In year 10, you are required to take work experience. This gives you an insight into having a job and the workplace environment. It gives you a chance to develop practical skills and professional skills, exploring possible career paths before you decide on your next steps after GCSE exams.
A successful work placement will boost your confidence and motivation. You'll be able to see firsthand how subjects you're studying at school are applied professionally. The work experience can vary dramatically according to the industry and profession, from assisting a teacher in a primary school to shadowing staff in an office.
Finding the right placement is challenging. The aim is to gain new skills and learn about workplace environments, so choose an area you are interested in. This includes working in-person, virtually, and in a volunteering role.
This article explores the relevance of year 10 work experience, how to find placements, and some of the best placement ideas. We also touch on the importance of using this insight going into year 11 and your GCSEs. View the TeachTutti home page for an overview of our education platform. You can also see how tuition works with TeachTutti, including the qualifications of our tutors and our subjects for GCSE and A Level examinations.
Importance of year 10 work experience
Many students in year 10 won't have thought in great detail about their future career when they finish their education. Work experience represents an opportunity to start thinking about what interests them and what careers fit their abilities and personality. Even a short placement encourages thinking about their future.
Regardless of the placement a student chooses, they will develop transferable skills that are useful in every workplace. This includes communication, teamwork, organisation, problem-solving, time management, and professionalism.
Students are naturally dependent on their schooling for routine and direction. Being in a workplace encourages students to be independent and mature. This includes speaking to customers, taking part in meetings, and following instructions from employers.
Work experience can bring greater motivation at school. For example, if a student discovers an interest in engineering from their placement, they will realise the importance of maths and physics. Placing greater importance on their studies will benefit their GCSE examinations.
Sixth forms, colleges, apprenticeships, and universities will consider work experience placements when assessing applications. It shows interest and commitment to develop their understanding of a particular subject or industry.
Choosing the right work experience placement
Year 10 students across the country have work experience placements during the summer term. This means competition for placements can be high, especially in popular industries. In particular, it can't be stressed enough how important it is to start your search early.
We have listed our suggestions below to find workplace opportunities.
Ask your school
Secondary schools normally have a careers advisor or work experience coordinator. They often have links with local businesses and approved organisations that offer programmes for year 10 students.
Pay attention to school deadlines and any forms you need to complete. Approach your school early, as popular placements will fill up quickly.
Local businesses
It isn't just medium and large-sized businesses that offer work experience. Many small businesses provide placements. They may not be advertised publicly, and you will need to contact them to ask if they accept work experience or students.
This includes: primary schools, shops and cafes, veterinary practices, gyms and sports clubs, offices, estate agents, music schools, and creative studios. Be polite, professional and enthusiastic in your approach to the company.
Family and community connections
Don't underestimate your existing contacts when looking for work experience. Many placements are arranged through personal recommendations, whether it is a friend, relative, or neighbour.
Virtual work experience
Enrolling on a virtual programme is becoming increasingly popular. Major UK employers have introduced online courses, including the NHS and John Lewis. It's especially beneficial where in-person opportunities are limited.
You can find online programmes in a range of industries. Technology has a wealth of online courses, and there are also programmes for business, finance, medicine, law, and marketing. It is an invaluable method of building digital skills and exploring career paths without restrictions on where you live.
Be flexible
Compromise is important when searching for a learning experience. You may not find the ideal placement you were targeting. Regardless, experience in the workplace will still give you a range of skills and greater confidence.
For example, helping in a nursery will develop responsibility and patience, important attributes for an aspiring teacher. Meanwhile, a retail placement can improve communication, professionalism and teamwork, valued traits for any career path.
Apply early
Start looking for placements months in advance. Searching early will give you more options and increase the chance of securing a desired placement.
To improve your prospects of getting work experience opportunities, write a short introduction to yourself. Give the reasons for your application, and the contact details of your school. Remember to stress your availability clearly, making it as easy as possible for the organisation to follow up.
Best year 10 work experience ideas
There is a wealth of industries to choose from and work experience programmes to choose from within them. There are also local businesses you can work with, or virtual courses to enrol on. Understandably, this makes choosing a year 10 placement overwhelming, especially if you don't have a possible career path in mind.
Try to avoid overthinking when looking for a placement. If you aren't sure what to pursue, you are likely in the majority. Consider what interests you and your skill set. You could write it down in a spider diagram. Work the interests back to the industry they belong to, and see if it fits with your abilities and personality.
We have listed some of the best work experience ideas for year 10 students. This list is not exhaustive, and these are our recommendations from the most popular options.
