Please Note: The following information relates to the 2023 programme. The 2024 programme is on pause while we review our wider offer for the Young Community. We have left our Work Experience guidance available on the website as resources for anyone considering organising a placement offer directly through their place of work, but we advise that organisations seek their own legal and HR advice.
What kind of work placements can mentors provide for their mentees?
Placements can be online, on-site, or hybrid (a mixture of the two). Freelancers, sole-traders and organisations can offer online placements. Only organisations with an office/site can offer on-site or hybrid placements
What tips do you have for creating the 'best' placement?
- To help you plan, we strongly recommend that you first have a read of our latest guidance pack.
- We encourage you to talk to your mentee about what they would like out of a potential placement with you. This will help you with planning the experience.
- We ask that you schedule a final check-in session towards the end of your placement with the young person. This is so you can both reflect on the placement and what you both got out of it.
How long does a work placement have to be?
Work experience placements can run from 5 to 10 working days. However, placements which last more than one week must be paid.
Paying expenses and wages
Placement providers who host five-day on-site or hybrid work experience placements must also provide lunch and travel expenses. The minimum we think that all organisations should provide is a total of £75 in expenses for a 5-day work placement (this is based on £15 per day).
While we understand that everyone is working with different resources and budgets, we do not wish to expose our Young Talent to placements that may affect their financial well-being. This is in our Organisation Code of Conduct which all work experience placement providers sign up to should they wish to provide a placement for any of the young people on our programmes.
Work placements which last longer than five days, must be paid at the real Living Wage rate. While the UK government's statutory National Living wage covers people over 23, Arts Emergency believes that organisations should pay the real Living Wage regardless of age. With paid placements, providing expenses on top of the Living Wage is optional. For help calculating the cost of a placement please use our work placement calculator below.
What information do mentors need to provide?
You will need to use the mentor report form to provide us with the below information. Ideally, we would like you to tell us one month before the placement begins. This gives us time to review the paperwork and sign everything off.
What information do mentors need to provide?
The key pieces of information that the form will ask you to provide are:
The contact details of yourself, your mentee and the organisation
The dates you’re looking to host your mentee
Confirmation on whether it’s online, on-site, or hybrid
A completed assessment (see links to templates below)
Expenses/wages information
You’ll need to sign the organisation code of conduct
If the placement is on-site or hybrid, we’d need you to provide a valid Employers Liability Insurance certificate.
Important documents you’ll need:
- Work experience guidance pack: Contains all the information you might need for running work experience.
- Organisation code of conduct: You must read and agree to this code before you offer us a work placement.
Select the relevant risk assessment template for you to fill out and send to us:
What happens after you submit the placement information?
We will review your risk assessment and Employers Liability Insurance certificate before the placement starts. We will send you an email once it has been approved so that the placement can take place.
After the placement, Arts Emergency will email you a placement report for you to complete. It includes a section where you can provide a character reference for your mentee.
Need to contact us?
Please get in touch with the Community Team community@arts-emergency.org