Work Experience

You don’t need to know what you want to be yet – work experience at Sellafield gives you the opportunity to explore different careers, meet our people, develop new skills and experience the world of work for yourself. 

Our one-week work experience programmes designed for students aged 14 to 18 (Years 10 to 13) to provide an opportunity to step inside Sellafield, experience real working environments and discover the range of careers that help deliver our mission. 

Whether you already have a career in mind or you’re still exploring your options, work experience can help you discover what interests you, understand your strengths and make more informed decisions about what could come next. 

You don’t need to know what you want to be yet. Explore what interests you, experience different careers and discover where your skills could take you. 

There’s more than one way to build a career at Sellafield. Start by exploring an area that interests you below.

Work experience is your chance to explore, ask questions and discover more about yourself as well as the world of work. 

During your week, you’ll have opportunities to:

Whatever programme you choose, your experience will help you learn more about yourself as well as the world of work and provide the opportunity to develop skills that can help you at school, college and in your future career.  

You’ll have opportunities to develop skills such as: 

You’ll also have the opportunity to meet our people, ask questions and discover how different skills are used in real careers.

Our work experience opportunities are designed for students aged 14 to 18 (Years 10 to 13). With opportunities in both West Cumbria and Warrington. Click here to learn more about where we work.

Individual programmes may have different eligibility requirements, so please check the programme page before applying to understand:

  1. Location of the placement.
  2. Age/year group that the placement is suitable for.
  3. Any programme-specific eligibility – for example our programmes that run from the Sellafield site require you to be 15 at the time of the placement taking place. 

We want you to feel able to take part and be yourself during your work experience. 

If you have a disability or need additional support or adjustments during the application process, let us know when you apply or contact us to discuss how we can support you. 

  • Explore

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    Find the programme that interests you and check that you meet its eligibility requirements. 

  • Apply

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    When applications are live, complete your application through our Search & Apply page. You’ll be asked about your education, hobbies and interests and why you’re interested in work experience.  

  • Review

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    We’ll review applications and aim to let you know the outcome within four weeks of the advert closing.  

  • Experience

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    If you’re offered a placement, we’ll confirm your programme, placement location and planned start date. We’ll provide you with information including what to expect, building arrangements, dress code, local transport and your safeguarding contact.  

    We’ll also confirm with your school or college the placement details you have been offered.  

  • Our work experience programmes are designed for students aged 14 to 18, in Years 10 to 13. Some individual programmes may have different eligibility requirements, so make sure you check the programme information before applying 

  • Our work experience programmes take place over one week, giving you the opportunity to experience life at Sellafield, meet our people and explore different career opportunities.

  • Our work experience opportunities are based at our West Cumbria sites and Hinton House in Warrington. The location of your placement will depend on the programme you apply for. 

    In west Cumbria our work experience programmes take place across the following locations: 

    • Business Adminstration – Energus, Albion and West Cumberland House 
    • Business Improvement – Albion 
    • Legal – Energus, Albion 
    • EMAD – Energus, ECoE (Leconfield, Cleator Moor) 
    • NWIA – Energus, Sellafield site 
    • Firefighter – Energus, Sellafield site 
    • Dive Team – At sea (from Whitehaven Harbour) or on site if the weather does not allow for sea travel 
    • Digital Innovation – Energus 
    • Operational technology – Energus, Leconfield Cleator moor 
    • Design Engineering – Leconfield, Cleator moor 
    • Operations, Safety Case and Health Physics – Energus, Sellafield site.  
    • Evolve – Energus, RAICo1 Whitehaven 
  • Not at all. Work experience is about exploring your interests, discovering different careers and helping you make more informed decisions about your future.  All we ask is that you have a genuine interest to find out more about the careers in the programmes you apply for.

  • No previous work experience is required. We’re interested in finding out about you, your interests and why you’d like to take part. When you apply, think about your education, hobbies, interests and what you’d like to gain from the experience. 

  • No, Sellafield Ltd only offers work experience through the application process and programmes detailed on our website.  We do have a number of programmes that run outside of the term time – ideal for if you if our dates don’t align to the week your school is asking for you to find placements.