Classroom assistant at a primary school
Primary schools let year 10 students support teachers and teaching assistants in the classroom. This could include helping children to read, preparing classroom materials, or supervising activities.
It's ideal for a student interested in teaching, childcare, psychology, or speech and language therapy. Students will learn to be more patient and communicate effectively one-to-one and in a group setting.
Assistant at a veterinary practice or animal rescue centre
Helping out with animals is a popular choice for year 10 students. You may be expected to clean surfaces, organise supplies, and feed animals. You may also be permitted to observe consultations where the customer has agreed.
Placements for working with animals include the vets, farms, riding stables, kennels, grooming businesses, and animal shelters. It is suited to someone interested in a career involving veterinary science, biology, and animal care.
Shop floor assistant
It is normally fairly easy for students to find placements in retail. You will be able to experience a professional, customer-facing workplace. Tasks include organising shelves, helping customers, creating displays, checking stock, and helping on the shopfloor during busy periods.
Working in retail will improve your confidence in speaking with people you don't know, teamwork, problem-solving, and time management. It's also a useful contact to have for future part-time work.
Reception or admin assistant
Perhaps the most common workplace environment is the office. A placement in this setting will give students insight into professional expectations. You may need to answer phones, organise paperwork, update spreadsheets, prepare documents, or shadow office staff.
Possible workplaces in an office setting include: estate agents, accountants, solicitors, recruitment agencies, and local businesses.
Nursery helper or early years assistant
If you enjoy interacting with younger children, work experience in a nursery or preschool would be a good fit. Common tasks include preparing activities, helping to supervise play, organising toys, and supporting staff.
It provides valuable insights about child development before Key Stage 1, and is suited to anyone considering a career in childcare or education. You will also develop teamwork abilities, responsibility, and communication.
Bear in mind that some educational institutions may require you to have an enhanced DBS check before starting your placement.
Assistant at a sports club or leisure centre
Sports clubs are always looking for students to help out with coaching sessions, children's activities, or event organisation. Leisure facilities are abundant, and it's a good idea to enquire with several of your local centres to find the best opportunity.
You may be expected to set up equipment, assist younger children during a session, or be on hand to support coaches. It's well-suited to anyone interested in sports coaching, PE teaching, physiotherapy, or fitness careers.
Cafe or restaurant
Working in hospitality is about having strong interpersonal skills. In this customer-facing placement, you will develop customer service skills by greeting customers, preparing tables, organising supplies, or helping staff with simple tasks.
As well as communication skills, you will also learn about teamwork, working under pressure, and organisation, having to multitask with several jobs at any one time.
Assistant at a music school or theatre
If you're more creatively focused, you should contact music schools, dance academies, theatres, or arts centres in your local area. If you live remotely, you can look for virtual programmes with established companies (see the next section).
Your expected tasks include organising equipment, assisting during rehearsals, and helping younger performers. This is suited to students interested in a variety of creative disciplines, including music, performing arts, event management, and media production.
IT support assistant or coding
IT companies are more likely to offer virtual work experience. However, if you are interested in technology, you may want to reach out to local businesses. They may let you shadow IT staff or help with basic technical tasks. Students may observe website development, organise hardware, test software, or assist with digital administration.
You will develop problem-solving skills from this placement, as well as greater digital confidence, logical thinking, and technical awareness. It's a good fit if you're interested in computer science and coding.
Volunteer at a charity shop
There is a wealth of charity shops and community organisations that always welcome year 10 students for work experience placement. They are often more flexible than other industries listed above. Tasks include sorting donations, helping customers, organising displays, and helping with community events.
You will develop communication skills, responsibility, teamwork, and greater confidence in the workplace. It shows your initiative and independence, as well as community involvement, both prized as a means of standing out as a rounded individual in future applications.
Virtual work experience
Enrolling on a virtual course for work experience has become much more popular. This is particularly true when in-person placements are limited due to popularity, geographic location, or the topic under discussion.
Learning online gives flexibility and easier access than traditional placements. There is also the possibility of online collaboration and gaining greater confidence in digital communication.
Coding and game development
Technology companies and education platforms provide beginner coding projects. You can learn to design websites, build simple apps, create games, and solve coding problems. There may be live sessions with software developers and technology professionals. This is suited to students interested in computer science, game development, cybersecurity, or software engineering.
Virtual hospital and healthcare programmes
The NHS and other healthcare providers offer online programmes. These include recorded hospital tours, patient case studies, teamwork activities, and talks from doctors and nurses. There will also be a discussion of key topics, including medical ethics, patient confidentiality, and bedside manner.
Students can't carry out practice tasks online. However, this still provides valuable inside into working in the medical profession.
