Those of you planning to pursue postgraduate study in the UK – this article is for you. If you intend to find employment in the UK after your studies, you can look for masters courses with internship opportunities as an effective internship improves your chances of landing a good job. Internships in the UK can last from a week to several months. It is an opportunity to get some work experience and get better at the relevant skills necessary for your full-time job. Ever since the new Post Study Work Visa has been introduced, it has significantly improved the chances for non-EU international students in the UK to get employment.
Benefits of courses that offer internship opportunities
Studying abroad, especially in a country like the UK does give you an edge in the competitive job market. Completing an internship will add to this. Internships are relatively shorter in duration ranging between 6 weeks to 6 months. On the other hand, integrated placement is a part of the programme structure, where you will have to spend nearly a year working in the industry. Let’s look at some of the benefits of opting for a course with internship opportunity in the UK.
Industry exposure
Pursuing postgraduate programmes in the UK with internship opportunities will be the ideal thing to do if you are aiming for jobs in your area of interest only. It will give you the much-needed industry exposure. This will give you clarity about the nature of the jobs you might be offered. This in turn, will hep you plan your career better. Most employees view your internship experience favourably because it shows them that you are familiar with how the industry functions.
Opportunity to hone your skills
Internships gives you the opportunity to experience a job atmosphere. By the end of the program, you would have honed your skills necessary to deliver at work, such as communication and time-management. You will also learn how to function as part of a team.
Get mentored by experts in the field
As a fresher in the field, you will have experienced people to guide you during your internship program. You can learn from them, get your questions clarified and develop your own style of working.
Networking
At the internship, you’ll get to meet professionals in your field. You can use the connection to meet more professionals or even recommend you for job offers in the industry.
Easy to land your dream job
With the valuable experience working in an actual workplace, you can build a strong resume, get recommendations from the professionals in your industry and finally land your dream job!
Are you looking for postgraduate courses in the UK? Fill the form on this page and our counsellors will be in touch with you to give you professional guidance right from finding the best course and institution to helping you find an accommodation in the UK.
Now the next big question:
what are the postgraduate programmes in the UK with internship opportunities?
We’ll tell you about the different institutions and the courses they offer. There are plenty! Universities offer integrated work placement opportunities that let you gain work experience through internships and placement years - either in between the programme or as an optional extra year.
Let’s get to the list of institutions that offer courses with internship opportunities in the UK, that might interest Indian students.
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary offers several postgraduate programmes that come with industry experience option of up to 12 months. Most of these programmes have intakes in September. Few of the programmes are:
- Robotics Engineering MEng (Hons)
- Aerospace Engineering MEng (Hons) – It is a full-time, 5-years course. Designing rockets and solar-powered racing cars will be part of your course! Isn’t it interesting?
- Biomedical Engineering MEng (Hons)
- Chemical Engineering MEng (Hons)
- Material Science and Engineering MEng (Hons)
The University of Hull
The University of Hull offers several bachelor’s courses with industry experience option. One of their master’s program which comes with an opportunity to gain industry experience is Chemistry MChem (Hons). It is a full-time, 4-years course.
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester has several programmes that offer you an option to take up a paid industrial placement - spanning between nine months and one year. Few of such postgraduate programmes are:
Cardiff University
Cardiff University provides the opportunity for students to undertake a 7-10 month experience upon finding suitable placement. Some of the courses that offer this chance include:
- Advanced Computer Science with a Professional Placement Year MSc
- Business Management with a Professional Placement Year MSc
- Computing and IT Management with Placement MSc
- Computing with Placement MSc
If you are interested in applying to any of these courses at Cardiff University, reach out to our counsellors and they’ll guide you for free.
Loughborough University
MBA programme at the triple accredited Loughborough University’s Business School is two years long (inclusive of a work-based project with an employing company in the industry). The company experience is a compulsory module, at the end of which students will be required to submit their report for assessment.
