© Copyright 2026 Northern Ireland Civil Service. All rights reserved.
To apply, you will need the following:
Five GCSEs (Grades A–C), including English Language and Maths (or equivalent qualification).
What You'll Bring
Strong communication, organisation, and teamwork skills.
Confidence using IT systems and digital tools.
A customer-focused mindset and commitment to public service.
Put your degree into practice, develop your professional skills and gain valuable real-world experience with the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS).
With opportunities across multiple NICS departments and professional disciplines, there's the chance to find a placement that closely matches what you're studying — and discover where your career could take you.
We're recruiting for up to 110 Student Placement opportunities across a wide range of professional disciplines — from construction, engineering and infrastructure to policy, finance, technology, science, communications and more.
£25,796 per annum | July–September 2027 start
Start your career with experience that counts
Department of Finance (Land & Property Services)
Managing land registration, valuation, and property tax.
Department for Communities
Supporting benefits, pensions, housing, and employment services.
Department of Education
Ensuring teachers are paid and pensions are managed accurately.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
Supporting sustainable farming, climate goals, and rural communities.
A Student Placement with the Northern Ireland Civil Service is an opportunity to step beyond the classroom and experience what it's like to work in a professional environment.
You'll apply the knowledge and skills you've developed at university to real projects, real challenges and real public services, while gaining experience that can help shape your future career.
NICS is one of Northern Ireland's largest employers, with work spanning areas including health, public finances, justice, education, the environment, communities, the economy and infrastructure.
The Selection Process
Applications will first be assessed against the eligibility criteria.
Relevant or equivalent qualifications will be considered.
Eligibility
Department of Finance (Land & Property Services)
Managing land registration, valuation, and property tax.
Department for Communities
Supporting benefits, pensions, housing, and employment services.
Department of Education
Ensuring teachers are paid and pensions are managed accurately.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
Supporting sustainable farming, climate goals, and rural communities.
Who better to tell you about a job than the people already working there!
Student
Closed for applications
Placements
(MCO)
The deadline for formal applications is 12 noon on Friday 23rd October.
Ready to put your degree into practice?
Your placement year could be the start of something much bigger. Gain experience. Build your skills. Meet professionals. Discover what you're capable of.
And leave your placement with something that can't be taught in a lecture theatre: real-world experience.
Where could your degree take you?
Architecture
Gain experience across areas such as building surveys, feasibility studies, design, conservation, BIM, Net Zero solutions, project documentation and site visits.
Civil & Structural Engineering
Contribute to the design, procurement and project management of major and minor civil, structural and infrastructure projects, including site work and design documentation.
Construction & Infrastructure
Put your technical skills into practice.
If you're studying Architecture, Civil & Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Building Surveying or Planning, this could be the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in your chosen profession.
Approximately 20 placements are available across the Department for Infrastructure, Department of Finance and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
Your placement could involve contributing to real construction, engineering, planning or infrastructure projects, working alongside experienced professionals and developing your technical and project-based skills.
Up to 51 weeks
£25,796 per annum
Approximately 20 placements
General Student Placements
Discover where your degree could take you.
The General Student Placement competition offers an even broader range of opportunities across the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
Approximately 90 placements are expected across the Department of Finance, Department for Infrastructure, DAERA, Department for the Economy, Department of Justice and Public Prosecution Service.
You could apply your degree in areas including:
Policy | Accountancy & Finance | Communications & Marketing | Research & Data Analysis | Economics | Business & Management | Human Resources | Law | Information Communication Technology | Geographic Information Systems | Forestry | Environment | Science | Project Management | Valuation Surveying
Up to 51 weeks
£25,796 per annum
Approximately 90 placements
Two placement opportunities
Construction & Infrastructure
The Construction & Infrastructure competition offers six specialist placement categories:
Get out of the lecture theatre and into the real world
You'll have the opportunity to apply your academic knowledge, contribute to real work and develop practical skills within a professional team.
The precise work will depend on your placement, but both competitions are designed to provide students with meaningful professional experience and opportunities to develop personally and professionally.
Your placement isn't simply about observing what other people do. Depending on your placement, you could be involved in:
Real-world projects
Apply the technical and professional skills you've developed through your degree to live projects and business challenges.
New skills
Build your professional, technical and interpersonal skills through training, feedback and day-to-day experience.
Research & analysis
Gather information, analyse data, undertake research and help turn findings into useful information for colleagues and stakeholders.
Practical experience
Take on meaningful tasks and responsibilities appropriate to your business area while developing your confidence and understanding.
Professional teams
Work alongside experienced professionals and gain an understanding of how your chosen discipline operates within a major public-sector organisation.
Rehabilitation
Contribute to work that supports public services and the communities of Northern Ireland.
Mechanical Engineering
Apply your engineering knowledge to project design, procurement, project management, specialist software, measurements and site inspections.
Electrical Engineering
Work on areas such as street lighting, electrical design, asset management, inspection programmes and construction projects.
Building Surveying
Gain experience in building surveys, defect analysis, maintenance, refurbishment, conservation, project management and health and safety.
Planning
Support planning policy, development management, transportation planning, environmental governance and Local Development Plan work.
Where could your degree take you?
Policy
Research issues and legislation, contribute to policy development and engage with stakeholders.
Accountancy & Finance
Analyse financial information, expenditure trends, accounting policies and financial models.
General Student Placements
The General competition offers an exceptionally broad range of professional disciplines.
Communications & Marketing
Work on social media, video, events, media monitoring and communications activity.
Research & Data Analysis
Support data acquisition, research, analysis and presentation of findings.
Economics
Gather economic data, support research, business cases, evaluations and economic analysis.
Business Studies & Management
Support policy analysis,
project planning, evaluation and business activity.
Human Resources
Gain experience supporting recruitment competitions and workforce planning across the NICS.
Law
Support legislative work, casework, court preparation, policy development and stakeholder engagement.
Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Explore areas including infrastructure and service management, software development, systems design and cyber security.
Geographic Information
Systems (GIS)
Use spatial data, mapping and geographic information to support environmental and land-based decision-making.
Forestry
Gain experience in forest management, inspection, planning, regulation and forestry grants.
Environment
Contribute to environmental monitoring, ecological surveys, environmental data and conservation-related work.
Science
Support scientific monitoring, laboratory analysis, data interpretation and environmental research.
Project Management
Help with project documentation, governance, risk, programme monitoring and project communications.
Valuation Surveying
Gain practical experience in property inspection, measurement, valuation, property research and maintaining valuation information.
Opportunities across Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Civil Service has offices across Northern Ireland.
The majority of General Student Placement posts are expected to be in the Greater Belfast area, although the competition may also be used to fill vacancies in other locations across Northern Ireland.
For Construction & Infrastructure placements, Department of Finance and DAERA posts will be based in the Greater Belfast area, while Department for Infrastructure placements can be located across Northern Ireland, with efforts made to place students within reasonable travelling distance of home.
NICS also operates a hybrid working policy, offering a mix of office-based and other agreed working locations depending on business requirements.