At 7:12 am, the train from Surbiton to Waterloo is already full. Among the suits is a third-year student heading into an unpaid internship in Central London. They’ll be back by 8 pm – having spent £14 on travel, £6 on lunch and earned exactly £0.
This is the quiet maths of London ambition. In a city packed with media houses, fashion brands, and political institutions, internships are no longer optional extras. They are entry tickets. In industries like publishing, PR, fashion and the arts, experience often matters more than a degree – and that experience is frequently unpaid or underpaid.
For students with financial support from home, an unpaid role can be framed as an investment. A few months of lost income becomes a strategic sacrifice, a short-term cost for long-term gain. For others, it’s a luxury they simply cannot afford. Students have to turn down two-month placements because it clashes with their paid weekend jobs, and they need rent money more than LinkedIn clout.
For reference, the new minimum wage for 21-year-olds from April 2026 is £12.71. For a student working 20-hours a week, missing work for a two-month placement would mean missing out on a whopping total of £2,033.60. For a student, it’s a no-brainer that they can’t take that opportunity as they need to afford their rent, groceries and add to their LISA (Lifetime ISA).
The issue isn’t just the pay; it’s access. When internships function as gateways into competitive industries, unpaid labour can quietly filter who gets through.
There is also the question of time. Some students have reported that the application process was so tiring that they gave up halfway through. For example, whilst applying for a cyber security internship, one student said they were asked: “Are you a rainbow or a sunshine?”
Employers often defend unpaid internships as offering invaluable exposure. It’s true: proximity to decision-makers, real projects and professional networks can accelerate a career. Many former interns speak warmly of mentors who opened doors and demystified opaque industries. Yet the benefits do not erase the imbalance. When only those who can afford to work for free gain that exposure, entire sectors risk narrowing their intake to the already privileged.
The question isn’t whether internships are valuable. The question is who gets to treat them as stepping stones. Until opportunity no longer depends on the ability to forgo pay, the 7:12 am train will continue to carry two kinds of ambition: one cushioned by security, the other quietly counting the cost.