International Work Experience Grant

The International Work Experience Grant 2023 offers funding to University of Nottingham undergraduate students to support overseas work experience.

IWEG is designed to enable students to undertake work experience opportunities that they might not otherwise be able to afford, examples of work experience opportunities include: 

• paid internship with a private sector business 

• a volunteering opportunity 

• work shadowing 

• an unpaid internship with a registered charity, voluntary organisation, associated fundraising body or statutory body 

This grant is only available to assist with opportunities that do not form part of your course requirements. Find out more about the eligibility criteria below.

Applications will be open from Monday 20 February until midnight on Tuesday 11 April 2023. You can apply before you have a confirmed place, although on your application we will need you be able to provide some information about the placement you are applying for.   

We will let you know within four weeks of the closing date if we are able to offer you a conditional grant, and you can then go about making your placement arrangements in the knowledge you have a grant offer subject to you meeting all IWEG 2023 requirements. Grants will be paid out during June, by which time you must be able to provide us with confirmation of your placement prior to payment being released. 

You will be expected to find your own placement with a provider of good standing. Do make sure you fully research potential placement providers to ensure they are offering what you want and that they appear to be reputable. To begin your search, you might want to visit GoOverseas.com where you can find lots of opportunities and read reviews from past interns, or GoAbroad.com is also a great place to search. If you wish to discuss your ideas and options for finding an overseas placement, you can book an appointment with one of the Careers team. 

Application to the grant is a competitive process and your application will be rated based on the information you provide and the quality of your answers to the supporting questions.  

Students in receipt of the University of Nottingham Core Bursary will be given priority access to the International Work Experience Grant. 

The University of Nottingham is committed to supporting students from backgrounds which are underrepresented in higher education to access opportunities. We may therefore use information the university holds about students to assess applications and decide how the grant is awarded. 

To be eligible to apply for this grant, the following criteria must be met: 

• You must be a current, full-time undergraduate student at the University of Nottingham 

• You must be based on the UK campus for the entirety of your degree, or a 2+2 student from The University of Nottingham China or Malaysia Campus 

• Your placement must be through an organisation of good standing

The following are not eligible to apply for the grant.  

• Postgraduate taught students 

• PhD/postgraduate research students 

• Foundation year students  

• International students on exchange at the UK campus for one year only 

• Students who have previously received the International Work Experience Grant OR the Global Placements Grant  

• Students who have previously received Turing funding for any programme, including Study Abroad 
• Students taking overseas electives as part of their course

The work experience opportunity must: 

• take place during summer vacation 

• take place outside of the United Kingdom (if the placement is remote, then the project you are working on must be based outside of the UK) 

• take place outside of your home country (if you are an international student) 

• not form part of your course requirement 

The placement must comply with the university’s policy on paid and unpaid placements and internships.

IWEG funding can be used to support expenses such as placement provider fees, travel and living costs for students travelling abroad. 

The maximum grant we will offer for in-person placements is £750 

Apply by Tuesday 11 April at midnight. Late applications cannot be accepted. 

Apply now

Please also be aware of our: 

• IWEG Terms and Conditions

• IWEG Grant Guidance

Important conditions to be aware of for IWEG 2023

• The university reserves the right to cancel the IWEG programme, at any time, due to any future changes or new guidance linked to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic 

• Deposits and other fees to placement providers are paid at your own risk. The university is not responsible for any monies lost due to cancellation by you, the placement provider, or by implementation of travel restrictions. 

• IWEG can only fund opportunities that take place in Summer 2023 – if an opportunity is cancelled, you choose not to undertake it for any reason, or if the opportunity is deferred to a later date the university cannot offer funding for this experience 

• IWEG payments will be made during June 2023 and not before this time 

• If you are awarded a grant and your placement does not go ahead, as per the terms and conditions of IWEG the funds will become repayable to the university. You must adhere to this condition, even if you are no longer a student at this point. 

• You are taking up an overseas placement at your own discretion and at your own risk. 

Additional advice for volunteering with children:  

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued official advice to warn prospective volunteers and visitors about the unintended consequences of orphanage tourism and volunteering. If you are considering a placement with an overseas institution for children, please read this advice.  

We reserve the right to decline applications to the International Work Experience Grant for any type of activity which supports volunteering or visits to orphanages or other types of residential institution for children. 

If you have any questions, contact iweg@nottingham.ac.uk 

The Global Placement Grant is available only to students from the Faculties of Social Sciences or Arts who meet certain eligibility criteria.  Please visit the appropriate faculty page for more information.

Faculty of Social Sciences Global Placement Grant

Faculty of Arts Global Placement Grant

Only one grant is permitted per student during their time at the University.  If you are unsuccessful in securing a GPG you will automatically be considered for IWEG, you will not need to apply again, and this will not affect your chances of receiving a grant in any way.