FAQs

InvestIN is a London-based organisation that delivers immersive career experience programmes for school students. Founded in 2012, InvestIN has provided over 65,000 students from 100+ countries with the ultimate work experience. Our mission is to empower students to make the right career decisions and maximise their chances of success.

We offer experiences in 15 of the world’s most competitive careers. These range from investment banking and law to filmmaking and video game design. Click on 'our programmes' in the menu bar to see the full range of programmes on offer.

Our weekend programmes and summer experiences run in London. We hold our programmes at top universities like UCL. During our Summer Experiences, students also get the opportunity to visit top firms in the industry. We are not affiliated with these institutions but hire space on a commercial basis only.

Our programmes are designed for passionate students aged 15-18 with a drive to know what working in a particular industry is really like. We don't require any previous knowledge or experience in order to attend.

Over 65,000 students from more than 100 countries have attended our programmes.

Our programmes provide students with the ultimate experience of their dream career. The hands-on simulations and exposure to a range of professionals give students a chance to immerse themselves in their chosen field, an opportunity not usually available to students. Attendance demonstrates a student’s passion for their industry, enabling them to boost their UCAS/college applications by providing an excellent talking point for interviews. Students will also gain an invaluable network of top professionals in their chosen field.

For students coming from abroad, our programmes also provide a fantastic opportunity to practise and advance their oral and written skills in English in a professional setting.

The content of the programmes is initially planned out by our expert programme management team. This content is then expanded on and delivered by top professionals in their respective fields. 

The professionals on our programmes are industry-leading, passionate individuals who wish to give students a deeper understanding of their field. We recruit a broad range of professionals at different stages in their careers to give students a well-rounded insight into different job functions, the recruitment process and how the industry has changed over time.

We are always looking to develop new career experiences. If you don’t see your desired career in our range of programmes, please feel free to send us an email at info@investin.org. We always love to hear your suggestions!

Our Weekend Programmes have two intakes during the academic year, in November and March. Our Summer Experiences take place during the summer holidays and have up to three intakes, depending on the career, throughout July and August.

Our weekend programmes are one day in length and typically take place on Sundays to fit around school schedules. For our Summer Experiences, students have the option to attend for 1 week, 2 weeks or 2-week Premium and also include optional accommodation, meals and airport collection.

Our Weekend Programmes serve as an excellent introduction to an industry, enabling students to get a flavour for what a job in that profession would entail. They take place during term-time and are one day in length and typically run on Sundays in November and March. They are non-residential. These programmes take place on UCL and UoL campus and feature interactive masterclasses delivered by top professionals, career coaching and a live Q&A session. 

Our Summer Experiences run during the summer holidays and provide a comprehensive, 360-degree experience of a field, featuring excursions to professional workplaces, whole days dedicated to industry specialisms, private networking and more. Residential packages are also available, including accommodation, breakfast & dinner, evening and weekend activities and 24/7 safeguarding and pastoral support.

Our Summer Experiences take place on Monday-Fridays during July and August. Residential students will arrive the Sunday before the programme starts and check-out on the Saturday after the programme finishes.

Our 1-week experiences include 25 hours of contact time with professionals, fully immersive, interactive simulations to explore a range of industry specialisms, as well as up to 2 excursions to professional workplaces.

Our 2-week experiences include an additional 25 hours of contact time (50 hours total), up to a total of 5 professional site visits, private networking, a graduation ceremony and an industry reference letter.

Our 2-week Premium experiences will include all of the benefits of the first and second weeks, plus an extra 15 hours of professional development coaching over the weekend between week 1 and 2, plus exclusive evening
excursions, including CV/LinkedIn masterclasses, expert university admissions coaching and a private Gala dinner with professionals.

You can choose to attend a Weekend Programme either in-person in London or Live Online. Both Live Online and In-Person programmes are a great way to gain an in-depth introduction to your chosen career and you should attend whichever programme best suits your learning style.

Our Live Online programmes are delivered live by our industry experts with nothing being pre-recorded. All our content is carefully curated to be interactive and engaging, so you can experience your dream career from the comfort of your own home. The programmes run in the UK time zone.

Our Summer Experiences are currently only available to attend in-person in London.

