Work-based learning
An interactive student guide to work-based learning opportunities
What is work-based learning?
Work-based learning at the University of East London involves students engaging in learning activities that occur within a professional work environment. It is an educational approach that integrates academic study with practical experience in the workplace.
This type of learning can include part-time jobs, volunteering, job shadowing, research projects, consultancy projects, mentoring, internships, placements, apprenticeships, learning which is incorporated into the degree programme and much more!
The primary goal of work-based learning is to develop your knowledge, experience, skills, and professional behaviours in a real-world context so that you are well prepared for a successful graduate career and beyond.
This guide includes resources that will direct you to various work-based learning opportunities, tailored to your area of study.

Why is work-based learning important?
Enhanced employability
Graduates with work experience are significantly more likely to secure full-time, permanent employment compared to those without such experience. Work based learning helps bridge the gap between academic learning and practical application.
Practical skills development
You’ll gain practical skills and experience by working on real projects under the supervision of professionals. This hands-on experience is invaluable in helping you understand the realities of the workplace and develop relevant competencies.
Connection between theory and practice
Work based learning allows you to see the direct connection between your academic studies and your practical applications. This integration enhances your understanding of course material and allows you to understand how your academic studies can improve your career prospects.
Increased confidence and satisfaction
Engaging in work-based learning will boost your confidence as you can apply your skills in real-world situations. It also contributes to a more satisfying university experience by providing meaningful and relevant learning opportunities.
Visibility in the industry
For students, work based learning provides critical exposure to industry environments. It helps them build networks, understand industry expectations, and increase their visibility to potential employers.
Subject specific job opportunities
Architecture
Specialist jobs
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Architects Registration Board
- Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
- The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)
- Interior Design: British Institute Interior Design
Other useful resources
Arts and Creative Design
Specialist jobs
- Art Station
- If You Could Jobs
- Arts Jobs
- Arts Professional
- Arts Jobs Online
- Design Jobs Board
- Design Week
- Creative Mornings
- The Creative Industries
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Graphic Designer: Chartered Designer Status
- Illustration: The AOI
- Animation: Animation UK
- Photography: British Institute of Professional Photography
- Fine Art
Other useful resources
Computing
Specialist jobs
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- The British Computer Society (BCS)
- The Office for Artificial Intelligence
- Association of Cyber Forensics and Threat Investigators (ACFTI)
- Chartered Institute of Information Security
- Institute of Acoustics (IOA)
Other useful resources
Construction and Engineering
Specialist jobs
- Security Cleared Jobs
- Engineering Jobs
- The Engineer Jobs
- Just Engineers
- Engineering and Technology Jobs
- ICE Recruit
- Construction
- Careers in Construction
- Gradcracker: STEM Jobs
- Barhale | Engineered For Generations
- Newton Equipment – Job Vacancies
Recruitment agencies
- Future Engineering Recruitment
- Robert Half Talent Solutions
- Sigma Recruitment
- Hays – Engineering
- Hays – Construction
Professional bodies
- Royal Aeronautical Society
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- Engineering Council
- Institution of Engineering and Technology
- Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
- Energy Institute (EI)
- Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
- Institution of Engineering Designers (IED)
- The Institute of Structural Engineers
- Civil Engineering Recruitment | Carmichael UK
Professional bodies (continued)
- Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST)
- Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)
- Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
- Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- The Institute of Clerks of Works and Construction Inspectorate of GB Inc (ICWCI)
- Society of Construction Law (SCL)
- The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
Other useful resources

Fashion job sites
Media job sites
Media
Journalism
Film
Animation
Games
Performing arts job sites

