Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Leadership and Management Development

Graduate Trainee Placements

Overview

As part of the University of Warwick Graduate Scheme, the Graduate Management Trainees undertake three placements to give them exposure to a range of different areas of the University. One of these placements is in a local Small to Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) or charity, giving our local community a chance to benefit from this scheme and for our Trainees to bring this experience back to Warwick. Hear from our previous Graduate Management Trainees about their placement experiences.

Key dates

  • Placement one: October 2024 – May 2025 (internal placement)
  • Placement two: June 2025 – January 2026 (external placement in a SME or charity in Coventry, Birmingham or Warwickshire area)
  • Placement three: February 2026 – September 2026 (internal placement)

Internal Placements - University of Warwick

*** Expressions of Interest will open until 19th September for Warwick departments to host the a placement commencing February 2026 ***

  • We aim to offer a broad range of diverse and stimulating placements that reflect the variety of roles within Higher Education and across the University of Warwick.
  • Placements are a vital component of the Graduate Management Trainees’ practical learning journey. To ensure their development is meaningful, it is essential that these placements are both challenging and varied. The trainees are employed at Grade 5 and are currently undertaking a project management qualification. As such, they should be given opportunities to work in a Project Officer capacity and contribute to one or more projects.
  • Importantly, the scheme is fully funded—including trainee salaries—so there are no associated costs for departments. We are seeking placements that are supportive and provide meaningful project management experience. As its the final placement, ideally Grade 6 level project responsbilities.
  • The Graduate Management Trainees will spend 3.5 days per week from February 2026 so they have time to complete their qualification and engage in wider Warwick activities. Note: they are not set days each week and we would require your flexibility.

As the scheme is funded through the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), all placements must meet the following criteria:

  • External Collaboration: The placement must involve working with at least one external organisation and include an element of two-way knowledge exchange.
  • Broader Impact: The work should deliver a social or economic benefit beyond the University—whether within the UK or internationally.

Next steps

Step 1:

 Step 2:

Step 3:

  • The Graduate Management Trainees may contact your department to discuss the placement opportunity before submitting their top 3 choices for the panel to allocate the placements. Note: it is likely that we will have more bids than the number of Graduate Management Trainees available.
  • The outcome will be communicated to everyone in December 2025.

Step 4:

  • All departments will be contacted to let them know if they have been successful or not..
  • They will also need to attend an online information session in January 2025 where we will share further details about how the scheme will work. We require the assigned Placement Manager and Administration Buddy to attend this session.
  • The placement will commence in February 2025 for 8 months.

External Placements

*** External placements have now commenced and expressions of interest are currently closed ***

Working with and supporting our local community is very important to us at Warwick. We would like to reach out to local Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and charities in Birmingham, Coventry or Warwickshire and offer them the opportunity to host a Graduate Management Trainee, who would work in the capacity of a Project Officer.

Can you provide the experience to work on projects, create a supportive environment and enable our Graduate Management Trainees to put their project management skills into practice? In return, you will get the opportunity to have a skilled Graduate Management Trainee work at your organisation for 3 days per week, for an 8-month period, before returning to Warwick to complete the rest of the scheme. The Graduate Management Trainees will continue to be employed by (and 100% of salary paid by) the University of Warwick. Note: we are not looking for subject specific placements where a Graduate would require specific degree subject background.

Note: we will also accept a joint application with a University of Warwick department where the Graduate Management Trainee splits their time between the two different organisations. We hope that this enables some organisations who do not have the capacity to host for 3 full days per week to apply.

Placements commenced in June 2025.

What Makes a Good Placement?

A successful placement is one which benefits the trainee by developing their skills, knowledge and experience, and which delivers tangible outcomes for the host department/organisation.

Good quality placements need to have meaningful projects with demanding yet achievable goals that provide the trainee with a broad, yet in-depth, experience, which meets the HEIF funding requirements.

We suggest each placement has these broad components:

  • A project/projects the graduate trainee leads which will take eight months months to complete and that has tangible deliverables and outcomes for which the trainee is responsible.
  • A series of other tasks/activities of shorter duration
  • Some day-to-day operational work allowing the trainee to contribute to the ongoing work of the team in which they are based. Placements must be challenging and varied, whilst also being realistic and achievable.
  • The Graduate Management Trainee(s) must be appropriately supported to deliver on their objectives and develop their skills, please refer to the bid form for more information on the soft skills and project management skills.

Frequently Asked Questions - check out our FAQs.

Any questions, please email gradscheme@warwick.ac.uk

Quick Links

Case studies

Graduate Scheme GuideLink opens in a new window

External Expressions of Interest FormLink opens in a new window

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out our FAQS.

Any questions?

gradscheme at warwick dot ac dot uk