Our Weekend Programmes start from £165 for Live Online, or £195 for in-person in London. Our Summer Experiences vary in cost, depending on the length of programme selected and whether you want to add any extras, such as our residential package or airport transfers. To find out more about pricing, select a programme and look at the 'pricing' tab.

The average age of students on our programmes is between 16 and 17 or those finishing Year 12 at school/sixth form. However, the programmes are designed to be suitable for any student between 15 and 18.

We strive to create a supportive environment where all students who attend can gain valuable insight into their dream careers. Should you have any special educational needs or require additional assistance please reach out to our team at info@investin.org who will be happy to support you.

University admissions tutors are looking to accept students that are able to demonstrate their passion for an industry, their commitment to a course and their potential to succeed. Attending an InvestIN programme provides students with excellent real-life examples and talking points for personal statements and interviews that demonstrate all of the above. Plus, students receive a certificate proving their attendance and commitment to learning more about a profession in their free time. We also offer personalised career coaching led by industry executives on the best university application techniques.

After all of our programmes, attendees are sent a short online assessment. Once they have passed this, they will receive a personalised, digital certificate to use on their UCAS/college applications. Students that attend a 2-Week
Summer Experience will also receive an industry reference letter, signed by professionals, outlining what they have achieved over the course of the programme.

InvestIN is also listed as an official activity provider in the extra activities section on the UCAS application form, as well as an approved activity provider for the Gold Residential section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

We encourage all of our programme attendees to make the most of their exposure to professionals, by getting stuck in with the activities, networking sessions and Q&A discussions. Many of our alumni have secured additional work experience with companies represented on our programmes. In fact, some of the professionals we recruit started their career by attending an InvestIN programme!

We will be more than happy to provide you with your programme materials and slides for you to refer back to, however, we are unable to provide a downloadable copy as these materials are the intellectual property of our professionals.

Yes! To date, we have had students travel from over 100 different countries to experience their dream career in the heart of London. In fact, one of the main reasons international students have cited for coming is to meet and befriend students from all around the world, whilst taking their English language skills to the next level.

What’s more, attending a summer programme is a fantastic way to experience London, one of the world’s most renowned capital cities for academic excellence, economic growth and vibrant culture. Plus, our accommodation package enables students to try out living in private ensuite rooms at student halls of residence, so they can truly experience life on-campus at a top UK university, UCL. See below for more information on our accommodation package.

Proficiency in English has become a prerequisite for success in the modern globalised economy. Employers worldwide value candidates with international work experience, especially when it involves proficiency in English. Participating in a UK-based work experience programme not only provides you with transferable skills to boost your CV, but also demonstrates your ability to adapt to different environments and work with diverse groups of people. This experience pushes you to step out of your comfort zone, handle real-world problems and refine your decision-making skills.

We have a minimum English language requirement of B2 (upper-intermediate, CEFR). Our programmes are delivered and facilitated by native English speakers, whilst over 50% of our students are from the UK and the US, providing international students with the opportunity to enhance their oral and written skills in a professional and social context. If you are unsure on your language level, please do complete the following test here.

Students who require a visa to enter the UK will need to obtain a Standard Visitor Visa (the same that is used by tourists). This covers short trips and tourism to the UK, which includes our programmes. You can check if you require this on the UK Government website here.

If your visa application is refused then in certain circumstances at our full discretion, a full refund of any fees paid, LESS a £250 administration charge may be refunded to you.

For the avoidance of doubt, refunds will only be considered where you can demonstrate that:

i) the visa application was made within a reasonable amount of time prior to the arrival date;

ii) all requisite documentation and information was provided with your application, as indicated by UKVI;

iii) all necessary steps were taken to obtain the correct visa and that your application was correct and did not contain any errors; and

iv) where we deem that the decision to reject your visa was both unreasonable and unforeseeable.

In order for us to consider a refund, you must provide us with a valid visa refusal letter no later than 15 days prior to the programme start date; we cannot consider refunds beyond that point.

You can secure your place instantly online. Simply select your career, select a Weekend Programme or Summer Experience and click ‘Register Now’.

Due to high demand, we cannot reserve spaces for students on our Weekend Programmes. For our Summer Experiences, attendees can put down a £950 deposit in order to secure their place. Please email us at info@investin.org or call us on +44 (0) 203 488 5089 to discuss options further.

