Explainer: Unifrog’s Virtual Work Experience week (29th June - 3rd July 2026) FAQs
Looking for a high quality virtual work experience for your students? Here’s how your students can connect with big name employers in Unifrog’s virtual work experience week, which runs: Monday 29th June to Friday 3rd July 2026.
What is Unifrog’s Virtual Work Experience (VWEX) week?
The virtual work experience week, 29th June-3rd July, offers students in Y10 / S4 to Y13 / S6 access to five giants of different industries.
Whether your students are interested in catering and hospitality, healthcare, retail, entrepreneurship, or policing, our virtual work experience days will bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world job skills.
The student tasks have been crafted by Unifrog’s team of experienced ex-teachers working in partnership with industry pros, providing students with an authentic taste of the workplace and helping schools and colleges to meet Gatsby benchmarks 5 and 6.
In a nutshell
Each day will be hosted by a different employer, offering students the chance to develop a wide range of employability skills, and have an introduction to careers in diverse fields: 
What’s happening each day of the week?
- Monday 29th June: Sodexo
Students take on three catering briefs as a head chef with Sodexo – planning a royal menu for Ascot, adapting a corporate menu for a sustainable client, and analysing street food concepts using real costing formulas. They'll build skills in planning, problem solving, and numeracy throughout.
- Tuesday 30th June: NHS
Students will take on three community-based NHS clinical roles: district nurse, psychological wellbeing practitioner, and primary care pharmacist. By experiencing the responsibilities of these roles, they'll develop their observation, caring, and resilience skills.
- Wednesday 1st July: Asda
Students will take on the roles of retail buyer, retail manager, and fashion designer at Asda to make shopping fairer, more accessible, and more inclusive. By solving real-world retail challenges, they'll use critical thinking, problem solving, and caring skills.
- Thursday 2nd July: HubSpot
Students will take on the role of an entrepreneur, developing a business idea to solve a real problem. They’ll build skills in communication, creativity, innovation, and problem solving while learning how businesses are created and grown.
- Friday 3rd July: Met Police
Students will take on the role of a police officer, working through realistic scenarios including a missing person case, antisocial behaviour, and an emergency response. They’ll build skills in decision making, communication, critical thinking, and working under pressure while applying key policing values.
What’s the format of the week?
- Each day will begin with a 9am webinar, hosted by the employer, to introduce the organisation and set up the task for the day.
- After that, students will complete and submit work experience tasks using the Courses tool.
- At 2pm, employers will host a second webinar to debrief the task and round off the day.
What is the time commitment and resources needed to take part in each day?
At 9am and 2pm, students will need computer and internet access to watch the webinars, which will be approximately 30-45 minutes long. They could do this individually (e.g. with a computer and headphones) or in a group setting (e.g. in a classroom with other students).
Between the two webinars, students will need individual computer and internet access to complete and submit their virtual work experience tasks.
We suggest taking a whole day “off timetable” to allow students to work on their tasks, beginning straight after the first webinar finishes up until the second one begins at 2pm.
We understand that all settings have different break and lunch arrangements, but as an example, your day might look something like this: 
Can you give me more specific information about the tasks students will complete?
The tasks are designed to give students a taste of real workplaces - activities that someone might typically do as part of their everyday work.
Students will be able to complete all tasks on their own, but if a number of students from one school or college wish to work in a group for some tasks, they’re able to do so.
For example, in the HubSpot work experience day, students will develop a business idea to solve a real problem in their community, defining their target customer and shaping a clear mission and brand identity. They’ll also create and present an elevator pitch, applying communication, creativity, and problem-solving skills. These activities can be completed individually or as part of a group.
The best way to get a feel for the types of tasks and how the day will run is to check out our previous virtual work experience days, which are available on demand on the Courses tool.
View previous virtual work experience courses
Who has created the resources?
Each employer has worked in partnership with Unifrog’s teaching resources team (made up of qualified and experienced ex-teachers) to design the work experience tasks.
The combination of the expertise of the teaching resources team and the employers means that the tasks work well in a classroom setting, and they also give students a taste of the world of work. The activities also set students up to be able to talk about what they've done when they later apply for jobs, apprenticeships, or university courses.
