Social Research Undergraduate Placement

ID 3425

Vacancy Details

Closing Date: 08/03/2026, 16:00

Advertising Basis: Fixed Term, Placement

Actual Starting Salary: A non-negotiable starting salary of £27,302 will be offered to the successful candidate

Salary Range or Pay Band: Team Support £27,302 to £29,291

Allowances: No

Work Pattern: Full time (not suitable for candidates who wish to work on a part time or job share basis)

Duration: 50 weeks

Group: Corporate Services and Inspectorates

Directorate: Digital, Data and Technology

Branch: 1 x Housing Research 1 x Corporate Research 1 x Education and Skills Research

Location(s): Pan Wales

Purpose of Post

The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. Analysts play a key role in providing high quality evidence to support policy making and the Welsh Government more broadly.

Three posts are currently available and a reserve list will also be created. The three posts will be based in the Social Research and Information Division, specifically within the Housing Research, Corporate Research and Education and Skills Research Teams.

The Social Research and Information Division is a core part of the Welsh Government’s analytical function. The division comprises around 80 social researchers who work closely with policy and other analysts (e.g. statisticians, economists) to provide analytical advice and evidence to support key policy decisions in devolved areas such as education, health and the environment.

These posts are open to undergraduate students on a sandwich year placement between their second and third year of study. Welsh Government are looking for applications from diverse candidates who can demonstrate leadership qualities and bring fresh skills, lived experiences and perspectives to our work.

Welsh Government is committed to being an anti-racist organisation, and particularly welcomes applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are under-represented in the Civil Service in Wales. Welsh Government is committed to supporting all staff to thrive in an inclusive working environment. The successful candidates will work closely with social researchers to support the development and delivery of different types of research projects.

Post One: In the Housing Research Branch

This role will be based within the Housing Research Branch but will involve working closely with researchers on a wide range of topic areas across the climate change and rural affairs directorate policy areas. The role will involve assisting with the design, delivery, analysis and reporting of primary and secondary research.

Likely tasks include:

• conducting evidence reviews;
• developing and administering small-scale online surveys;
• assisting with research development; and
• providing administrative support for research evidence planning and supporting the Housing Research Branch

Post Two: In the Corporate Research Branch

This role will involve research and analysis using a range of methods and sources of data to help inform improvements to the way the Welsh Government works.

This will involve:

• using both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods;
• assisting with designing, carrying out and reporting of primary research projects with Welsh Government staff and stakeholders;
• conducting evidence reviews and developing social research best practice guides for the team; and
• assisting with corporate responsibilities such as producing bulletins for the Social Research and Information Division.

Post Three: In the Education, Skills and Welsh Language Research Branch

The branch covers education and skills research in both school and post-16 education. The role will involve working closely with researchers and policy officials across a range of topic areas. The placement’s objective is to provide research support to a number of Welsh Government research and evaluation projects.

This will involve:

• contributing to the development and delivery of different types of research projects, such as literature reviews and evaluations;
• assisting with the design, management and reporting of social research; and
• assisting with corporate responsibilities.

Key Tasks

The key tasks of the successful applicants will depend on which team they are placed with, but will include a combination of the following:

• Supporting with the management and quality assurance of research
• Assisting with research projects which use qualitative (e.g. in-depth interviews, focus groups – in line with the social model of disability) and quantitative methods (e.g. survey work, statistical analysis, monitoring and reporting information)
• Research design, analysis and synthesis
• Undertaking literature searches and reviews
• Liaising with analysts across the Welsh Government
• Providing administrative support for data collection exercises
• Preparing reports for publication on the Welsh Government’s social research webpages or for use internally
• Project management
• Administrative tasks, such as organising meetings, seminars and events, taking minutes and record keeping.
• Work with analysts in the team to uphold GSR and GSS standards (such as ethical compliance) alongside relevant legal requirements (such as UK GDPR compliance) across all projects
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement meetings between senior members of the team and other relevant partners within Welsh Government
• Meet with senior analysts in the team on a regular basis to update on progress with tasks responsible for.

Development Opportunities

The posts offer excellent development opportunities, including:

• Learning how social research is commissioned, delivered and used within government and funded bodies (e.g. Natural Resources Wales)
• Developing an understanding of how evidence can help inform and improve policy making and organisational ways of working
• Developing key skills (such as communications skills, critical thinking and working as part of a team, often to tight deadlines)
• Opportunities to develop an understanding and practical experience of a range of research techniques (such as survey design, conducting interviews, analysis and presentation of findings, report writing and communicating research findings to a non-specialist audience)
• Developing project management skills
• Attending appropriate courses, conferences and seminars (including courses on quantitative and qualitative analysis)
• Shadowing or working with social researchers, analysts and policy officials from other Welsh Government departments during the placement. There may also be an opportunity to work collaboratively with officials from government-funded bodies

Other Vacancy Related Information

Confirmation that the successful applicant has passed their second year of study will be required before the placement can start.

The placements will run from summer 2026 – summer 2027.

As part of the application process you will need to provide a 250 word response against each of the required Behaviours and Technical criteria stated in this advert against ‘Stage 1’:

• Working Together (Assessed via application form and online interview)
• Delivering at Pace (Assessed via application form and online interview)
• Technical 1 - Broad awareness of how social research can be used to inform decisions in government, including what equality and diversity issues should be considered. (Assessed via a pre-prepared presentation at online interview)
• Technical 2 – Experience of design and/or delivery of quantitative and qualitative research (e.g. interviewing, focus groups, surveys, quantitative data analysis). (Assessed via application form and online interview)
• Technical 3 - Experience in the interpretation and / or communication of research (e.g. presentation of results, conclusions and/or recommendations). This could include presentation of research in written reports or essays and/or presentations. (Assessed via online interview)

As a minimum, students are required to have an understanding of the principles and skills needed to design and conduct social research. Students should be able to critically evaluate research methods, strategies, and data used by social scientists and be able to (with support) undertake and present analysis. Although practical experience of undertaking research is desirable, experience of undertaking a complete independent research project as part of their degree course at the time of application is not required.

As a guide, we recommend that you use the behaviors and technical criteria as headings and aim to write 250 words each. Using the “STAR technique” may help you to structure your evidence. Please include how you considered your own or others’ lived experiences where relevant within the evidence provided.

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted against the lead assessment criterion: Technical 2. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to a full sift. Candidates successful at sifting stage will be invited to an online interview. The online interview will take place over Microsoft Teams and will include a presentation and interview questions. The interview will be using various assessment techniques aligned to the Civil Service Success Profiles framework. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. Situational style questions (what would you do if… ?) and past style questions experience (can you give me an example of time when…?) will be used to assess the specified civil service behaviours. In addition, you will also be asked technical questions relevant to the role. Candidates will receive the presentation topic and main interview questions one week before the interview.

We do not accept the use of presentation software to support the presentation; cue cards or prompts are permitted. Presentations will be 5 minutes in length.

The location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please be aware that we are encouraging staff to attend our Cardiff office regularly to connect with people and the organisation. You will therefore be assigned to the nearest office in Wales. Travel from home to your designated office in Wales will be self-funded. Frequency of attendance to a Welsh Government office should be agreed with the hiring manager.

Please read the privacy notice which tells you how we use the information you provide to us for the purpose of signing up to the information webinar. Please notify us of any adjustments you might need in advance of the webinar.

Vetting Level: Basic

Number of Posts: 3