A scheme to provide fully-funded internships for students and graduates has been launched by Bournemouth University (BU) and Santander.
The scheme provides funded internships within small and medium enterprise companies (SMEs), with each ten week internship paid at a minimum of £3,000.
Linda Ladle, Careers & Employability Manager at BU, said "This internship scheme is a great way of gaining valuable industry experience and skills, a platform to a placement and a foundation to a professional career."
The scheme has been running for the past five years, and the 2017-18 fund was launched at an event in BU’s Student Centre, attended by staff, students, employers and representatives from Santander.
Matt Hutnell, Director for Santander Universities UK, was among those at the launch event.
He said: “I’m really excited to launch again the internship scheme in partnership with Bournemouth University.
“What’s really great about this scheme as well is that we see over 50 per cent of those students and graduates get full-time employment with those SMEs.
“We have been in partnership with BU for eight years now, and this is just one strand of what we do in terms of the funding with Bournemouth - with mobility awards, entrepreneurship awards and scholarships as well.”
Second year BU Finance and Economics students Juan De Mata Rovey and Iain Christian are among the students who have benefited from BU’s partnership with Santander.
They won the Pitch at the Pitch competition - held by BU at AFC Bournemouth in collaboration with Santander - where students can receive advice and funding for their business plans from a panel of experts.
The pair then reached the finals of the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards with their fairtrade organic clothing brand Label Urban Clothing.
Speaking at the internship launch event, Juan said: “I think that Santander holding these kind of events and initiatives with universities to encourage students to connect with the company is a really good way for students to have opportunities to find the right people.”
Iain added: “I think it’s a fantastic initiative by the university to bring students and businesses together and to connect them.”
Applications for the 2017-8 BU and Santander internship scheme are welcomed from BU students and alumni.
Employers and students can find out more about the scheme on My Career Hub.
