Year 11 Work Experience

Year 11 is that time where you are looking at your decisions moving forward, like choosing a sixth form or college, sorting out your GCSE work experience, try and cope with GCSE revision stress and for some people, even start thinking about retaking your GCSEs.

This article will help you with your year 11 work experience ideas and give you an idea of how work experience in year 11 works and how to get the best work experience for year 11 students.

Where to do work experience year 11?

So whereabouts can you actually do your year 11 work experience? Well, work experience placements year 11 are your decision. You get to decide where you go and what you do! Provided their are companies looking for students and are willing to take on people for work experience placements, then you will be able to do what you like. Your year 11 work experience placements are entirely down to you!

When do year 11 do work experience?

This will depend on your school and what they decide. Most schools try and organise year 11 work experience for the beginning of the school year. Since most students will have GCSEs to contend with, schools will not want to disrupt students learning periods or interfere with your GCSE Revision.

How to find work experience for year 11

Work experience will mainly be down to you and how you find it. There is a little bit more to it than just searching “Work experience year 11 near me”, there will be a bit more hard graft than that!

Speak to local companies and see if they are looking for people to come and work with them and see what they need doing. There are a few companies who are always looking for fresh-faced youngsters to come in and help them.

There are a number of companies or sectors that require you to go through a unified system, for instance, those looking for things like NHS work experience, you will need to go through the NHS Authorities and Trust website, as the NHS has to vet all potential candidates through their screening processes.

Not all companies will be looking and it is always worth bearing in mind that you need to keep your expectations in check, for instance, if you’re interested in banking work experience, then it might an idea for you to look around and see what companies specialise in this, big companies like JP Morgan might be tough to find work experience for, but that doesn’t mean you can’t type “JPMorgan work experience year 11” into Google and see what you come up with, or just google work experience year 11 UK and see what turns up!

How to write a CV for work experience year 11

Writing a student CV isn’t always easy, especially since you’re unlikely to have much by way of actual workplace experience under your belt.

The best thing for you to do, is to structure your CV as best you can around the topics that you are passionate about. The more the person inc harge knows about you, the better. For instance, if you’re thinking of studying Architecture courses at university, then it might be an idea to look into architecture work experience year 11 placements and mention that you have a passion for Architecture and what you feel you can bring to a job like the one you're applying for.

As well as a student CV, you will also need a work experience letter template year 11 to aid your application as well. This will read like a normal covering letter and will allow you to speak more about your passions and what you feel you can bring to the position.

When is year 11 work experience?

This will depend on your school and what they decide to do for your work experience periods. Many try not to coincide them with GCSEs, so you might see work experience year 11 summer placements become more likely than during the middle of your GCSE revision period.

How long is work experience year 11?

Work experience will usually be for around two weeks in year 11. Some schools may run a shorter or longer period of work experience, but most placements run for two weeks. This gives you the chance to really get to know the sector you're working with and it gives you the chance to build a wide web of contacts as well.

Year 11 summer work experience will have a different working period, as you are no longer in school, therefore you will have more time to complete your placement.

Do you do work experience in year 11?

Not all schools run work experience for year 11 students, many do, but some do opt out of this. The reason for this is that year 11 is a crucial year for students since you will be deciding on sixth form or college and will be sitting your GCSEs, which will play a crucial role in your life.

Ask your school if they run a work placement or work experience initiative for students in year 11 and see what they say. It is unlikely that the school will object to you taking a work experience placement during school, just make sure it doesn’t interfere with your school time or your studies.

Is year 11 work experience paid?

This will depend on the employer. Not all employers will pay as it is not a legal requirement for them to do so, however, some employers will often try and work something out. Some employers pay with petty cash and others pay with a gift of some kind, although this is not a guarantee for students at all, especially since work experience placements are by definition unpaid.

Can I do a year 11 work experience placement during my GCSE revision?

You can, but we don’t recommend it.

This is a very delicate period for year 11 students and your GCSEs will play a huge part in shaping your future, and as you begin mapping your future, you will star to see the importance of grades when filling out your UCAS Application.

A lot of schools allow time for study-leave, no, that’s not an excuse for you to sit around playing XBOX or PlayStation or to go out for meals with your mates, and it is also not the time for work experience placements.

We recommend waiting until the summer if your school will not allow you to do a work experience placement any earlier in the year.