Find out about our Work Experience Programme; Vocational Placements and Supported Internships.
Work experience, known as ‘WEX’ or experience of work, is time spent in a work environment, learning new skills, shadowing staff, and gaining first-hand, experience at work through observation and applicacation. It offers you a great opportunity to understand different roles in the NHS and gain experience of being in an NHS environment.
We offer a mix of individual placements for young people in a school environment and structured programmes and provide support to our local colleges and universities with placements for BTEC and other health-related courses.
What kind of work experience do we offer?
Our work experience programme offers a variety of work experience placements across Alder Hey throughout the year. We offer both clinical and non-clinical shadowing opportunities.
Clinical roles tend to be patient facing and non-clinical roles tend to be more focused on support activities including reception, administration, catering and facilities, although some access to patients may take place, depending on the location etc.
Areas include:
If you require further information regarding the various roles within the NHS, please visit the NHS Careers website.
Not all departments are able to accept work experience placements, these include:
- Oncology
- Critical Care (PICU)
- Psychology
The duration of placements can vary from one day to a full week. WEX takes place Monday to Friday, generally from 9am to 4pm. We do not offer placements on weekends. Placements are supervised.
Who can undertake work experience?
Our work experience programme is aimed at young people aged 16 years or over, thinking about their future careers, based within the Liverpool area. Due to high demand, placements are restricted to Liverpool City Region residents only, in the first instance.
Applications are encouraged from students still in an education setting e.g. school, 6th form college or university. Young People considering a move into the NHS or those who are / are at risk of becoming NEET i.e. not in education, employment, or training are also encouraged to apply.
Adults who are not in education, are not able to apply for work experience at the current time. Please refer to the Alder Hey website in the future, as this develops.
What do you need to apply?
- You must be able to provide written evidence of your up-to-date immunisations from your GP or a screenshot of your vaccination information from the NHS App. This includes:
- MMR 1 and 2 (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
- Immunity from chickenpox
Please contact your GP Practice to obtain information on how to receive these vaccinations if you have not had them. Alder Hey are unable to arrange for you to have these vaccinations and do not have access to your NHS health records.
- All applications from university students must have a current enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate (DBS) for Adults and Children and be included in the government update service. If in doubt, your university can support you with this process. Please note: Alder Hey is unable to process your DBS application on your behalf.
Important information for applicants
Applications will only be considered from 3 months before the requested placement dates. *
If you do not meet the requirements detailed above, sadly, we are unable to consider your application; therefore, please DO NOT apply. *
The Trust require at least 6 weeks’ notice to seek a placement for you. *
The Trust cannot accept emails requesting work experience placements – these will be automatically deleted. The application form must be used. *
All eligible applications are dealt with in strict rotation – as we receive high volumes of applications, particularly in summer, we may not be able to accommodate all requests. *
Placements are unavailable between Christmas and New Year and there are a reduced number of placements available between the months of December and January, due to winter pressures. *
How to Apply
Applying for a Work Experience Placement
Opportunities for WEX are mainly available during school holidays and are released on a termly basis, on the following dates.
2025/2026
- 27th – 31st October 2025
- 16th – 20th February 2026
- 30th March – 10th April 2026
- 25th – 29th May 2026
- 20th July – 31st August 2026
2026/2027
- 26th – 30th October 2026
- 15th – 19th February 2027
- 29th March – 9th April 2027
- 31st May – 4th June 2027
- 22nd July – 31st August 2027
Applications are managed by our partners at Elevate EBP.
To apply, go to https://forms.office.com/e/U4uvW9uZ8Y or email [email protected].
Other placements
In addition to work experience, we offer a limited number of placement opportunities for students studying BTEC Health and Social Care as well as students on a range of university courses working directly with local colleges and universities. Please note that we do not normally accept applications from individual students for these placements.
Supported Internships
We offer supported internships to students from the City of Liverpool College and Greenbank College in partnership with University Hospitals Liverpool Group.
The aim of supported internships is to prepare young people with additional needs for paid employment by:
- Supporting them to develop the skills valued by employers.
- Enabling them to demonstrate their value in the workplace.
- Developing confidence in their own abilities to perform successfully at work.
Whilst the ideal outcome from a supported internship is the offer of a paid job from an employer, other outcomes include:
- Builds confidence
- Encourages independence
- Real-world experience
- Develops skills that are transferable
- Promotes future aspirations
- Improves social skills with different people
Wider partnership
In addition to the above, we work with many local, regional and national organisations to support young people to achieve their potential. For example, our role in the Cheshire and Merseyside Network, which supports care-leavers into employment, our work with SWRAC to offer internship opportunities and our work in schools and colleges to showcase different careers.