Student & Graduate Placements

FOR STUDENTS AND GRADUATES

What does EPP stand for?

Environmental Placement Programme.

How long are placements?

Our placements are between 8 and 12 weeks.

Are the placements paid?

Yes, all of our placements are paid the National Living Wage, currently £9.00/hr.

When is the best time to apply?

We run placements all year round but the number of available roles varies.

Do you offer summer placements?

Yes. If you want to do a placement during the summer, we recommend you start checking our job board around two months before your ideal start date. Bear in mind that during the summer, there may be more applicants than usual. 

When will I hear back?

The time it takes to process applications can vary. Generally, you can expect to hear back within approximately two after the deadline.

Do I need to submit a cover letter?

Unless specified, we only require your CV.

Can I do a placement while studying?

The majority of placements are full-time and thus cannot be completed in conjunction with classes and course work.

How long after graduating am I still eligible for applying for placements?

You can apply within three years after graduation.

P45

No P45 will be issued for EPP placements as the 12 week payment is purely a training allowance for out of pocket expenses and you do not pay tax or NI

Timesheets

Timesheet must be with submitted no later than 5pm Monday (to allow payment processing on Tuesday morning). It is the students responsibility to remember to send their timesheets on time and failure to do so will result in payment not being made until the following Friday.

Timesheet signing

Timesheets must be validated /signed by your supervisor

If the immediate supervisor isn’t available to sign off then ask someone else in authority to confirm the hours worked. If no one is available to sign then send it to us anyway letting us know that a signed copy will follow later.

Payments

Weekly on a Friday.

For those moving onto an extension (beyond anything after 12 weeks) wages are paid monthly.  Payments are made on 25th of the month.

Payslip info

Payslip information is available to intern on line via the Sage Login supplied to you so that you can see your payslip each week/month.

Holidays 

Holidays must be taken during the placement period unless agreed with the host company that they can be paid. We need confirmation from the host company that they are willing to pay for untaken holidays.  In most cases we would urge that holiday entitlement is taken within the agreed timeframe.  If you are moving on to an extension contract and not taken all of your EPP leave entitlement then you can carry over remaining leave to the extension contract and also agree this with the host organisation.

Public Holidays

Public Holidays are included in your annual leave entitlement. You will need to be particularly mindful of this for Christmas Day/Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and for the 2nd January and also Easter for Good Friday and Easter Monday. Your host organisation may well close their work premises on these days and you will need to ensure that you keep enough days to cover these. You may wish to negotiate unpaid leave with the host organisation. Note that unpaid leave and exam leave should be for no more that 1 week (5 days) and should always be recorded on your timesheet and authorised by your supervisor.

How does it work?

Application

Submit a short application for the placement of your choice.

Shortlisting

Once the application deadline has passed you will be contacted if you are shortlisted for an interview.

Interview

Attend the interview.

Job Offer

After the interview you may be offered a paid placement with one of our fantastic partners.