What should I do if I can't find a work experience placement?

Tell your careers lead early and agree an alternative in writing. Schools most often accept a structured virtual work experience programme, volunteering with a charity, club or library, several half-day shadowing visits instead of one week, or a self-directed enterprise project run like a job with a written record.

Does volunteering count as work experience?

Usually yes. Charity shops, food banks, libraries, sports clubs and community groups say yes far more often than businesses. Ask your careers lead to confirm it meets your school's requirement and make sure someone will confirm your dates and tasks.

Can running my own project count as work experience?

Only if your school agrees it in advance. A self-directed project is not a placement with an employer, so it does not automatically satisfy a school requirement or the Gatsby expectation of experiencing a real workplace. It does give genuine evidence of initiative, pricing, customer contact and follow-through for CVs, applications and interviews.

Does a self-directed project count towards the Duke of Edinburgh Skills section?

Only if your DofE leader and Assessor agree it. The Skills section requires an activity agreed with your leader, assessed by someone suitable, over the minimum period for your level. Many leaders do accept a self-directed enterprise project, but the decision is theirs, so ask before you start and keep a log.

Can't Find a Work Experience Placement? Do This Instead

By Kim Loudon · 7 September 2026 · 9 min read · Category: For Teens

If you cannot find a work experience placement, tell your careers lead now and agree an alternative in writing: a structured virtual programme, volunteering, several half-day shadowing visits, or your own enterprise project run like a job. All four are commonly accepted.

Why this happens

Small businesses have no one spare to supervise, insurance and risk assessments put people off taking under-16s, and popular sectors such as vets, animal rescue, media, sport and hospitals get far more requests than they can host. It is about the employer, not you.

Late options that still work

Ask for one half day instead of a week. Approach places that are always short-handed: charity shops, food banks, libraries, museums, community cafés, sports clubs, allotments. Take a structured virtual programme and save the certificate. Ask your school whether they hold any employer places. Or run your own week.

Build your own week: a six-day plan

Day 1: decide what you are making or offering in one sentence. Day 2: research five people already doing it and note prices. Day 3: cost it and price it, and work out your break-even. Day 4: make the first version. Day 5: get feedback from ten people and try to make one sale. Day 6: write a one-page report on what you did, the skills used, what went wrong and what you would change.

What it counts as - honestly

What is true: you finish with real evidence, a certificate of completion for the modules you finish, and honest material for a CV, apprenticeship application or personal statement, and many schools and DofE leaders do accept a self-directed enterprise project agreed in advance. What we do not claim: We Can Be is not an employer, this is not a work experience placement, it is not automatically approved by your school, it does not by itself meet Gatsby Benchmark 6 which expects a real workplace, it does not automatically count towards a DofE section, and it is not an employer reference. Agree it in advance and keep a dated log of hours and tasks.

How to talk about it afterwards

Do not say you could not get a placement so you did something at home. Say what you did: how many employers you contacted, what you costed and priced, what you sold, and what you changed after the first two sales. That answer shows initiative, persistence, numeracy and self-correction.