1. SUPPORTING REAL WORLD WORK EXPERIENCE
Page overview
Work Experience (Step Up)
Step Up is Amazon's work experience programme in the UK, available for young people aged 14-24, primarily aimed at those coming from less privileged backgrounds. The programme provides first-hand experience of the workplace and helps young people explore career opportunities, expand their networks, and develop new skills.
Step Up offers two routes: Step Up For Schools (week-long placements for Year 10 students from disadvantaged communities) and Step Up + Partner (week-long placements for 16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training, delivered with charity partners including The King's Trust, Media Trust, and Forces For Employment).
Our T Level Placements give students aged 16-19 the opportunity to gain hands-on experience across digital, creative, business, and engineering pathways. Paired with a dedicated support network of buddies, mentors, and placement managers, the programme ensures students are equipped with the confidence and knowledge to pursue their dream careers at Amazon.
Each placement lasts 45 days, divided across skills hub stints, group projects, and individual team-based challenges, giving students a well-rounded understanding of the Amazon culture and way of working. Are you a school or college interested in providing your students with this opportunity? Contact us below to learn more about the Amazon T Level Placements and how we can collaborate to shape the future of digital talent.
Amazon's supported internship programme combines classroom education with practical work experience at fulfilment centres across the UK. Interns aged 18-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) develop English, Maths, and workplace skills, alongside hands-on experience.
Participants spend their final year of education inside an Amazon fulfilment centre, combining classroom learning with real work experience and specialist job coaching. Amazon is the largest private sector provider of Supported Internships in the UK, operating across 25 sites including fulfilment centres, transport stations, and delivery stations.
I’ve learned time scheduling, teamwork, and even learning the timetables for trains and buses. There are a lot of life skills I’ve been adding into my work, and a lot of skills I’ve added into my life.
Harley McCarthy Lovell, Supported Internships programme participant
The vast majority of people with learning disabilities in the UK want to work, however 95% are unemployed. Almost 300 young people have started Supported Internships with Amazon since 2021. More than 80% of participants move into permanent employment — with 74% employed by Amazon — compared to a national employment rate of around 5-6% for adults with learning disabilities.
Amazon plans to quadruple the UK Supported Internship programme for young people with learning disabilities and autism — supporting an additional 1,000 into employment by 2030.
Sign up: dfnprojectsearch.org
The Amazon and Barnardo's partnership gives young people leaving care the opportunity to sign up to a bespoke programme aimed at tackling barriers to work.
A 10-week employability programme operating at Amazon sites across the UK, supporting young people aged 18-29 who face barriers to work, including care leavers and those who are long-term unemployed. The programme helps tackle barriers to employment through a bespoke course designed to be more welcoming and informal than a traditional school setting, creating a supportive environment for young people who may have struggled in formal education.
In addition to the four pilot locations at Tilbury, Gateshead, Coventry, and Dartford, launches have taken place in Greater Manchester, Dunfermline and Swansea since 2023. Further locations have since been added across the UK. To date, the partnership has helped over 750 young people since the JOBS Project began in 2021.
83% of participants reach positive destinations (employment, further education, or volunteering), and 89% of those who enter Amazon convert to permanent roles.
Across Amazon’s UK employability programmes over the last two years, more than 85% of participants progress into employment or education, generating £4 in social value for every £1 invested.
Amazon's fully funded apprenticeship programme provides paths from entry-level through to degree-level qualifications in automation engineering, cybersecurity, data science, robotics, broadcast production, and more.
From former bar staff to college leavers, military veterans to career changers, the programme helps people from all walks of life build successful careers whilst earning a wage and gaining qualifications. Amazon is a top three UK apprenticeship employer with over 2,000 active apprentices across more than 50 different schemes and has supported over 6,000 apprentices since the programme started.
Through the Amazon Apprenticeship Fund, Amazon transfers unspent apprenticeship levy funds to create apprenticeship roles in small and medium-sized organisations. The fund has supported more than 2,200 apprenticeships in over 1,200 organisations, covering schemes from digital marketing to visual effects, cyber security, advanced manufacturing, and social care.
Sign up: amazonapprenticeships.co.uk
Amazon's Regional Creatives Fund provides grants of up to £30,000 to charities helping underserved communities enter creative careers, from publishing and music to gaming, film, TV, fashion, and advertising. In 2025, we awarded grants to 40 charities across all UK nations and regions.
Beyond financial support, the fund uses Amazon's network of creative industry professionals to offer charities pro-bono upskilling programmes, including mentoring, work experience, placement opportunities, and digital training, with support from teams across Amazon Music, Prime Video, Amazon Games, and more.
