Work experience placements

Our work experience placements are open to:

• Students who are aged between 15 to 18 years old.
• Students who are in full-time education or training.
• Where applicable, students with special educational needs (SEN) aged from 15 up to 21 years old, can apply for a work experience placement 

Our work experience placements are not open to University students or students over the age of 18 years old, including those who are looking for work place experience prior to a change of career.

To apply for a work experience placement, please email: cddft.workexperience15-18@nhs.net with the following information:

• Your full name
• Full postal address (including postcode) 
• Email address
• Telephone number 
• Date of birth
• Name of school or college 
• Preferred hospital site (UHND, DMH, BAH or other community site)
• Preferred department (clerical, catering, corporate, information technology, clinical/medical)
• Preferred placement start date (must begin on a Monday)
• A brief description of the future career you are interested in

Work experience requests are managed through the Learning and Development administration team who receive a high volume of enquiries and requests, so it may take some time for them to process your application and get back to you - please be patient.

• We can only consider requests for work experience placements that have been submitted with all of the relevant information
• Please apply between 10 to 16 weeks before the proposed start date of the placement
• We cannot accept applications at more than 16 weeks as supervising staff may move to other wards or departments before the placement starts
• It takes about 10 weeks to process each work experience application. We are therefore unable to accept applications that are submitted less than 10 weeks before the proposed start date of the placement.
• Please also note that placement applications cannot be made by contacting individual members of CDDFT staff, individual wards or departments or by submitting requests by letter, over the phone, in person or by sending in your CV. 

Understandably, we are unable to offer work experience placements in some areas. This is either due to the sensitive nature of the work carried out, or due to the potential psychological or physical risk to students. The following areas are restricted and are unable tofaciliate work experience placements:

• Accident and Emergency
• Contraception and Sexual Health Services
• Coronary Care Unit
• Family Planning
• Genito-Urinary Medicine
• Intensive Care Unit
• Macmillan Services
• Mortuary
• Mental Health
• Paediatrics, including Community Dental
• Palliative Care Services
• Maternity, SCBU
• Safeguarding Children / Child Protection
• Surgical (including procedures in podiatry and dental)
• Theatres (including GI Endoscopy, Day Surgery and Recovery)
• Urgent Care Centres

We do not currently provide Paramedic placements, but you can find useful information on the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's Careers webpage.

• Careers with NHS England
• Step into the NHS: schools competition