Student placements

A Pact student placement offers passionate and dedicated individuals the chance to make a real difference in the lives of those affected by imprisonment. You will be helping us to deliver vital services while developing your skills and experience in a criminal justice setting. 

What is a student placement? 

We use the term 'student placement' to cover all voluntary student roles, including but not limited to work experience, unpaid internships, embedded modules, dissertation research, or a year in industry (sandwich year). If you would like first-hand experience, you can still apply even if it is not a requirement of your course. 

What roles are available? 

We know how hard it is to find work experience in a field you love. That is why we offer roles at every stage of the criminal justice journey and within our central team. Whether you are interested in HR, social work, marketing and communications, or play therapy and child development, you will find a suitable role. As a national charity, we have roles across England and Wales and opportunities to work remotely.  

Some of our current placements include: 

• Family services volunteer
• Prisoners' Families Helpline volunteer
• Befriending volunteer
• Court support volunteer
• Volunteer mentor 

You may also take on additional responsibilities, subject to your and your supervisor's confidence in your ability. These may include prison-based case and social work or conducting project reviews and reports. 

I think about all the people I've helped, the cases I've worked on, and the family days I've done over a year. I just could not have imagined doing all that in my wildest dreams. It's incredible; it exceeded all my expectations. It did.  

How do I apply? 

You will find all available roles on our online volunteering hub. Students can undertake many advertised roles on placement. You will need to tick 'is this a student placement?' on your application. Provide as much information as possible about your course requirements, including the number of hours required and the timeframe for completion. 

Any questions? 

You can find out more about placements and the application process in our student placement guide. You can also contact us at studentplacement@prisonadvice.org.uk