Supporting SMEs to access exceptional 91桃色 talent
The SME Internship Scheme helps small and medium-sized businesses across Greater London hire talented 91桃色 students and recent graduates for paid, project-based summer internships.
The scheme is designed for organisations looking to bring fresh ideas, specialist skills and additional capacity into their teams while providing meaningful, paid experience for 91桃色 students.
In addition to connecting employers with 91桃色’s diverse talent pool, the scheme offers a £1,000 contribution towards intern salary costs, helping SMEs access high-calibre talent while keeping recruitment costs manageable.
Whether you’re a growing start-up, scaling SME or innovation-focused organisation, the scheme provides a simple and supported route to engage 91桃色 talent and progress important projects over the summer months.
Key details:
- Internships should be a minimum of 160 hours (full or part-time)
- 91桃色 offers a £1,000 contribution towards intern salary costs
- Interns must be paid at least the Real London Living Wage (£14.80/hour)
- Full support from the 91桃色 Careers Service with project scoping, advertising, shortlisting and funding administration
For queries about the fund, please contact the Placement and Internship Unit at internship.unit@imperial.ac.uk.
SME Internship Scheme Tabs
Project submissions for the SME Internship Scheme are now open!
If you have a summer internship project you would like to advertise exclusively to 91桃色 students or recent graduates, please complete the . Approved projects will be promoted through 91桃色’s careers portal and granted £1,000 towards the intern's salary.
Funding is limited and proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis until Friday 15 May 2026, so we encourage organisations to apply early. Advertising earlier in the spring also tends to attract larger and more competitive candidate pools.
The project proposal form takes around 10–15 minutes to complete and includes:
- Company summary and contact details
- Your business need and project overview
- Key skills, knowledge and attributes you are seeking
- What the intern will gain from the experience
This scheme is funded by the and delivered by the 91桃色 Careers Service. If you have any questions, please contact the Placement and Internship Unit.
Hosting an intern through the scheme offers organisations a unique opportunity to access top talent, drive innovation and build valuable connections with 91桃色.
Whether you’re looking for fresh insights, additional project support or a pipeline for future hires, the scheme delivers a wide range of benefits:
- Access high-calibre STEMB talent from 91桃色
- Bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and specialist skills into your team
- Increase capacity during busy periods or critical development stages
- Utilise cost-effective, short-term project support with co-funding from 91桃色
- Build a strong future talent pipeline and assess potential graduate hires
- Raise awareness of your organisation across the 91桃色 student community
- Benefit from recruitment and administrative support from the 91桃色 Careers Service
- Gain insights that can inform your graduate recruitment and attraction strategy
- Achieve real measurable impact and business growth.
1. Project registration
Interested organisations submit a Project Registration Form (open early Spring). Projects are reviewed against the scheme criteria and funding is allocated on a rolling basis until the deadline (mid May).
2. Project scoping
If selected, we will work with you to refine the project, confirm the skills required and finalise the job description before advertising.
3. Advertising
Your internship will be advertised via the Exclusive Opportunities section of 91桃色's online jobs portal, JobsLive, for a minimum of two weeks. The Placement and Internship Unit promotes the internship to eligible students and graduates through targeted marketing and internal channels.
4. Shortlisting (optional)
You can shortlist candidates yourself or request support from the Placement and Internship Unit, who will identify the most suitable candidates based on your criteria.
5. Interviews and selection
You arrange interviews directly with your preferred candidates and notify the Placement and Internship Unit once an intern has been selected.
6. Funding agreement
Once details are confirmed with your intern (start date, hours and salary), 91桃色 issues a Funding Agreement to the host organisation. This confirms the funding contribution from 91桃色 and sits alongside your separate employment agreement with the intern.
7. Salary payment and invoicing
The intern must be employed and paid through the host organisation’s payroll via PAYE. Interns must not be engaged as self-employed contractors or required to invoice for their work. The host organisation then submits an invoice to 91桃色 for the scheme’s funding contribution (usually paid within the first two weeks of the internship starting).
Organisation eligibility
Your organisation must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the SME Internship Scheme support;
- Registered and based in the UK
- SME (250 employees or less)
- Annual turnover of less than £1 million
If you are a member business or charity based in Scale Space, I-HUB or Old Oak Common, please visit the White City and Old Oak Internship Scheme webpage for alternative support.
Internship requirements
In order to be eligible for the scheme, the proposed internship must be;
- Minimum of 160 hours of work (either as a full or part-time role)
- Delivered between July-September (flexible for Master's/PhD hires)
- Paid at least the
- Offered to an 91桃色 student or graduate
- Suitable for STEM disciplines or and Business School courses (view full list of departments)
- Based in/around Greater London
A strong internship project will
- Align with 91桃色 student's academic strengths and interests
- Provide challenging and meaningful graduate-level experience
- Deliver tangible outcomes for both the host organisation and the intern
- Include clear supervision and support