Too many young people are working for free in certain sectors, according to The Institute for Public Policy Research.

In order to gain much needed experience, to land the best jobs, students have to do real work for free at many businesses across the country. According to the TUC, a third of those on work placements and internships are completely unpaid. Furthermore, one in five businesses will offer work placements this coming summer, but many students who do productive work are likely to be unpaid.

Worryingly, due to the financial burden of work experience, including travel expenses and living costs, student budgets aren’t allowing some of the best candidates to apply for work experience which means employers are missing out on a great talent pool.

Campus Ali says: Work experience can be a really useful tool to spot attractive candidates, seeing how students work on real life projects is a great way to see what they would be like as a future employee.