My Career

Work Experience

What we have to offer...

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust can offer work experience placements in both clinical and non-clinical areas. Placements are unpaid and in an observation capacity only for up to a maximum of five working days. Please note that not all areas of the hospital are suitable for work experience and some departments are unable to accommodate requests.

Please be aware that some departments give priority to students studying for healthcare-related qualifications and/or may impose further restrictions on the eligibility criteria listed below to regulate demand.

Eligibility

  • Priority will be given to applicants who live or study in a Leeds (LS) postcode area.
  • If you are aged 16 years or older, you must be a resident of the European Union, or hold a suitable work permit or visa that entitles you to undertake work in the UK (these requirements apply even though Work Experience is unpaid).
  • If you are in full-time education, you must be at least 15 years of age, and/or in Year 11 or above.
  • If you are in further or higher education, we expect you to be studying towards a qualification relevant to the field in which you're seeking experience.

How to apply

  • 1Placements must be arranged directly with the Head of the Department in which you wish to gain experience. Not all departments are able to support Work Experience, so you may wish to consider several alternatives.
  • 2Once you have decided, look up the department and their contact information in the Trust's online A-Z of Services and contact the Head of Department. If they are willing to accept requests for Work Experience they will discuss details with you and, if appropriate, arrange dates for your placement.
  • 3Once you have gained agreement to a placement, you will be sent written confirmation. You will need to sign and return certain documents signifying agreement to the Trust's conditions before your Work Experience begins.

What else can you do?

As an alternative to Work Experience, you may wish to consider a role as a volunteer within the Trust. Currently we have a large volume of volunteers working in a number of areas across the organisation. You will need to be at least 18 years of age to be eligible to apply.

If you think you might be interested in becoming a volunteer, please visit our Voluntary Services page.

You may also wish to consider contacting other healthcare providers including pharmacies, residential care homes, charities, general practices or private healthcare providers.

For further information on the extensive career opportunities in the NHS, please visit healthcareers.nhs.uk

Top Tips for being successful and gaining Work Experience at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust receives a high number of enquiries for Work Experience Placements each year. It is important that you ensure that you present your application well, considering the skills you hope to gain on work experience and which department in the hospital would be able to provide you with the most valuable experience to support you in your career choice.

Things you can do

Register your details and interest with us, using the register/login page of this website.

Complete all the paperwork

Make sure you fully complete the Work Experience Personal Information Form - if you give a covering account of why you are seeking Work Experience, and can show you have researched the area or organisation in your statement. You are more likely to be considered for a placement if you can demonstrate you have done your homework.

Get in contact early

Make contact during the academic year before you want your placement to start. This gives the work area time to plan your placement to ensure you get the most out of this invaluable opportunity. We could not accept any placement requests made less than one month prior to the dates of the placement starting.

Be flexible on timings

If you can come on placement at different times of the year, please give these optional dates.
The Trust gets a lot of requests at certain times of the year, thus limiting how many Work Experience Placements we can offer.

Prepare yourself for the placement

You are advised to prepare for the placement. Think about what you want to learn from your experience and have questions ready that you would want to ask.

Turn up

Make sure you turn up on time, attend every day and let the person know who is your main point of contact know if you are able to attend.

If at first you don’t succeed....... Try, and try again .....
You may have to apply to a number of different areas or organisations before you can secure a placement.

Work Experience at LTHT is direct observation of healthcare