More than half of undergraduate are prepared to work for no pay, reveals the results of the first Annual Internships Survey show over 60 per cent of undergraduates.

The survey polled approximately 500 students and also found that 76 per cent of respondents said they would apply for an Internship that only paid expenses.

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Operations Director of graduate-jobs.com, Gerry Wyatt, said: “It’s clear that students are very keen to gain work experience whilst studying at university. At graduate-jobs.com we’ve seen employers increasing the number of internship places they offer, but it appears the number of vacancies are still not matching up to the demand.

This could be one of the reasons that many undergraduates are starting to consider opportunities without remuneration.”

Work Experience was cited as the main reason students apply for Internships.

The survey also revealed that students do not have particularly high expectations about how much they should be paid. They indicated £16,000 as the most suitable salary for an Internship and less than 1 per cent thought that salaries for Internships were too low.

Wyatt added: “Even though the current job market is stronger than in previous years, it’s still tough – students know they need to be prepared when they compete for a graduate job.

“University leavers are much more aware of what graduate employers are looking for compared to three years ago. We would attribute this to the ongoing efforts of Careers Services, who are assisting students to be proactive about their careers from the first year onwards.”