Digital marketing and social media projects
There are marketing campaigns available for work experience and internships, such as Girls in Marketing. You may be expected to create social media content, research competitors, such as blog topics, write copy, and plan marketing campaigns.
This course is suitable if you want to pursue a career in marketing, journalism, media, business, or content creation. You will also learn to use digital communication tools professionally, which is increasingly important in a range of industries.
Online law and business workshops
There are several law firms and business organisations that provide free, self-paced online courses. For example, Slaughter and May, and Clifford Chance. The course activities may include mock legal cases, business challenges, teamwork exercises, presentation tasks, and communication workshops.
A course in this area will focus heavily on how to operate in a professional, high-paced environment, and heightened workplace expectations.
Creative arts, graphic design, and media
There are online projects in a range of creative industries. This includes graphic design, photography, filmmaking, animation, and music production. For example, NextGen provides a virtual programme that focuses on games, animation, and VFX.
You may be encouraged to create a portfolio or a final project that could support college or university applications later in your education.
Virtual tutoring and mentoring
Secondary students in year 10 may consider mentoring schemes to support younger students. This could be a homework club, a reading programme, or preparation for the 11+ examination.
Teaching others will improve your leadership, communication, patience, organisation, and ability to handle responsibility for others. It is useful for someone considering a career in teaching or childcare.
What if you can't find a placement?
It's not always possible to get a work experience placement. Some industries are very competitive, such as medicine and law. or even in the industry itself. However, there are several alternative options to a formal placement that can give you valuable experience and skills. We have listed some of these options below.
Volunteering
Organisations are always looking for volunteers in a wide range of roles. For example, you could even be a park ranger for a local authority and report on suggested improvements, such as more litter bins. The organisations include local charities, community centres, libraries, and food banks.
Volunteering will teach you about teamwork and improve your communication skills. You will learn the importance of reliability and responsibility, as you will be relied upon to perform particular tasks. It also shows independence and commitment to a local organisation, traits welcomed by future employers and educational institutions.
Job shadowing
Shadowing means observing someone working for a period of time. This may be as little as a few days. It doesn't require a full placement and is a useful insight into the expectations of the profession.
Some of the jobs you may be able to shadow include: teachers, office workers, healthcare professionals, and engineers.
Online courses
Online learning programmes provide a valuable backup if you can't get an in-person work placement. It is less likely to have a cap on the number of participants, and you can explore a range of professions. This includes coding courses, business workshops, creative projects, and healthcare webinars.
Personal project
You may be interested in pursuing a personal project if you are driving with a particular interest. This could be:
- Writing a blog
- Creating artwork or music
- Designing a website
- Learning how to code, such as using W3Schools
- Creating social media content
A personal project shows creativity, resolve, organisation and independence, attributes that any future employer would value.
Family business or local organisation
You may be able to help a relative or family friend with a small business or community organisation. For example, helping out in a cafe or an accounting firm. Tasks can be as varied as the industry, but may include: administration, customer service, social media, organisation, and stock management.
This would likely be an informal experience, yet still very useful to learn the expectations in the workplace and to develop transferable skills.
Preparing for year 11 and GCSEs
After work experience, year 10 students often start to think more seriously about their future after education. This includes the subjects they will need to take in A Levels and the qualifications they will need for their preferred career.
For example:
- Engineering and technology - Requires a strong ability in maths and science
- Journalism - Requires English and strong communication
- Healthcare - Strong GCSE results across the core subjects
This places importance on year 11. The GCSE curriculum is more demanding, and revision starts to build up from the spring term as students prepare for mock exams and final assessments.
Some students will be confidence preparing for their exams independently. If you need support, TeachTutti has experienced, DBS-checked tutors. Tuition can boost confidence by addressing the topics you struggle with. A tutor can prepare revision strategies tailored to you and help you build towards the exam to get your optimum result.
TeachTutti have tutors in a range of GCSE subjects. This includes the core subjects:
If you need help in another area, you can browse other GCSE subjects.
Conclusion - Work experience in year 10
Work experience in year 10 is an opportunity to learn about possible careers, develop confidence, and gain valuable skills. Whether stocking shelves in retail, designing clothes in the fashion industry, or learning to code for a tech company, the experience will help you learn more about yourself and the world of work.
Don't expect to get the perfect placement. Competition is fierce, and you need to be flexible. The key is to embrace the experience and the skills you develop, including communication, teamwork, organisation, and professionalism.
If you're interested in tuition to support a future career path you're considering, follow the link to learn more about TeachTutti and the credentials of our tutors. You can also learn how tuition works and the flexible approach we adopt to lessons.
