GSR Sandwich Student Placement Scheme : Student Social Researcher

Are you a social science undergraduate in your penultimate year of study? Do you want to gain practical professional experience and use your research skills to make a difference? Join the UK Government for a paid 12-month sandwich placement!

You would spend a year in a government department working alongside social researchers and policy officials before returning to your studies. The job could involve analysing research data to help government decision making, evaluating the impact of policies , and providing social research advice to help shape government strategy .

Sandwich students also get a priority interview for a government role upon graduation and many return to work for us. Opportunities are available across the UK.

This scheme is a great way to kick-start your career in social research. We offer:

• Meaningful work that benefits society
• Chance to gain professional research experience
• Guaranteed interview for a graduate role
• Diverse and inclusive workplace
• Flexible working

To be eligible you must meet the following academic requirements:

• Be in the penultimate year (i.e., year before the final year of study) and on track to achieve a minimum of a 2:2 in in your degree as demonstrated by your first-year results
• Be studying an undergraduate degree which contains a minimum of 30% course credits in social research methods training in your overall degree content. Your degree must include quantitative research methods (i.e., research design, data collection [i.e., questionnaire design, sampling, weighting], data analysis [e.g., statistical analysis, interpretation]). Your degree must also include at least three of the following areas:
• • Qualitative methods, including research design, data collection (e.g., interviewing, focus groups, ethnographic), data analysis (e.g., thematic analysis)
  • Study design, hypothesis formation, testing and evaluation, application of ethics to research
  • Systematic/literature review
  • Interpretation of data (qualitative & quantitative), presentation of results, provision of recommendations/ conclusions
  • Students are not required to have undertaken research themselves as part of their degree course at time of application, but they should have gained an understanding of the principles and skills needed to design and conduct social research and to be able to critically evaluate research methods, strategies and data used by social scientists.

To be eligible you must also meet the following nationality requirements:

• Be a national of the UK, Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland or a European Economic Area (EEA) with a right to live and work in the UK.
• If a holder of a student visa – be allowed under the conditions of the visa to undertake a full-time paid 12-month sandwich placement in the UK without a work permit.
• Meet the UK Civil Service Nationality Requirements which operate independently and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

All the above eligibility must be demonstrated clearly on your application form, without this information, your application will be discounted.

We do not offer visa sponsorships for our schemes. In addition, some departments including the Cabinet Office and Home Office require candidates to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years having spent no period longer than 3 months outside of the UK to get security clearance.

Applications close 18 October 2024 . We will be holding an online Q&A for students on Wednesday 9 October at 12:30pm. Joining details are on the application page.

For further information, please refer to the job descriptions and the application guidance notes. Please refer to the full eligibility criteria in the application guidance notes.

"My sandwich placement learning will help me on returning to university due to developing my primary research skills. I have learnt the skills to successfully conduct interviews, which will be imperative for my dissertation." Ella, Placement Student, Ministry of Justice