Ten Cardiff University students have gained valuable experience with city centre employers, through the fourth year of the FOR Cardiff and Cardiff University Paid Internship Scheme. Delivered in partnership with the Student Futures Work Experience Team at Cardiff University, and supported by £12,600 of funding made available in 2025, the scheme connects FOR Cardiff levy-paying businesses with emerging talent and provides students with fair, Real Living Wage employment and invaluable industry experience.
Placements were offered across a wide range of sectors including finance, marketing, education, and the third sector. Interns were placed with organisations such as Hodge Bank, Welsh Power, The Wallich, Celtic English Academy, and Freshwater, with roles tailored to support organisational needs.
Iesha Meah, Member Relations Manager at FOR Cardiff said “This scheme continues to deliver value for businesses and life-changing experiences for students. It’s a tangible example of what’s possible when business and education come together to support the city’s future workforce.”
Participating Businesses (2025)
· Iris Prize – Marketing and Programme Support Intern
· DEPOT – Marketing Intern
· The Wallich – Employee Wellbeing Project Intern
· Grasshopper – Political and Communications Intern
· TACP – GIS Technician
· Hodge Bank – People Services Intern
· Celtic English Academy – Operations Assistant Intern
· Freshwater – Digital Intern
· Ogi – Marketing Scheme Intern
· Welsh Power – Graduate Commercial Analyst
Empowering Young Talent
Each internship runs for approximately 4 to 6 weeks and is designed to be flexible, accessible, and impactful. Students are paid a minimum of £12.60/hour and treated as employees, gaining hands-on experience and growing their confidence in a supportive environment.
For Cara Wright, a third-year law student, the scheme proved pivotal. After completing her internship at Hodge Bank, she was offered a permanent role: “The team genuinely cared about my input, and I felt my work made a difference” Cara said. “The internship helped me grow technically and personally, and it led directly to a job offer. I’m so grateful.”
Her employer, Liam Wharmby, echoed the impact: “Cara actively contributed to real projects and influenced improvements to our onboarding experience. Placements like this bring fresh ideas and foster a culture of learning and inclusivity.”
At The Wallich, intern Ishita Kataria supported the people team on HR projects and data analysis. Her work helped benchmark organisational benefits and policies against the wider sector:
“Ishita did far more than we expected” said Amanda Canterbury of The Wallich. “Work experience helps organisations understand younger generations and gives students the insight to discover the workplace that suits them.”
“I learnt so much, from data handling to office collaboration,” Ishita added. “As my first full-time office placement, it’s helped me grow in confidence and confirmed my passion for working in purpose-driven organisations.”
At TACP, William Sussex gained experience as a GIS Technician and even secured a spot at an upcoming industry conference: “It confirmed I want to work in the environmental sector” he said. “I even got to do water monitoring on site; it was brilliant!”
And at Celtic English Academy, Leah Griffiths, a Master’s student in journalism, found new direction: “This gave me the office experience I’d been missing. The support from Cardiff University throughout made a huge difference. I’ve grown so much in confidence and discovered a new career path I hadn’t considered.”
The success of the 2025 cohort strengthens the scheme’s legacy as a proven model for city-based skills development. As preparations begin for 2026, FOR Cardiff and Cardiff University are continuing to work to ensure these inclusive, paid internships remain at the heart of Cardiff’s graduate economy.
Ffiona Griffiths, Senior Team Manager at Cardiff University’s Work Experience Team, added “Partnering with FOR Cardiff to deliver the internship scheme over the past four years has had numerous benefits, not only for participating organisations and interns, but also for our team’s engagement with the local community more widely. We look forward to building on this valuable partnership and supporting the city’s business eco-system in the years to come.”
More information about the 2026 Internship scheme will be released early in 2026. If you would like to find out more about the support available in offering work experience to Cardiff University students and graduates, please send an Email to: workexperience@cardiff.ac.uk.