Professional Liaison Unit

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Postgraduate Internships

City University London offers an unrivalled opportunity for both organisations and students to benefit from postgraduate IT internships. The scheme enables students to undertake agreed industry-relevant project work of direct value to an organisation.

Internships are normally undertaken in the July to December period, for about six months. Students may work under a client’s direction for all or part of this time. Only those students who are clear to proceed to project (students should check their course handbooks for details) are able to do internships

Students may be recruited to carry out a specific project, or there may be an internship work role which provides the context for the project topic. Students on internship are expected to carry out a substantial piece of project work, either on their own or with others, and to submit a report for assessment by early January.

All of City's postgraduate programmes are accredited by professional bodies. Students taking internships will normally be from courses accredited by the British Computer Society, who require that project work is practical and problem-solving.

The internship organisation can propose a topic, or area of work. Project objectives and a work plan are then agreed with the organisation and the student's Academic Supervisor before substantial project work begins. Students submit the agreed objective and plan to the Professional Liaison Unit by mid July.

Students on internships document their work using our professional development scheme. They are supported by a Work-based Learning Advisor (WLA), who is a tutor from the Professional Liaison Unit.

Internship providers vary in their attitude towards paying the student. Some pay a salary or fee, others reimburse various expenses or make a contribution to the student’s costs. We encourage some sort of payment to the student and the internship fee (£490 in 2009). However, these details are decided by the internship provider and the student. Unpaid internships are permitted. Any such arrangement is between the internship provider and the student.

All Postgraduate students – including those who are interested in applying for internships – are offered the opportunity to participate in Personal Development Career Management activities. For more details, click here

If you are a student who has been offered an internship, please click here

If you are an employer interested in offering a postgraduate internship, click here for our Guidance for Internship Providers document. Further information for employers can be found by clicking here