spring week/internship for engineers

[Offtheygo]

Hello

we are not from the UK and a little confused about how things work for students and work experience in the UK.

DC is about to start a Meng (4 years degree) in Engineering, we are a little ensured whether he should be looking for a spring week experience now for 2026 or wait until next year?

and also when is a good time to do the summer internship is it between 2 and 3rd year or 3rd and 4th year ?

thank you very much

@Offtheygo There are more "penultimate year" internships advertised than at any other stage because employers use them as a recruiting tool.

Anything your YP can get before that is a bonus.

"Spring Week" seems to be significant for investment banking, but not so much for other types of employment.

What sort of engineering is your YP doing? Mine is about to start Civil Eng so is getting some construction site experience as a labourer this summer.

Mine did the year between 2 and 3, but I think it is more common to do it between 3 & 4 as you have more knowledge and also better understanding of which way your career is heading at that point.