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Essentials Careers Gaining experience Reading Internship Scheme RIS Living Cost Bursary

RIS Living Cost Bursary

If you've secured you're own internship, read about the Reading Internship bursary criteria.

The Reading Internship Scheme Living Cost Bursary is for undergraduates who have secured a 4 – 6 week, unpaid internship, which is not counting towards their degree programme.

The living cost bursary is in place to support students with doing what they love. Lots of students undertake unpaid internships to gain work experience and this bursary is here to support you with this. The bursary supports you with living costs, so is not a salary.

For a 6-week unpaid internship you would receive a £1,000 bursary, for 4 or 5 weeks we would work this out at £166.66 per week. If you would like to apply for the bursary, please read the criteria below and then complete the application on My Jobs Online.

    Who can apply for the bursary?

    Living Cost Bursary Criteria:

    • You are currently an undergraduate student studying at the University of Reading

    • You are a permanent resident of the UK or EU

    • Your internship is unpaid (your employer is not paying you a salary, but they can contribute to travel expenses)

    • Your internship is 4 – 6 weeks in length (equating to a minimum of 140 hours and a maximum of 210 hours)

    • Your internship is not contributing to any other University initiatives (this isn’t part of your degree programme, a summer placement module, or anything similar)

     

    The organisation can be of any size but must meet the below criteria, which your employer will need to confirm:

    • Your internship cannot be with the University*

    • The organisation must have a registered office address

    • The organisation must be a registered company

     

    You are also in at least one of the following categories:

    • In receipt of the Reading Bursary

    • Are registered with our Disability service

    *If you are undertaking an unpaid opportunity at the University of Reading, please refer your supervisor to Holly Forsyth or the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme.

    Covid-19

    Students who receive the RIS Living Cost Bursary should keep up to date on COVID-19 through the government website. It’s important that you use the latest information to help you decide whether your internship is completed in the employer’s offices, at your home, or a mixture of both. 

    How to apply

    To be considered for the bursary please complete the bursary application form on My Jobs Online, by logging into your My Jobs Online account and clicking the ‘pathways’ icon.

    View our step-by-step guide of how to apply through My Jobs Online or watch our online tutorial on how to apply.

    PLEASE NOTE - applying for the bursary does not guarantee you funding.

    What happens after I apply?

    What happens once I have submitted my application?

    Before we can confirm any funding, we will enquire as to whether you and your internship can be supported by the bursary.

    We then contact your internship supervisor to confirm the details you have given us are correct. We aim to review all applications within 2 working weeks. Once both steps have been completed successfully, we will confirm this to you.

    Is there a way I can keep track of my application’s progress?

    You can check in on your application’s progress once you have completed this on My Jobs Online. You will be able to see a small checklist at the bottom of your application which tracks the RIS Coordinator’s progress with your application.

    How do I receive the funding?

    Recipients of the bursary receive 50% of the funds prior to start of the internship, and 50% upon successful completion of the internship, confirmed by an email from your internship supervisor. We aim to process this as swiftly as we can, but this can take up to 3 weeks from the day we receive the confirmation from your supervisor.

    For you to receive your bursary, your bank details need to be up to date on the RISIS portal. Please check your bank details on the portal once it has been confirmed by the RIS Coordinator that you are eligible for the bursary.

    What our students say

    “I would definitely recommend the bursary to other students. If they are unable to secure something in the field that they want whilst being paid something just to be able to maintain themselves, this will help. It allowed me to do an internship in a design-based subject, purely out of fascination and interest, it has nothing to do with my area of study and this bursary made it doable. If struggling to find a properly paid internship, I think students would be able to more easily find unpaid ones and be able to get a form of payment”. – 2020 Law student

    2020 English Literature student:

    Q: How did you find the joining process of the bursary scheme?
    A: Extremely easy - it only took me a couple of minutes! All I had to do was to complete a short form answering a few questions!

    Q: Would you recommend the bursary to further students?
    A: Absolutely, 100%! 

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about the Reading Internship Scheme’s Living Cost Bursary, please email careers@reading.ac.uk

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