What are the benefits of Work Experience?

Here you can access a range of information with regards to Year 10 Work Experience which will run Mon 13th – Fri 17th July 2026. 

Watch the presentation on the right to learn how Unifrog will support you listing your placement. 

WORK EXPERIENCE SUPPORT: Mr. Birkenshaw will plan some specific PD sessions to offer support and advice. Later in the year he will offer a drop-in helpdesk. 

You can view the 2026 Work Experience letter that went out to all parents in September by clicking here.

Why go on work experience? 

• It helps you find out how work is different from school

• it gives you the chance to find out how a local company works

• it helps you think about your future

• it develops new skills and

• it lets you see see how you cope and learn to adapt to being in an adult environment

• it could help you sample the type of work you're thinking of but whatever work experience you do will help

• it shows you the difference between work and education

• it looks great on your CV and you may get a reference

Some feedback for students from 2025's Work Experience Employers

Based on the student evaluation forms that employers complete as part of the process, over 50 students received gradings of "excellent"! We received far too many positive comments to include them all unfortunately, however, here are just some of the examples:

"A natural! Puts her all everything." Wistow Smart Start

"Best work experience student we have ever had!" Waterstones, York

"She was so great we offered her a Saturday job!" Little Miss Muffins Cafe

"We can't praise the student highly enough, we have offered him further work" John King Chains

"Brilliant student, got on so well with staff and customers." Specsavers

"Brilliant! She fitted in so well and is loved by staff and children." Tiny Toes Nursery

"We didn't want to let him go! Very smart - only needed showing something once and works quickly and efficiently." England Shotokan Karate

What's next?

1. Contact an employer to arrange a placement. You could use this email template and download a copy to edit for yourself.

2. Once you've agreed the placement with the employer get the ball rolling by adding the placement to your Unifrog account (you’ll find the Placements tool on their Unifrog homepage). 

3. Remember to set the Placement Coordinator as "Simon Birkenshaw" so we can keep all placements in one central inbox.

4. The Unifrog system will then email the employer, the parent / guardian, and the school, to collect the necessary information and permissions. For the process to work, it’s essential that students add the initial information about the placement accurately.

5. Please read the placement guides on Unifrog below, and then start contacting possible hosts for the placement.

6. If you have any questions, contact Mr. Birkenshaw, Director of Careers and Work based learning.

Work Experience Learning Guides

Please view the video and content below to learn more about the placements process through Unifrog:

How to use the Placements tool (video)

There's more useful information you can view here.

What is your perfect job?

Try this fun quiz to find out more about the types of jobs you might enjoy and the different careers you could consider.

Watch The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley:

Five teens, four industries. Will they thrive or struggle? Stacey Dooley and the five teenagers share their advice and stories from their ultimate work experience.

Watch the series on BBC iPlayer and get inspired!