarding children and young people
6.1. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy.
7. Insurance Liability & Parental Consent
7.1. Where a child has arranged work experience directly with you, as opposed to through their school, you will need to ensure they are covered by St George's, University of London’s Employers Liability Insurance provisions.
7.2. In addition, it is advisable to request that the student’s parent/legal guardian also completes a parental consent form (Appendix 1) to confirm that they agree to the placement, and to provide you with basic information such as emergency contact details.
Appendix 1 – Work experience consent form
Download the full policy for the work experience consent form.