Work experience

At Suffolk County Council, we take pride in being an exemplar employer that offers valuable and positive work experience to a diverse range of individuals. We have previously received requests from students, refugees, and people wanting a career change. 

We are committed to providing quality experiences of work that are:

• purposeful, relevant and really challenge you to think about your career goals and abilities,
• planned and supervised, so that your time is well spent,
• meet the needs of any academic program that you are undertaking that the work experience is linked to (eg T-Levels),
• clear about the roles, responsibilities and expectations of you and your placement host, and,
• reviewed at the end, providing feedback on your performance to help you to continue to develop your career and employability skills.

Work experience placements usually last between 1 and 40 days (either over a period of up to 1 or 2 weeks where it is every day, or 1 day a week over an academic year).

In 2024 there will be 2 routes you can take when considering submitting an application for work experience – ad hoc requests (which can be for specific placements and dates) or through Suffolk County Council's new work experience programme.

New for 2024

In 2024 we will be trialling a new work experience programme which will give Year 10 students the opportunity to learn about Suffolk County Council and the services that it offers. It will also be a great networking opportunity, mixing students from different local high schools.

Our new scheme will provide students with an overview of each Suffolk County Council directorate over the span of a week. These are:

• Adult Social Care,
• Children and Young People,
• Corporate Services,
• Fire and Public Health,
• Growth Highways and Infrastructure,
• Public Health and Communities.

Applications for the 2024 work experience programme are currently closed. 

Ad hoc requests

We will always do our best to find a placement but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee an offer of work experience or always accommodate preferred areas for everyone who applies.

Please note that we require a minimum of 2 months notice to arrange placements.

To apply, fill out this form and the Early Careers team will get back to you as soon as possible. For further information, email Rising.High@suffolk.gov.uk.