BrigHT Futures @BHT

At school or college and wondering what step to take next?

Explore bright futures @BHT

Who can apply?

  • Students must be in Years 12 or 13 (Sixth Form) or college equivalent years (minimum age 16).
  • We also provide work experience for adults thinking about changing careers and undergraduates currently at university. Please note work experience does not include longer industry placements.
  • We give priority to applicants at school or college or living within Buckinghamshire local authority and the Trust’s wider catchment area.

What roles can I experience?

We offer work experience across clinical and non-clinical roles including:

If you don’t know which role you’d like to experience:

Where does work experience take place?

  • We have two acute hospitals in Aylesbury (Stoke Mandeville) and High Wycombe as well as community facilities across the county. If we offer you a placement, we’ll let you know where it will be.
  • Some specialised roles are only available on certain sites.
  • All our sites are well served by public transport. Unfortunately we are not able to provide transport.

When can I apply?

  • Please apply for work experience during the time periods below: we do not accept applications outside these dates.
  • While we do our best to fulfil as many requests as possible, we have a limited capacity and applying does not guarantee a placement.
  • Placements usually last two days: if you are looking for longer than this (for example your school/college has set you a full week of work experience), you will need to source the remaining time with an additional employer. We do this to offer the opportunity to as many people as possible.
  • We do not offer placements on weekends.
  • We aim to let you know if your application has been successful or unsuccessful no longer than 4 weeks after the closing date (or 6 weeks of the longer summer period).
  • Please email bht.brightfutures@nhs.net if you have further questions.
Work experience period Link to apply posted here when application goes live
Intake 1: Autumn term 2025

  • Half-term 27 October to 31 October 2025
  • Please also indicate on the application form if you can get authorised absence during term-time
  • No work experience available over the Christmas holiday
CLOSED
Intake 2: Spring term 2026 (plus schools in Buckinghamshire with designated work experience weeks BEFORE May half-term)

  • Half-term 16 February to 20 February 2026
  • Easter holiday 30 March to 10 April 2026
  • Please indicate on the application form if you can get authorised absence during term-time.
CLOSED
Intake 3: Summer term 2026

Please indicate your availability when applying, including:

  • Half-term 25 May to 29 May 2026
  • Any work experience periods set by school/college
  • Tell us if you can get authorised absence during term-time
  • Summer holiday 23 July to 31 August 2026

PLEASE NOTE: Placements usually last two days. If you are looking for longer than this (for example your school/college has set you a full week of work experience), you will need to source the remaining time with an additional employer.

CLOSED (we are at full capacity and cannot unfortunately take any additional applications)

 

Dates for 2026-27 academic year will be published later in the summer

We invite all secondary school students from Year 7 and above (plus parents, carers and teachers) to attend our annual programme of free after-school talks. Tell your friends and bring them too! Attend as many as you can to:

  • understand healthcare from different perspectives
  • understand more about how healthcare professionals work together as multi-disciplinary teams
  • perhaps discover roles you haven’t yet thought about

Venue: Held in the lecture theatre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Mandeville Road, Aylesbury, HP21 8AL

Time: 5 – 7pm

More information and book free tickets: Tickets are usually released a term in advance. Visit our box office on TicketTailor or click on individual event links below when they are published.

AUTUMN TERM 2025 DATES
Discover careers in the allied health professions Thursday 4 December 2025 – ENDED (we’ll repeat next year)
SPRING TERM 2026
Discover careers in pharmacy Thursday 12 February 2026 ENDED (we’ll repeat next year)
Discover careers in biomedical science Thursday 12 March 2026 ENDED (we’ll repeat next year)
SUMMER TERM 2026
Discover careers in nursing and midwifery Thursday 30 April 2026
Discover careers in psychology Thursday 2 July 2026
Discover careers in medicine Thursday 16 July 2026

See healthcare careers through our eyes. Think wider than ‘doctor’ or ‘nurse’: click play below to explore roles in midwifery, the mortuary, pathology, pharmacy, radiography, research and innovation and in our operating theatres…

powered by Advanced iFrame

Online work-related learning is a great way to start to find out more about different healthcare careers – and helps you prepare for in-person work experience.

Programmes usually take between 7 – 10 hours and you can go at your own place. You will receive a certificate on completion.

The following areas are currently available:

Availability does change, so search direct on Springpod.

  • Are you 16 – 19 years old?
  • Interested in learning new skills, giving something back to your local community and finding out what it’s like to be part of the NHS?
  • Looking to boost your personal statement or CV to help with a university or job application?

We’re looking for Young Volunteers to become mealtime companions, patient befrienders or provide admin support – whatever our services currently need. These roles can fit in around school hours or at the weekends.

Our Young Volunteers are:

  • supported through regular contact with our Young Volunteers Lead
  • awarded a certificate after completing 50, 100 or 150 volunteering hours
  • encouraged to complete a reflection diary to help you learn from your experience
  • entitled to ask for a reference after completing a minimum of 50 hours of volunteering

Volunteering is great way to improve confidence and develop skills such as communication and teamwork. It also lets you put into practice abilities such as active listening, reliability, patience and empathy.

Interested in applying?

Contact our Young Volunteers Lead Sylvia Parker: call her on 07855 010333 or email sylvia.parker1@nhs.net

Applying for an apprenticeship at BHT

Download information on apprenticeship opportunities at in the NHS and at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

To become an apprentice at our Trust, the usual entry route is that you need to first be employed by us. If you come to work for us in an entry level position, you can then access opportunities and apply internally.

We offer a range of clinical and non-clinical roles (such as Business Administration), although nursing is our main apprenticeship pathway, with colleagues undertaking:

  • Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship
  • Level 5 Nursing Associate Apprenticeship
  • Level 6 Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship

Any apprenticeships offered externally will be advertised on our vacancies job page www.careers.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk or visit www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk.

See apprenticeship opportunities across the whole NHS at jobs.nhs.uk – select ‘apprenticeships’ from browse job types.

More information

National Apprenticeship Week

Watch our apprentices talk about their experiences and career pathways on the Bucks Skills Hub ‘Meet the Apprentices’ webinars for National Apprenticeship Week:

  1. The 6 Cs (identify the component parts of the NHS’s compassionate care approach), and compassion.
  2. NHS structure (understand the formation and history of the NHS)
  3. Healthcare teams – Primary (find out about the role and function of a primacy healthcare team)
  4. Healthcare teams – Secondary (understand what we mean by secondary care and the work that takes place in a hospital setting)
  5. Healthcare teams – Doctors
  6. Good medical practice and regulated professions
  7. Values and attributes (what guides professionals working in the NHS and what are the seven principles that guide the NHS?)
  8. Capacity and consent (understand issues related to shared decision in clinical treatment
  9. Reflection (understand more about approaches to reflection and self-evaluation and appreciate the role of reflection in professional practice in healthcare)

When you’re considering a career in healthcare, it’s important to:

  • research future jobs in the local area and beyond
  • understand the skills needed for certain roles
  • be aware of which jobs will be in demand in the future.

This is called Labour Market Information or LMI and will help you strengthen your university, college or job applications.

The following links are useful to explore:

Meet our BHT family

We chatted to colleagues across Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) and asked them all about their jobs. What do they do? How did they get into the role? What skills do they need? What do they love about working for us?

Watch the career chat videos below. We hope one day you’ll consider a bright future with us yourself and join our BHT family.