Work experience, volunteering, and work-related learning offer individuals the chance to explore careers in Health and Care.

These opportunities provide hands-on insight into NHS and social care roles, helping you develop key skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. They also build confidence, enhance CVs and UCAS applications, and improve employability, providing a strong foundation for career changes, further education, apprenticeships, or entry-level positions in the sector.

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Getting some experience can be really important in finding an Health & Social Care career. Here are some of the different things you can do:

Work experience placements

The placement could be a day or two, a week or fortnight or a few hours each week.

Volunteering

Volunteers work alongside staff doing worthwhile tasks. Although you’re not paid, any expenses may be reimbursed. You don’t have to volunteer full time. It could be a one-off project or a weekly commitment that you could fit around your work or studies. It could form part of your gap year either in the UK or overseas.

Paid part – or full-time work

Any paid experience in the right sort of environment can be valuable, particularly if you receive training.

Other ways in which you can gain relevant experience

include caring for a friend or relative who is sick or disabled.

The greater and more varied the experience you have the better, so you could, for instance, do a placement as well as some volunteering.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust offer work experience placements across a variety of healthcare settings. These placements can provide insight into roles like nursing, allied health professions, laboratory work, administration, and more. Visit their websites to learn more about available placements and application processes.

Primary care includes GP practices, dental clinics, pharmacies, and optometrists. The Gloucestershire Primary Care Workforce Centre, managed by the Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub, is a central resource for those interested in primary care careers.

Reach out to your local GP practice or the Primary Care Workforce Centre to ask about shadowing or work experience opportunities. Some practices offer placements for students, allowing you to observe the day-to-day responsibilities in primary care settings.

Many care homes in Gloucestershire welcome young people who want to explore roles in elder care, residential support, and more. Contact care home managers directly to ask about work experience or volunteer roles, which can be a great way to gain hands-on experience.

Use resources such as the Gloucestershire Care Providers Association website Gloucestershire Care Providers Association to find local care homes and their contact details.

Considering a career in health and care but finding it difficult to access work experience?
Our Virtual Learning Experience gives students the opportunity to build skills, explore careers, and understand how the health and care sector works, all online.

What’s included

  • Flexible online activities and tasks
  • Insight into real health and care careers
  • Topics like teamwork, communication, ethics, and first aid
  • A choice of final project areas

What you’ll gain

  • The equivalent of 25 hours of work experience
  • A certificate on completion
  • Skills and examples to support applications and interviews
  • A deeper understanding of the NHS and care roles

How it works

  • Download the programme and complete it in your own time
  • Save your work as you go
  • Once finished, email your completed work to glicb.workexperience@nhs.net
  • You will receive a certificate on completion

If you have any questions, contact the same email for support.

Click here to download the programme: Virtual Work Experience Programme.

Volunteering is a huge benefit to individuals and organisations for many reasons which relate to health and wellbeing: ‘giving back’, countering loneliness or isolation, offering purpose, and a route to paid employment, to name just a few.

Gloucestershire ICS partners are working together as members of the Gloucestershire Volunteering Collaborative. The Collaborative was established to further the profile and uptake of volunteering in our county and extends beyond the boundaries of health and social care.  One of the Collaborative’s early initiatives in 2022 was to establish a new county-owned and run online volunteering platform, Go Volunteer Glos.

Go Volunteer Glos

Go Volunteer Glos is the digital home of volunteering in Gloucestershire. It’s a free website for local people aged 16 plus who are looking for volunteer opportunities, and for organisations, charities and community groups needing volunteers.

People wanting to volunteer in Gloucestershire will now be able to use the website to match their skills, interests, location, and availability to the perfect volunteering role. That role could be helping at a one-off event right through to a regular commitment. Find volunteer opportunities.

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