Yes! We offer payment plans for our Summer Experiences, allowing you to pay in instalments. A £950 deposit is required to reserve your place and can be made directly on our website. Our team will then issue you an invoice for the remaining amount once the deposit has been made. If you need to discuss alternative payment plans, please get in touch with us.

Yes, we do offer bursary places for financially eligible students to attend our programmes free of charge. To find out if you are eligible and how to apply, please visit our social impact page.

No, we accept both individual and school bookings. Schools can make group bookings for multiple students or individuals, we will issue the school with an invoice for payment. Discover the benefits of becoming a partner school (it’s free).

Our refund policy is included in our terms and conditions and again here for your reference. 

The following refund policy applies to Events (whether in wholly or partly in-person or live online), and applies to all cancellations made by you where you are entitled to give notice to end or cancel the Contract without cause, unless otherwise stated in these Terms.

For our weekend programmes (https://investin.org/collections/weekend-programmes), no refunds or credits are offered at any time where you wish to cancel the Contract.

For our Events which are classed as summer experiences (https://investin.org/collections/summer-experiences-1), there are no refunds or credits offered for any monies paid or payable on account of Accommodation or Additional Services.

For the Educational Services on summer experiences (https://investin.org/collections/summer-experiences-1), the charge for which is referred to as ‘programme fee’ on the Website, the following refunds are available only where you have paid all fees in full for such Educational Services at the relevant dates set out below:

If you give notice to cancel the Contract before 1st April in the year that the summer experience is due to take place (“the Relevant Year”), you will be refunded 50% of the programme fee only.
If you give notice to cancel the Contract before 1st May in the Relevant Year, you will be refunded 25% of the programme fee only.
Any notice of cancellation given on or after 1st May in the Relevant Year will attract 0% refund.

For the avoidance of doubt, there are no refunds due on any fees paid, whether for programme fees or otherwise, where only part-payment or deposits have been made. Any refund can only be made if full payment has been received by us. Part-payments or deposits are always non-refundable.

All terms and conditions.

No application is needed for any InvestIN programme. We feel that passion, ambition and a willingness to commit to your future is enough. Having said this, our programmes are extremely popular and are often full months in advance. We offer places on a first-come, first-serve basis.

All registration takes place on our website. Simply choose your career, select weekend or summer experience and click ‘Register Now’.

There is no deadline for registration. However, places generally fill up 6-8 weeks before the programme starts.

Absolutely no prior knowledge is required to attend our courses. We introduce each topic at a basic level.

We cannot accept students above the age of 18 due to our safeguarding policy. If you are just below the age of 15 and wish to attend, please get in touch with us at info@investin.org.

Ahead of the programme start date, you will be invited to complete a mandatory student enrolment form. This is so we can capture important information about you, such as your emergency contact information, any medical conditions or travel arrangements. Once you complete the student enrolment form, you will be able to access the pre-programme materials and your personalised agenda, with specific timings and venue locations.

Closer to the start date of your programme you will receive a full pack of information containing all the necessary information that you will need to attend, including final venue details and timings for each day.

We recommend students on our Computer Scientist and Investment Banker programmes bring their laptops. We also recommend checking your pre-programme information as this will state if there are any sessions where you will need to work on a laptop.

We are always on the lookout for fresh talent, either to work on our programmes as a university ambassador or industry executive or to join our team permanently. Click 'Careers' at the bottom of the page to view our openings.

Yes! Students who join our Summer Experiences can add our accommodation package to their booking.

Students who choose to add our accommodation package to their booking will be allocated to university halls of residence typically used by students from UCL, UoL, LSE and King's. We typically hire out UoL's Garden Halls, College Hall and Frances Gardner. Here, students will enjoy their own private, ensuite room, breakfast & dinner, ,evening & weekend activities and 24/7 guardianship.

Our accommodation is based in central London, typically on the Bloomsbury UCL campus. Students will receive their accommodation allocation in their pre-arrival materials.

Our accommodation package includes check-in the day before and check-out the day after your Summer Experience.

Yes! Our accommodation package includes breakfast and dinner. These are a buffet service provided by the accommodation catering team.

We can cater to the majority of dietary requirements. To ensure we can provide for your needs, please disclose all requirements on your pre-arrival form.