Prime Video Pathway is a first-of-its-kind training initiative designed to open up access to jobs in the UK's film and TV industry. With more than £14 million invested since 2022, the programme has trained more than 450 individuals to date, with 85% remaining employed in the TV industry.
Its flagship programmes, developed in partnership with the National Film and Television School (NFTS), include more than 60 free one-day online courses reaching up to 1,000 freelancers nationwide, as well as an intensive three-month, in-person programme providing dedicated support for 100 freelancers who have been out of work for more than four months.
Beyond freelancer training, the initiative supports senior talent development through step-up opportunities for underrepresented executive producers, and bursaries for deaf actors and care leavers through the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
AWS re/Start is a free to the learner, 12-week, full-time workforce development programme designed to launch entry to mid-level careers in the cloud for unemployed or underemployed individuals, no tech background required.
Through coursework and hands-on labs, learners build skills in AI, machine learning, Linux, Python, networking, security, and AWS core services. AWS re/Start also includes professional development support like CV and interview coaching and connects graduates to potential employers.
To date, AWS re/Start has helped 30,000 individuals into jobs worldwide. The programme is now available in more than 30 locations across all regions and nations in the UK.
Apply here: aws.amazon.com/training/restart/
2. INSPIRING CAREER ASPIRATIONS
Reaching young people before they enter the workplace, so they know what is possible.
We believe in the transformative power of education. Amazon for Schools delivers high-quality STEM education and careers exploration for hundreds of thousands of UK students. Through the Schools Twinning Project, we pair Amazon sites with schools in disadvantaged communities, delivering £10,000 unrestricted grants, curriculum-aligned programmes, and year-round volunteer engagement to help children and adults unlock their potential and develop the skills needed for exciting and fulfilling careers.
The programme delivers careers exploration through virtual school trips and career talks with diverse role models, and free STEM education resources for primary and secondary students. Through Amazon for Schools we have provided comprehensive music studio resources directly to schools, including keyboards, guitars, violins and recording equipment, to support schools in creating their own studio spaces and expand access to music education in communities where funding gaps are greatest.
Amazon Future Engineer is a comprehensive childhood-to-career computer science education programme that provides free access to STEM learning resources including virtual school trips, coding courses, and career talks.
More than one million UK students have received free computer science education through the programme, including through Turinglab (Python for KS3) and Class Chats (virtual career talks from Amazon employees).
Learn more: Turinglab | Class Chats
Amazon delivers the Governors for Schools programme in partnership with Boards for Education, a leading education charity that works with state-funded schools across England and Wales to address the shortage of school governance volunteers.
All Amazon employees can volunteer as school governors, no specific skills or experience are required, just the passion to improve the prospects of children. Amazon is the number one recruiter across all Boards for Education partners.
3. PREPARING PEOPLE FOR THE CAREERS OF TOMORROW
Training for the jobs the economy needs next, whether people stay with Amazon or not.
Amazon's Career Choice programme pre-pays up to 100% of tuition and reimburses eligible fees for nationally recognised courses, up to £3,000 per year, every year, for operations employees to train for entirely new careers, at Amazon or elsewhere. As technology transforms industries and new skills become essential, the Career Choice programme will continue to evolve its offerings.
In 2026, the programme is refocusing toward careers where job growth is strongest: technology, logistics, renewable energy, and mechatronics. Globally, Amazon has committed $1 billion to Career Choice as part of its $2.5 billion Future Ready pledge. By 2030, this means upskilling another 500,000 employees globally and more than doubling the number of Career Choice participants in the UK.
I tell all my colleagues to go for it—it’s really the best option for anyone looking to improve. Not only does Career Choice cover the cost of the course, but they help you with professional growth [and] interviews.
Navyasree Ramineni, Career Choice programme participant
As of 2026, 30,000 employees in the UK and 300,000 globally have participated in Career Choice. Courses include accountancy, HGV driving, and software development, and are designed to help employees pursue careers at Amazon or beyond. Flexible learning options let participants study online or in-person alongside work and family commitments.
Sign up: amazoncareerchoice.com
Amazon offers free AI and cloud computing training for learners at every level, from self-paced online courses (900+ courses on AWS Skill Builder) to hands-on labs for students aged 13+ (AWS Educate), ready-to-teach curriculum for colleges and universities (AWS Academy), and instructor-led classroom training.
Through the AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance, launched in the UK with the goal of providing 100,000 people with AI skills by 2030, Amazon works with educational institutions and employers including the University of Exeter, University of Manchester, Accenture, and Deloitte to connect learners directly to entry-level technical careers. AI literacy is expected to be a requirement for nearly half of new UK jobs over the next three years. Since 2023, over 990 educational institutions and 780 employers have participated globally.
Learn more: AWS Educate | AWS Skill Builder | Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance