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway offers several 2-year postgraduate programmes that come with a ‘Year in Industry’ option. Few of these programmes are:
- MSc Data Science and Analytics
- MSc Artificial Intelligence
- MSc Information Security
- MSc Computation Finance
- MSc Machine Learning
- MSc Distributed and Networked Systems
Coventry University
Coventry University offers postgraduate programmes with 3-month internship options as well as 1-year industry placement. Programmes that have year-long work experience include:
- MSc Biotechnology with Professional Experience
- MSc Molecular Biology with Professional Experience
- MSc Pharmacology and Drug Discovery with Professional Experience
Programmes that give you the option to intern for 3 months as a part of the structure include:
- MBA Global Business
- MBA International Fashion Management
- MBA International Marketing
University of Central Lancashire
At UCLan, students can choose from a variety of postgraduate programmes that offer optional internship or industry placement experience of 10 to 12 months. Few of these programmes are:
- MSc Fire Safety Engineering
- MSc Maintenance Engineering
- MSc Intelligence Maintenance Engineering
- MSc Renewable Energy Engineering
Sheffield Hallam University
At Sheffield Hallam University, postgraduate programmes like MSc International Hospitality Management and MSc International Tourism Management offer 1-year industry placement opportunities for international students.
Staffordshire University
Staffordshire University provides postgraduate programmes that come with options of 12 month-long placement options. They include:
- MSc Computer Science (Software Engineering)
- MSc Aeronautical Engineering
- MSc Mechanical Engineering and Sustainable Energy Technologies
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire has programmes at master’s level with options of 1-year industry placements. You’ll be required to maintain an overall average mark of 60% to qualify for the placement experience. Few of the programmes are:
- MSc Artificial Intelligence with Robotics
- MSc Software Engineering
- International Business
- MSc Cyber Security
Northumbria University
At Northumbria University, students can find postgraduate programmes that offer 1-year industry placement opportunities (advanced practice in the second year of the programme). Here are few of such programmes that are on offer:
- Business with International Management
- Business with Financial Management
- International Business Management
- Electrical Power Engineering
De Montfort University
At De Montfort University, students can opt for the 'MBA Global' programme, which comes with an option to work with a company on a project for 3 months as an alternative to a theory-based dissertation module. Additionally, you could also opt for a 15-month professional field experience amounting to a minimum of 30 hours of work in the summer.
The university requires a minimum of 50% from students who have completed their undergraduate studies (in any field), and an overall IELTS band of 6.5. No prior work experience is required to apply for this programme.
In addition, students can also opt for postgraduate programmes in any of the three fields of engineering – electronic, mechanical or software. Each of these programmes comes with 1-year industrial placement opportunities.
Manchester Metropolitan University
The MSc International Business Management programme at Manchester Metropolitan University allows you to intern for a year (comes with an additional placement year fee). You’ll need to score an overall of 6.5 in IELTS with no category less than 5.5 to pursue this programme. Other programmes with internship options include:
- MSc International Events Management
- MSc International Tourism and Hospitality Management
Middlesex University
At Middlesex, you have plenty of postgraduate programmes that offer an integrated work experience for three months. Few of the programmes that come with placement options are:
- MA International Business Management
- MA International Human Resource Management
- MBA
London South Bank University
The London South Bank University offers master’s programmes that have internships integrated into the module structure. This means that these programmes require you to take up an internship to gain work experience and add value to your dissertation.
- MSc International Business Management
- MSc International Business Management with HRM
- MSc International Business Management with Finance
- MSc International Business Management with Marketing
- MSc International Business Management with Project
- MSc International Marketing
- MSc Marketing Communications
- MSc Marketing
Here are some of the other universities that offer master’s programmes with options to intern/work:
- University of Greenwich - MBA International Business
- University of Salford - International Business with Law
- University of Bath – MSC Data Science
- Nottingham Trent University - MSc Molecular Cell Biology
- University of Sussex - MSc Robotics and Autonomous Systems
- University of West London - MA Luxury Hospitality Management
Regardless of the fields of study you choose, your work experience in the field will be your trump card to get employed in the UK. Still have questions? We’re sure you’ll find all your answers in our FAQ section.
So now that you know of the postgraduate programmes in the UK with internship opportunities, it’s time to shortlist the programmes based on your interest and career prospects. We can help you there too. Be it to choose universities or to prepare for the IELTS, our experienced guides will help you in every stage to pursue your study abroad dreams. Since, universities in the UK have different intake periods all through the year; get in touch with us to know what the best time to apply is.