All rooms are private with a bed, chair, work desk and, wardrobe. Towels and bed linen are provided as well as a complimentary set of toiletries for the first night. The majority of our rooms come with a private en-suite bathroom consisting of a toilet, shower, and wash basin, these are available to our students on a first-come, first-serve basis.

There is roughly a 50/50 split between students who choose to stay in our accommodation and our non-accommodation students.

We will have a team of InvestIN staff members based at Heathrow Airport. Students will be greeted by an InvestIN member of staff and guided to the Welcome Club, where they will then be coached to their accommodation.

The same is relevant in reverse.

We are able to offer an unaccompanied minor service. Students arriving to Heathrow Airport on Arrival Day will be met by a member of InvestIN staff. We will be able to provide the information of the responsible adult approximately 1 month before.

If you are going to arrive after the set arrival time, please email info@investin.org in advance so that we can arrange for someone to be on-hand to register you.

We ask that students wear professional clothing on our programmes. Essentially, please avoid wearing jeans, trainers or tracksuits. Any smart casual wear is acceptable.

Once you have booked your place on a programme, you will receive an email with basic details about venues and timings. These emails are sent to the email address supplied for the attendee. If you have not received this email, please check your spam and junk folder. If you still haven’t received it then please email us at info@investin.org with your order number.

Each programme page has a timetable tab, which details the exact timings of the programme.

If you need to leave early for any reason, you are welcome to do so. We ask that you please do so quietly, so as not to disturb the other attendees.

We do encourage you to keep their cameras and microphones on as much as possible through the programme, as this allows you to maximise their participation. However, this is entirely down to each student’s personal preference, and students will never be forced to speak should they not feel comfortable doing so and can use the chat function.

On our programmes you will work in groups of around 6-10 students to give you the best opportunities to network and get hands-on!

During your stay with us in the evenings, you will be able to spend time in the games room, cinema room and communal areas socialising with the other students. Our Pastoral & Activity Leaders will also put on evening activities such as trivia night, games night, and sports evenings.

Should you book our accommodation package all your travel to and from your programme venues is included.

If you have not booked our accommodation package you will need to make your own way to your programme venue for the day, if they are within London. For any venue locations outside of London, a coach will take all students from the accommodation meeting point in the morning.

Should you book our accommodation package your last day will be the day after your summer experience ends, as this will be the day you check out of your room.

If you have not booked our accommodation package you will depart on the last day of your summer experience.

It's no problem if you need to miss some of our sessions, all the slides and programme materials will be available to you after the experience has finished so you can catch up using these resources to ensure no content is missed.

Our Summer Experiences take place Monday-Friday with a weekend break between Week 1 and Week 2. Residential students can enjoy a range of social activities over the weekend, whilst our 2-Week Premium students will be attending exclusive professional development workshops.

If you would like to be kept informed of our upcoming programmes, you can subscribe to our mailing list by sending a request to info@investin.org.

We are absolutely committed to our students’ satisfaction. If you would like to complain about any aspect of your experience with InvestIN, please follow InvestIN’s complaints procedure below. We will endeavour to respond as soon as possible.

1. If you have a complaint, please put it into writing (email to info@investin.org), explaining the details as fully as possible.

2. We will send you an email acknowledging your complaint and (if appropriate), ask you to expand.

3. We will start to investigate your complaint as soon as is practicable after you have articulated the complaint to us.

4. An in-depth review of the issues raised will then take place.

5. Once this has happened we will contact you to confirm our findings and any solutions that we propose.

6. If at this stage you are still not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you should contact us again.

7. We will review the issue once again.

8. We will contact you with the results of this review as soon as possible.

9. At the same time we will email you confirming our final position on your complaint and explain our reasons.

InvestIN is accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC). This means that participants of InvestIN’s programmes have access to BAC’s complaints procedure. If you have tried to resolve your complaint through InvestIN’s complaints procedure, you can find full details on how to submit a complaint to the BAC on their website here.

Yes we do! Click here to find out more about InvestIN bursaries.

Click here to view our safeguarding policy

Our safeguarding team are all security-vetted (enhanced DBS-checked) professionals who work in education full time. Our team is made up of Academic Professionals/ Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), Safeguarding Officers, Nursing Professionals, and Mental Health Practitioners.