University students working unpaid internships for longer

More than half of students say they worked for free for more than a month

Students who have undertaken work experience during the pandemic are more likely to have worked for free for longer, research has revealed.

A survey of more than 2,000 university students carried out by graduate service Prospects, which is part of the education technology charity Jisc, found that 62 per cent of university students did more than four weeks’ work for free in 2020-21, compared with 41 per cent in 2018. One in six students worked unpaid for more than six months.