After school · 5 min read
Are unpaid internships legal in the UK?
The law on unpaid internships in the UK: when an intern is a worker owed the minimum wage, the exceptions for placements and volunteering, and how to claim.
The short answer
Most unpaid internships are unlawful. If you have set hours, set tasks and are doing work the organisation would otherwise pay for, you're a worker and entitled to the minimum wage for your age, whatever the job title says. The lawful exceptions are a placement required by your UK course lasting under a year, school work experience, shadowing with no work, and genuine volunteering for a charity. A promise of a job later doesn't make unpaid work legal.
Key takeaways
- An intern with set hours and real tasks is a worker owed at least the minimum wage: £10.85 at 18-20 and £12.71 at 21 and over from April 2026.
- Exceptions: a required placement of under a year on a UK further or higher education course, school work experience, pure shadowing, and voluntary work for a charity or public body.
- Expenses only, or 'exposure', doesn't change your status, and neither does calling you a volunteer if you have obligations.
- You can claim underpaid wages going back six years through HMRC or an employment tribunal; the government has consulted on banning unpaid internships outside education.
On this pageThe test is whether you're a worker
The test is whether you're a worker
UK law has no category called 'intern'. What decides your pay rights is whether you count as a worker: you have a contract, written or not, you're required to do work personally, and the organisation is required to give you work or pay. Set hours, a manager, tasks with deadlines and work that would otherwise be done by staff all point to worker status, and workers are owed the minimum wage.
| Situation | Pay position | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Set hours, real tasks, a manager, any sector | Minimum wage owed | You're a worker whatever the title says |
| Placement required by your UK course, under one year | Can be unpaid | A specific legal exemption for students |
| School work experience (under 16, or school-arranged) | Can be unpaid | Compulsory school age exemption |
| Shadowing only: watching, no work | Can be unpaid | No work is being done |
| Volunteering for a charity or public body, no obligations | Can be unpaid, expenses only | Voluntary worker exemption |
| 'Volunteer' at a company with a rota and duties | Minimum wage owed | Obligations make you a worker |
What you're owed if you're a worker
- At least the minimum wage for your age: £8.00 at 16-17, £10.85 at 18-20, £12.71 at 21 and over, from April 2026.
- Paid holiday, rest breaks and protection from discrimination.
- Payslips and, for most, a written statement of terms on day one.
- Back pay for up to six years if you were underpaid, plus a penalty on the employer.
How to handle an unpaid offer
- Ask what you'd be doing day to day. If it's tasks with deadlines, say you'd expect it to be paid at the minimum wage and ask whether that's possible.
- If they say it's shadowing, ask them to confirm in writing that there are no set hours or duties. Then it's unpaid and limited, which is fine for a week.
- If they say no and you still want to go, know that you can claim the wages afterwards, and that doing so is lawful and common.
- Prefer paid internships, which large employers now run at scale; unpaid ones select for people who can afford to work free.
Illustrative example: the 'volunteer' at a PR agency
A graduate takes a three-month unpaid 'volunteer internship' at a PR agency, writing press releases Monday to Friday with a manager and deadlines. Afterwards, she reports it to HMRC with her hours. The agency is ordered to pay her the minimum wage for every hour, about £6,000, plus a penalty. The title on the advert made no difference.
Questions people ask
- Can a company offer an unpaid internship if it's only for a few weeks?
- Not if you're doing work. Length doesn't matter; status does. If you're required to turn up, do tasks and could be disciplined for not doing them, you're a worker from day one and owed the minimum wage. A short period of pure observation, where you shadow people and do no work, is different and can lawfully be unpaid.
- Is an unpaid placement as part of my degree legal?
- Yes, if it's a required part of a UK further or higher education course and lasts less than a year. That's the main exception, and it's why sandwich placements and course placements can lawfully be unpaid, though many employers pay anyway. An optional internship you arranged yourself doesn't qualify.
- What if I agreed to work unpaid?
- You can't sign away the minimum wage. An agreement to work for free, or for expenses, isn't enforceable if you were in fact a worker. You can raise it with the employer, report it to HMRC, which can order back pay and penalties, or bring a tribunal claim. HMRC complaints can be made anonymously.
- Is the law on unpaid internships changing?
- The government ran a call for evidence in 2025 on banning unpaid internships that aren't part of an education or training course, as part of its Make Work Pay plans, and has published a response. The existing rules already make most unpaid internships unlawful; any change would make the ban explicit and easier to enforce. Check GOV.UK for the current position.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Employment rights and pay for interns · GOV.UK
- Making Work Pay: call for evidence on unpaid internships (2025) · Department for Business and Trade, GOV.UK
- Student Recruitment Survey 2025 · Institute of Student Employers
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.