Which IT and technology employers offer summer internships or industrial placements?

Many graduate employers in the IT sector offer paid technology internships or formal work placements that can range from a couple of months during the summer vacation to a full sandwich year as part of your degree course. These are typically intended for penultimate-year students.

Shorter work experience schemes and insight weeks are becoming increasingly common, typically lasting one or two weeks; these are usually aimed at first-year students (or second-year students on four-year degrees), and some may specifically request applications from students from backgrounds underrepresented in tech careers.

Many employers use their placement schemes as the first stage in graduate recruitment – interns who impress may be fast-tracked through the graduate recruitment process.

What’s happening with tech internships in 2023?

Now that technology organisations in particular have adapted to virtual and hybrid work, some will follow this method of working for internships – although there are plenty that offer in-person internships. Interviews may also be held online and/or involve submitting a short video.

Find out more about the differences and similarities between virtual and in-person internships, and how you can make the most of virtual internships, here .

In this article we compile a selection of the employers that offer technology internships, placements and insight days. But there are other ways that we can help you find the latest opportunities:

IT summer internships

Below is a selection of big-name technology recruiters who offer summer internships most years. Also take advantage of your university careers service to uncover opportunities with smaller employers.

• American Express has ten-week technology summer internships for students in their penultimate year.
• ARM offers summer internships and 'part-time undergraduate' schemes where students work for eight hours per month while studying and work full time during the summer.
• BAE Systems runs 12-week summer internships.
• Barclays runs technology analyst, developer analyst, and cyber and security analyst summer intern programmes, lasting between six and nine weeks.
• BlackRock runs eight-week summer internships.
• Bloomberg has London-based 10-week internships focusing on global data and analytics and sales.
• BT offers 12-week summer internships for students in their penultimate year.
• Capital One has ten-week software engineering and strategy analyst internships
• Commerzbank have internships lasting ten weeks and more. These are not run during the summer, but at various other times in the year.
• Credit Suisse offers ten-week technology summer internships.
• Deloitte has 12-week technology internships
• EY runs five-week internships in cyber security.
• FDM Group offers eight-week internships.
• GCHQ runs a ten-week cyber insights summer school, a nine-week maths and cryptography summer programme and a technologist student scheme.li>
• Goldman Sachs runs summer and spring internships.
• Google offers internships in fields such as software engineering.
• IBM runs a 12-week 'Extreme Blue' technology internship.
• Inmarsat has previously run nine-week summer internships.
• KPMG offers vacation schemes, including one in technology consulting.
• London Stock Exchange Group has a technology summer internship programme.
• Microsoft runs internships across its divisions, including engineering, UX design, data and applied science and IT operations.
• Morgan Stanley offers technology summer analyst internship schemes.
• NatWest Group has previously run eight-week summer internships in data and analytics and software engineering.
• Nomura runs nine-week summer analyst internships.
• Roche Products Limited has previously offered internships in data science, computer science and software engineering.
• Shell runs an assessed technical internship.
• Sky offers summer internships in technology, software engineering, and data and analytics.
• TPP has previously run a software developer summer internship.
• Unilever runs summer placements.
• UBS offers summer internships and off-cycle internships in a number of its functions.

IT industrial placements

The following employers run industrial placements (sometimes called sandwich years) in their technology functions. You can find out more about IT placement years here .

• BAE Systems offers year-long software engineering and technology management placements.
• Bank of America has a global technology cyber security industrial placement programme, as well as analyst programmes.
• BlackRock offers 12-month industrial placements in technology.
• BT offers 11-month technology professional industrial placements.
• Capital One has year-long software academy placements.
• CGI has industrial placements in its technical functions.
• Deloitte runs industrial placement schemes in technology and cyber security.
• EY runs a ten-month technology consulting industrial placement.
• FDM Group offers 12-month placements, including in data analyst roles.
• Fidelity International runs a technology industrial placement.
• Goldman Sachs runs year-long work placements.
• GSK offers year-long placements in data science and engineering (which includes automation engineering).
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise offers placement years in a variety of functions, including software engineering.
• IBM runs year-long technology and software development university placements.
• KPMG offers one-year placements, which have previously included a global mobility services technology placement.
• Lloyds Banking Group runs a software engineering industrial placement.
• Morgan Stanley has previously run a technology industrial placement.
• Nestlé UK & Ireland offers a 12-month IT placement.
• UBS offers industrial placements in a number of its functions.
• Unilever runs 12-month industrial placements for students in their penultimate year.
• Virgin Media runs a year-long technology placement scheme.

Spring insight programmes and other IT work experience options

IT employers have started to offer more insight days or weeks (sometimes known as spring weeks as they tend to be held early in the year). They are shorter schemes designed to give students a taste of working life at an employer. They are usually open to first-year students (or second years on four-year degrees). The following employers run IT insight schemes:

• American Express runs an insight week for first-year students.
• Bank of America has previously offered an insight week, including in the technology function.
• Barclays' Discovery programme is a two-day insight programme in which students learn about the company and its roles.
• BlackRock runs spring insight events, as well as short programmes directed specifically at women and people with black heritage.
• Bloomberg runs masterclasses and webinars to introduce students to aspects of its work, including a one-week Women in Tech programme for first-year computer science students.
• Capital One runs online events.
• Citi has previously run a spring insight programme.
• Credit Suisse offers a spring insight programme.
• Deloitte has a range of two-day technology 'Spring into Deloitte' schemes, including a women in technology scheme and an online event that teaches students about the company.
• Deutsche Bank offers a few insight programmes, including a three to five day ‘spring into banking’ scheme.
• Fidelity International runs a three-day spring insight programme.
• Goldman Sachs offers two to three day insight programmes, as well as schemes aimed at specific groups of people – eg those who identify as LGBTQ+.
• KPMG runs a range of insight programmes aimed at students from under-represented groups.
• Morgan Stanley has previously offered a technology spring insight programme.
• NatWest Group runs insight weeks across a range of its functions.
• Nomura offers insight programmes directed at women and people from underrepresented groups.
• Sky runs insight days in various areas – including technology and data.
• UBS offers a spring insight programme.

Keep track of your IT placements

Keep detailed records of what work experience you've done, where, when and what you learned, and keep this list up to date. Come application time you can easily scan for the skills and examples that relate specifically to the role you're applying for.

Next: search graduate jobs, schemes & internships

• View IT graduate jobs .
• View IT graduate schemes
• View IT internships