Early Childhood and Education
Specialist jobs
- Find a Job (dwp.gov.uk)
- Education Jobs - CV-Library
- Education Jobs on Fish4.co.uk
- LEYF Nurseries - London Early Years Foundation
- SEN Teacher & Teaching Assistant Jobs
- Jobs working with Children & Young People
- Social Work Jobs | CYPNow Jobs
- Teaching roles in Bedfordshire
Recruitment agencies
- Nursery Staff Recruitment
- Tigerlily Recruitment
- Opogo
- Strategy Education
- Sugarman Education
- Specialist SEND Group
- Teaching Jobs: Prospero Teaching
- Education & Teaching Jobs - Reed
- Teaching Personnel
Professional Bodies
Other useful resources
Global Development, Politics and Sociology
Specialist jobs
- Jobs in international development - Bond
- Jobs | SWIDN (South West International Development Network)
- Jobs | ReliefWeb
- Charity Sector Jobs | Third Sector Jobs
- Charity Sector Job | CharityJob
- Jobs in United Nations, NGO, EU | ImpactPool
- Government and Politics Jobs | Guardian Jobs
Recruitment agencies
- Charity People - Charity Recruitment Specialists
- Charisma Recruitment
- Adecco UK
- Seven Resourcing
- Hays
- Harris Hill
Professional Bodies
- DSA - The Development Studies Association
- British Sociological Association
- British International Studies Association
- Political Studies Association
Other useful resources
Psychology
Specialist jobs
- Jobs in psychology
- Psychology Guardian Jobs
- Education jobs
- Health Jobs UK
- NHS Jobs
- Pulse Jobs
- Jobs.ac.uk
- PsycCareers
- PsychologyJobs.com
Recruitment agencies
- Care Connection
- Sanctuary Personnel
- CAMH Professionals
- Psychology People
- Jobs in mental health
- Pairoo Education
- SSR Personnel
- BIS Services
- Cygnet
Professional bodies
- British Psychological Society
- Association of Clinical Psychologists
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
- The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Association UK
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
- The Association for Business Psychology
- Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP)
- National Counselling Society (NCS)
Other useful resources
- British Psychological Society career information
- Clinical Associate in Psychology
- Employment Specialist
- High-intensity therapist
- Mental health social work
- Psychological professionals in the NHS
- Probation, prison, and advocacy services
- Psychological wellbeing practitioner
- Speech and language therapist
- Wellbeing manager
- NHS Graduate programmes
- Human resources
Social and Community Work
Specialist jobs
- Liquid Personnel
- Jobs - SW Locums
- Find a job (dwp.gov.uk)
- Public Sector Jobs | WMJobs
- Goodmoves – charity and voluntary sector recruitment
- Social Care Recruitment Specialists | Seven Resourcing
Recruitment agencies
- Health & Social Care Recruitment Agency (Sanctuary Personnel)
- Social Care, Social Work & Nursing Recruitment · Charles Hunter
- Eden Brown Synergy
- London Youth
Professional bodies
- British Association of Social Workers
- Home - Social Work England
- National Association of Social Workers
- National Youth Agency
Other useful resources

Allied and Public Health
Specialist jobs
- Bank Partners | Jobs for NHS Bank Staff
- Health Jobs UK
- NHS Jobs
- Charity Job
- Nuffield Health Careers
- Department of Health & Social Care
- Barts Health
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Health and Care Professionals Council
- Royal College of Occupational Therapists
- College of Paramedics
- British Chiropody and Podiatry Association
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- Faculty of Public Health
- Royal Society for Public Health
Other useful resources
Sport Science
Specialist jobs
- Nuffield Health Careers
- UK Sport
- Careers In Sport
- Global Sports Jobs
- Sport England
- Jobs In Football
- Leisure Jobs
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity
- The Society of Sports Therapists
- The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES)
Other useful resources
Bioscience
Specialist jobs
- Health Careers in Biomedical Science
- NHS Jobs
- AstraZeneca
- Health Jobs UK
- Nuffield Health Careers
- Wellcome Sanger Institute
- Science Careers
- Nature Careers
- Agenda Life Sciences
- BMJ Careers
- eMed Careers
- PharmiWeb
- PharmaJobs
- Jobs in Science
- New Scientist Jobs
- STEM Graduates
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Institute of Biomedical Science
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- British Pharmacological Society
- Royal Society of Biology
Other useful resources

