Hospital work experience

Each NHS trust or health board arranges its own hospital work experience, usually through a work experience or education team, and places are limited. Most trusts take students from around 16 upwards for observation placements, and many set a higher minimum age for anything on clinical wards. If you cannot get a placement, volunteering, care work and virtual programmes count just as well for most university and job applications.

Who runs placements

England has no national NHS work experience scheme. Each trust decides what it offers, who can apply and when. Search your local trust’s website for “work experience”, or ring the switchboard and ask for the work experience or education and training department. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, health boards and HSC trusts run their own schemes in the same way.

Placements typically last a few days to a week, often in school holidays, and they fill quickly. Some trusts open applications at set points in the year, while others take requests at any time but keep a waiting list. Apply early, and to more than one trust if you can travel.

Age limits

Age limits vary by trust and department, so check each one. As a general pattern:

• under 16s are rarely accepted on wards, though some trusts run open days, insight events or school talks for younger students
• from 16, many trusts accept students for non-clinical or observation placements
• some clinical areas, such as theatres, intensive care, mental health wards and maternity, set a minimum age of 18 or only take students on a specific programme

Placements involving contact with patients usually need you to complete forms about your health and vaccinations, sign a confidentiality agreement and, for some placements, have a DBS check. Most trusts arrange this for you.

What you will actually do

Most hospital work experience is observation. You shadow staff, watch how a ward or department runs and talk to people in different roles, but you will not do clinical tasks. Placements often rotate you through several areas, such as wards, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiography or the laboratory.

Go in with questions about the jobs you are considering. Health Careers lists hundreds of NHS roles, and seeing several of them at work can change what you want to apply for.

Alternatives if you cannot get a place

Many medical schools and nursing courses accept that hospital placements are hard to get and unevenly spread. They generally look for evidence that you understand care and have spent time with people who need it. All of these count:

• volunteering in a hospital, hospice or care home; see volunteering for public sector jobs
• a part-time job as a care worker or in a pharmacy
• helping at a GP surgery, dental practice or community health service, if they take students
• volunteering with St John Ambulance, the British Red Cross or a youth first aid scheme
• caring for a family member, described honestly
• virtual work experience programmes run by NHS organisations and universities

For adults, a paid job is often the best route of all. A healthcare assistant post on NHS band 3, which starts at £25,760 in England, gives you real ward experience and a reference from a registered professional. Many trusts also run NHS apprenticeships at entry level.

Writing about it

Reflect on whatever experience you get. University admissions and NHS interviewers ask what you learned, not just where you went. Keep a short diary of what you saw, how staff spoke to patients, something that surprised you and any moment where teamwork or communication made a difference.

Leave out patient details that could identify anyone. Describe what you observed and what it taught you about the job. NHS recruiters use values-based recruitment, so link what you saw to values such as compassion, respect and working together.

For adults changing career

Adults thinking about nursing or another health career can still ask trusts about shadowing, though many prioritise school and college students. Talking to someone in the role, joining a trust’s bank as a healthcare support worker, or taking an Access to HE diploma with a health focus may be more practical. Health Careers has information on each profession’s entry requirements and routes.