Who is the virtual work experience week aimed at?
Students from all UK schools, state and independent, in Year 10 / S4 to Year 13 / S6.
The week is aimed at students in UK schools because much of the content is UK-centric, for example, highlighting apprenticeship opportunities or UK post-16 or post-18 qualifications and pathways.
Our open-ended tasks are accessible to students with a range of abilities, and there will be opportunities for students to stretch themselves by taking activities further, exploring different directions, and adding their own creative touches.
How do I promote the week to my students?
- If you want to promote the week with students, you could use this careers quiz.
- If you want to walk students through the process of signing up, you can use this Quick task PowerPoint.
- You can access all the pre-VWEX Week resources in one place here.
How do students sign up and then join each day of VWEX week?
Here are the logistics for students actually doing the VWEX:
- Signing up
Students should sign up in the Unifrog Events tool here. They can sign up to as many or as few of the days as they like.
We strongly recommend that students sign up in advance, as it helps them get the most out of the experience: They'll have the opportunity to submit questions which employers may answer during the live session, and in the lead up to the event they will receive regular reminder emails and a text message.
- Joining each day
The work experience days will all be hosted on the Unifrog Courses tool. Each course will only become live on the day of the work experience.
On the relevant day, students need to go to the Courses tool, join the course, and they'll see the webinar links and tasks.
Students can technically join the VWEX days by just joining the relevant course on the right day, and joining the 9am webinar. However it's best for them to sign up using the Events tool, because the day before their chosen day/s start, we'll send them the link to the course with instructions of how to join and watch the 9am webinar.
If students can’t attend live sessions, can they still take part?
For the best experience, students should complete the virtual work experience sessions live on the day they’re planned. This is because we know that students are far more likely to complete a live virtual work experience placement rather than one that’s recorded and available later.
If it’s not possible for students to take part on the day, the courses will remain on demand for students after the live event. We will add webinar recordings to the courses 7 days after the original live date (so Monday’s course will be available by the following Monday, Tuesday’s by the following Tuesday).
Can students take part using mobile devices?
It is possible for students to watch the webinars on a mobile device, but we recommend they have computer access to complete the work experience tasks in the middle section of the day.
Is there a maximum number of places for the webinars?
No maximum - all students in Years 10 / S4 to Year 13 / S6 are welcome to sign up.
Is there a cut-off date for students to sign up?
There’s no cut-off date - students can join at any time, including on the day that the virtual work experience goes live. If they're joining on the day, to find the session, ask them to head straight to the Courses tool.
In the webinars, will students need to appear on camera or talk on the mic?
No. Students won't appear on camera or talk on the mic.
Will there be interaction between students and employers?
When students register for the webinars, they will have the opportunity to submit questions for the employers. We’ll also use Kahoot for interactive questions, polls, and other engagement activities, helping to facilitate meaningful employer and employee encounters and workplace insights.
During the session, employers will explain what they were looking for in the tasks, providing students with insights and feedback to complement the automated answer feedback they receive on their task submissions.
After the day, employers have the option to review and give feedback on a selection of student submissions - though due to the volume of students we’re expecting to join, we cannot guarantee this for every student who takes part.
Do students get a completion certificate for each day?
Yes, they'll get a course completion certificate if they submit all of the required tasks on the Courses tool.
How can I tell if a student has completed a virtual work experience day?
As a teacher, you'll be able to see if students have completed and submitted all of the virtual work experience tasks.
Log into the teacher side of the platform. Using the Advanced view of the Manage page, go to Sort By > Courses.
From here, you’ll be able to see:
- Students who have joined the work experience day, but not completed or submitted the tasks (highlighted in orange).
- Students who have completed and submitted all work experience tasks (highlighted in green).
Should students add this experience to the Placements tool?
No - the Placements tool is to record work experience placements - whether in person or virtual - that are directly hosted by an employer, where:
- There is sustained interaction between the student and the employer; and
- The student has the email address of the employer who is hosting them.
For VWEX week, after they've completed it, students should instead use the Activities tool to record what they've done.