Work Experience In School Leads To Salary Uplift In The Workplace

Students who complete work experience placements while at school get higher salaries once they enter the workforce, according to new research.

Work placements are also linked to a lower chance of being unemployed or unable to get on a training program after leaving school.

Now campaigners in the U.K. are calling for work experience to be made mandatory so all students can benefit, regardless of their background.

Students who complete a work experience placement while at school benefit from an uplift of around 3.4% on their annual salary, according to research commissioned by U.K. social mobility charity Speakers for Schools.

This equates to an additional £1,088 ($1,182) a year, with two placements seeing a 6.8% uplift, or around £2,200 ($2,390) a year.

Work experience also reduced the chances that young people would be unemployed and not in a training program when they left school from 11% to 7%.

“Work experience is a fundamental right for students of all backgrounds, not just those attending prestigious schools or lucky enough to have parental connections,” said Andrew Law, chair of the board of trustees at Speakers for Schools.

“Young people should be able to learn about multiple types of jobs across different sectors before leaving school.

“It is hugely important for building aspiration, essential skills and helping determine future careers, but also for employers who regularly cite skills and knowledge gaps in entry-level candidates.”

Work experience also has an impact on soft skills, with a third of young people saying it improved their communication and problem-solving skills.

And 31% of young people who did work experience while at school said it improved their confidence and self-belief.

Researchers took into account gender, geography, type of school and whether students were eligible for free school meals, from a sample of 700 young people aged 18-30 around the U.K., to try to eliminate the influence of socio-economic factors.

The increasing use of work experience and internships by employers as part of their recruitment process has been seen as a barrier to young people from underprivileged backgrounds, who may not have the time or resources to take on an unpaid or low-paid placement.

There are also concerns that students at state-funded schools do not have the same range of work experience opportunities as their peers at private, fee-paying schools.

Now, Speakers for Schools is calling for all students to be given the chance to take part in meaningful work experience, and for schools to be funded to enable them to achieve that.

Existing guidance in the U.K., known as the Gatsby Benchmarks, are that by the age of 16 students should have at least one experience of a workplace, in addition to any part-time job they have, with a second by the age of 18.

But these can include work visits and work shadowing, as well as meaningful work experience.

Speakers for Schools is calling for work experience to be mandatory, to ensure “all state-educated young people have the same employment opportunities as their privately educated peers, which could prove hugely important for social mobility,” according to Andrew Law.