Law, Justice and Policing
Specialist jobs
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Law Society of England and Wales
- British Security Industry Association
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
- Chartered Institute of Legal Executives
- Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection
- Institute of Counter Fraud Specialist
- National Association of Licensed Paralegals
- The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys
- The Bar Council
Other useful resources
- LawCareers.Net
- Student Barrister
- 10,000 Black Interns
- Aspiring Solicitors
- The 93% Club
- Zero Gravity
- Rare Recruitment
- Lawyers Who Care
- LittleLaw
- Family Law Week
- The Student Lawyer
- Watson's Daily
- Legal Cheek
- Bringing [Dis]Ability to the Bar
- GROW Mentoring
- LawCare - the mental health charity for the legal sector
- The Lawyer Portal
Events, Hospitality and Tourism
Specialist jobs
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- The Institute of Hospitality
- Association of British Travel Agents
- UK Hospitality (formerly the British Hospitality Association)
- Institute of Tourist Guiding
- Institute of Travel & Tourism
- Tourism Society
- Association of Independent Tour Operators
Other useful resources
Business Management and Finance
Specialist jobs
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
- PwC Opportunities
- KPMG Careers
- East London Business Alliance (ELBA)
- Reach Out UK Level Up Experience
- City Jobs
- Retail Choice
Recruitment agencies
Professional bodies
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
- The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
- Association of British Travel Agents
- Association of Project Management
- British Continuity Institute
- Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management
- British Standards Institution
Other useful resources

I'm looking for work experience
Where to look for work
- Career Zone Jobs Board (Log in to the Career Zone, and click on the Jobs Board, use the filters on the left-hand side to filter internship opportunities).
- GoinGlobal
- Randstad - onsite recruitment agency at UEL Career Zone
- Prospects
- Target jobs: Graduate Jobs, Schemes & Internships
- Handshake
Part time jobs
- Part-time student jobs | Save the Student
- Student jobs, part-time jobs, internship, summer jobs | StudentJob UK
- Temporary jobs and flexible work | Indeed Flex UK
- Student jobs | E4S
- How to balance a job and study at university
- Retail jobs
- Recruitment, staffing & job search in the UK
Recruitment agencies and general sites
- How to find a job using recruitment agencies
- Student and graduate careers platform | GRB
- Student employment services
- Flair events people - events staffing agency
- Hospitality recruitment
- Register your CV with cv-library
- Job lift: all jobs on one platform
- Diversity Dashboard - Inclusive careers and diversity jobs
- Job vacancies on jobs.ac.uk
- Job search on Indeed
- Jobs and recruitment on Reed
- Bain and Gray | Boutique secretarial and PA recruitment agency London
- Not-for-profit recruitment
- Morgan Hunt | UK recruiters & recruitment agency
- Temp & perm UK jobs
- Find recruitment agencies at Agency Central
- Remote jobs - FlexJobs
International students and jobs abroad
- Visa sponsored jobs in the UK for international students
- GoinGlobal
- Internshala - Search for internships in India and remotely
Diversifying the talent pipeline
- Blueprint for All
- Diversity Dashboard
- Rare - Leaders in diversity graduate recruitment
Looking for volunteering opportunities
- Career Zone jobs board (Log in to the Career Zone, and click on the Jobs Board, use the filters on the left-hand side to filter internship opportunities).
I'm looking for internships and placements
Job sites for internship and placements
- Career Zone jobs board
- Forage (free, virtual Internships)
- Bright Network’s Internship Experience
- How to get a student internship - Save the Student
- Milkround
- Target Jobs
- e4s - Summer internships or internships abroad
- Student Job
- Rate My Placement
- LinkedIn - Save the Student
- Student Employment Services
- Prospects - Work experience and internships
- Beetroot graduate jobs and placements
- GoinGlobal
- Internshala - search for internships in India and remotely
I'm looking for graduate opportunities
Job sites for graduate opportunities
- Career Zone Jobs Board
- Give a Grad a Go
- How to get a graduate job - Save the Student
- Graduate job search - Save the Student
- GRB
- Milkround
- Graduate Jobs
- Search graduate jobs | Prospects.ac.uk
- Graduate Jobs, Schemes & Internships
- Debut careers
- Gradcracker - Careers for STEM Students
- How to apply for a graduate scheme - Save the Student
- How to use LinkedIn to get a job in 2024 - Save the Student
- Beetroot Graduate Jobs
- Grad Jobs
- Latest graduate jobs and schemes 2024
- Graduate Review
- Jobsite UK
- UEL - Graduates First
- Careers at Enterprise Mobility
- Morgan Hunt Recruitment Agency
- Our Newham Work
- Tate office recruitment agency
- Sanctuary Graduates