Work Placement Service

The Work Placement Service supports unpaid placement requests within Bradford Council for people living in the District. We cannot arrange paid placement experience requests.

Each year the placement service arranges high volumes of placement requests.

Placements are arranged for pre 16 (year 10/11 students) and post 16 (any other placement) with Bradford Council.

The work placement service can provide placements in:

• general clerical work 
• reception 
• libraries  
• child care 
• sports and recreation 
• marketing/events 
• graphic design 
• horticulture

The work placement service cannot provide:

• job vacancies 
• paid work placements 
• traineeships 
• apprenticeships

We are not able to provide placements in retail, manufacturing and trades such as joinery, plumbing or electrical work.

The work placement service does not deal with requests for the above areas. All paid work, job vacancies, traineeships and apprenticeships that are currently available within the Council are advertised in the Telegraph and Argus and on the Council vacancy website.

Please note: You will be referred onto the Telegraph and Argus and Council websites if you contact the work placement service as we cannot support requests for the above.

The role of the Work Placement Service:

• To arrange placements for schools and other organisations/individuals. 
• To provide a central point of co-ordination between organisations requesting placements and the various council teams and departments receiving them 
• Help local people to develop work related skills 
• Seek to encourage people to consider a career in local government

We try very hard to accommodate requests but the procedures below must be followed:

Pre 16 placements (year 10/11 students)

School placement requests for year 10/11 students must go through Xperience.

Independent schools must liaise with Xperience.

Please do not contact the Work Placement Service directly to arrange individual Pre 16 placements, as requests must be received from Xperience/School Co-ordinators. You will be referred back to your appropriate co-ordinator.

Post 16 placements (any other placement)

To request a post 16 placement you must complete and return the application form for post 16 placements (Word document) to outline the specific experience required for the placement, stating what contribution the individual can also make to the department in terms of knowledge and experience. The application form should be returned by email. 

*Please also state if you are on a training course with a local training provider and need specific experience to support G/NVQs etc.

Bradford Council receives a high demand for placement requests from schools and other organisations and it is not always feasible to host all placement requests. To assist the team in placing work placements within the Council, the application form should be sent to the team a minimum of six weeks before the placement request start date. Placement requests received at short notice cannot be accommodated.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Council policy on placements?

Yes and there is a centrally administered placement service hosted in the Human Resources, Organisation & Workforce Development Team to co-ordinate them. The Council’s policy is to actively support young people through providing placement opportunities wherever and whenever possible.

Can you offer paid work placements?

No – only unpaid placements can be provided.

Do you offer traineeships and apprenticeships?

The Work Placement team cannot offer traineeships or apprenticeships. When opportunities arise for these types of areas they are advertised on the Council’s Website and in the Telegraph and Argus.

The transfer of the Council’s Former Housing stock to Incommunities means that the Council no longer employs high volumes of plumbers, electricians etc as part of its workforce, and can no longer offer apprenticeships in these areas.

Is there an age range for people who can request placements?

No - These are most conveniently split into pre and post 16. Pre 16 it is government policy that all young people in school should have “meaningful experience of work” from age 14.
Post 16 there are a range of potential placements requests from schools, colleges, universities and training providers to provide occupational experience for older candidates seeking a career.

Can the school just ring up and arrange a placement?

No – if the school does not have independent status then it has to go through Xperience as they are contracted to ensure that Health and Safety and Risk Assessments have been completed before a placement can occur. If the school is independent than the request has to come from the School Placement Officer in liaison with Xperience for the Risk Assessment to be completed.

What do I need to do to arrange a Post 16 placement?

You will need to complete the application form outlining the specific experience that you are seeking and stating what you can contribute to the placement in terms of knowledge and experience.

Can I start straight away?

The request should be made at least six weeks in advance of the intended start date to allow the placement host to plan a work programme for the individual and to arrange their supervision. In some cases there will be pre set work programmes available.

Are all placement requests made on behalf of people at school?

No - Placements can be requested by many different individuals for all sorts of reasons. We get requests from universities for under or post graduate work experience, also training providers are keen to obtain placement experience for career changers who can be middle aged or older, it's not just young people of school age.

What is the person on placement required to do?

The Central Placement Service tries to establish in advance if the individual is trying to obtain specific experience in support of a school or college based course. Any information we receive will be forwarded to help the placement host to establish a work programme for the placee. At Pre 16, the placement is essentially about general experience of the world of work and is not specifically intended to be a career taster.