The Electoral Reform Society are one of the organisations that Politics students can do an internship with.
In just a few years, the spring term optional module that final-year Politics students can take as part of their degree, has transformed from a handful of local placements into a flagship programme offering real-world work experience. Current students can work with MPs, think tanks, NGOs, consultancies, and public policy organisations, turning theory into practice and feeding their dissertation ideas with on-the-ground insights.
What started with Sussex-based MPs, now spans 18 internships with 16 partners, including: Silverstone Communications, Our Streets Now, Wild Purpose, Blue Europe, the Borgen Project, National Parks England, and Capture Politics. And this year's programme has been expanded to include Tonbridge and Malling Council led by Sussex Politics graduate Matt Boughton, and, in a major win, the Electoral Reform Society whose Director of Policy and Research Jess Garland earned her Politics PhD at Sussex.
What sets this programme apart is that the internships are not an add-on but built into the degree. Students can take the Independent Study option module, choose an internship pathway, and then write a dissertation linked to their placement experience. It gives students real-world skills, whilst giving our partners real value.
And it works! Politics alumni like Henry Chamberlain = now Political Press Officer for the Conservative Party - and Zeb Mackintosh - hired full-time by Liberal Democrat Lewes MP, James McCleary - started with Sussex Politics internships. Silverstone Communications even kept last year’s intern on board!
Lecturer in Politics and Department employability lead, Dr Tom Godfrey - who convenes the Independent Study/Internship module - said:
"Expanding career prospects is at the heart of the Sussex Politics degree. Our internship module plays a pivotal role in this. It's growing fast and we aim to offer a greatly expanded and wider choice of these opportunities to every final year Politics student.
"Politics alumni play a huge role. Many return to share their own career pathways as part of our Sussex Success Stories alumni speaker series. And some go on to offer internships themselves. An excellent example of these kinds of ongoing links is Sussex Politics graduate, Aubrey Allegretti - Chief Political Correspondent of ‘The Times’ and our Political writer-in-residence - who comes back several times a year to provide career and study skills support to our current students. Along with lots of Westminster gossip! That great sense of community that we have in the Politics department lasts long after graduation."
Head of the Department of Politics, Professor Aleks Szczerbiak, added:
‘This isn’t just a work placement. It’s an integral part of a highly career and skills-focused Politics degree. Employability is at the core of everything that we do as a department and I’m really proud of how far we’ve come in such a short space of time. For many students an internship is the first step to their future career."