Inspiring careers in life sciences, health and beyond
Work Experience on Campus
Delivering world-class healthcare and science requires the right people with the right skills. That’s why we strive to inspire people of all backgrounds to pursue a career on Campus and help provide opportunities, skills and experience to make it happen, from apprenticeships to placements, work experience and skills training.
Our community of organisations offer routes into a range of industries including healthcare, construction, hospitality, life sciences, facilities management and logistics.
Are you interested in getting an insight into different careers on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus? Below is a selection of some of the opportunities available, or you can take a look at other ways to get involved here.
Have a question? Visit our FAQ page or get in touch.
AstraZeneca
At AstraZeneca we recognise that access to work experience is important for students to gain valuable insights into different industries and to help with professional and personal development.
Year 10 Virtual Work Experience: This week-long virtual experience – offered during Spring half term and the summer term showcases the development of a medicine at AstraZeneca. Hear from AstraZeneca employees in live Q&A sessions, understand how they help develop medicines, test your own knowledge with interactive activities and find out more about the AstraZeneca early career programmes.
Year 12 Work Experience: These are in person work experience opportunities in the Summer covering a variety of different departments and roles. Take a look at the AstraZeneca Early Careers site for more information.
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Cambridge Institute of Medical Research (CIMR)
Encouraging young people to take up careers in science is important to us. We focus on widening participation schemes which give opportunities to young people who may not otherwise have access to work experience. We will be running an on-line event in August (applications open now), while our next in-person work experience week will be in February 2027 (applications will open in October 2026). Please check our website for details of both.
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Cambridge Stem Cell Institute
Keep up to date with the latest opportunities on our Work Experience and Internships page!
For any enquiries about potential work experience opportunities please reach out directly to our Principal Investigators.
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Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH)
CUH offers work shadowing opportunities for students attending colleges within Cambridgeshire and Fenland areas, or just over the border into Suffolk, Herts and Essex for schools / colleges within a 25-mile radius of Cambridge University Hospitals (which include Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie). Students are required to be in sixth form college or further education up to the age of 24.
We offer Insight programmes, classroom based for those in years 10-13, or up to age 24 in further education.
Full details can be found on our website, including application details and link for both shadowing and Insight programmes.
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Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
CRUK’s Careers Lab Work Experience Programme offers Year 12 students a unique, week-long opportunity to gain hands-on experience across a variety of departments at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. This is designed for Year 12 students (ages 16-17).
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MRC Biostatistics Unit (University of Cambridge)
For enquiries about potential work experience opportunities, please contact our team at communications@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk.
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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB)
The LMB’s work experience placements provide hands-on experience of working in an academic research institute to school-aged students, with priority given to those from underrepresented backgrounds.
Placements may be within an LMB research group, scientific facility or support service, highlighting the variety of roles that underpin our cutting-edge research.
For more information and to apply, please visit our website.
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Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Here at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, we offer work experience as an unpaid, voluntary experience.
It can help students and others observe and work alongside healthcare professionals, which can then be of a benefit to those who wish to pursue a career in healthcare.
These experiences offer a valuable insight into what it can really mean to work in the NHS.
This work experience is offered for people aged 16 years or older (some placements such as Theatres and Radiology you will need to be aged 17 plus).
Please be aware that application processing can take between 1-2 months.
There are year-round opportunities available – see our website for more information.
You can also contact papworth.workexperience@nhs.net if you have any questions!
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The Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute
For any enquiries about potential work experience opportunities with us please contact our HR team at hr@med.cam.ac.uk.
Keep up to date with the latest opportunities by visiting our website!
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Careers
Visit our careers page to find out more about careers on Campus and where to see the latest vacancies from organisations based here.