Summer Stars Internship Programme
Running for its tenth year, this annual programme connects PR, public affairs, and communications agencies, as well as in-house teams, with talented students, graduates, and school leavers (18+) from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds. It offers a unique opportunity to support the next generation of PR and communications professionals while helping diversify our industry.
About the Programme
The Summer Stars Internship Programme provides paid internships, with no prior experience required. Each intern benefits from entry-level exposure to the industry, which helps foster professional growth in their area of interest.
Employers benefit from the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s matching service, where we shortlist and propose suitable candidates, advancing our shared commitment to inclusion and diversity.
All internships are paid directly by employers, with a minimum expectation of the London Living Wage (or Living Wage for placements outside of London). We advocate for standard salaries to ensure fair compensation, reflecting what you would offer for similar internal roles.
A few of our
annual Summer Stars Employers
Our Summer Stars Internship Programme has been designed to support an organisation’s early career DEIB talent attraction strategy, goals and objectives. As attracting diverse talent continues to remain competitive, our programme delivers success in our tailored and collaborative recruitment approach which meets your talent attraction goals, alongside introducing you to some of the best and brightest talent of the future. Our pastoral support for interns and employers throughout the process sets us apart when it comes to employers confidently securing, managing, retaining and converting diverse talent into permanent hires.
Before starting an internship, the programme begins with a three-day PR & Communications bootcamp from Monday 28th – Wednesday 30th June 2027 preparing interns with sector insights, media landscape overviews, and workplace skills like professionalism and confidence.
Why participate?
The Summer Stars Programme isn’t just an internship; it’s a pipeline for future talent. By participating, you can inspire and motivate interns, potentially inviting them back in subsequent years or considering them for entry-level roles upon graduation. Many employers, including Four Communications, Amazon Web Services, Headland Consultancy and Barclays, have hired interns full-time after their Summer Stars experience, integrating them as valuable team members.
Elle Macgregor-Chatwin, Talent Acquisition Director at Headland Consultancy, said:
“The Taylor Bennett Foundation’s Summer Stars initiative is industry leading and we’re very proud to be a partner agency for another year running. Every summer, we welcome impressive interns through the programme who bring fresh thinking, energy and curiosity to Headland. They get stuck into agency life from day one and make a genuine contribution to our teams. In return, we aim to give every intern meaningful hands-on experience, new skills, greater confidence, and a real understanding of what a career in communications can offer.
Summer Stars opens doors for talented people looking to take their first steps into the communications industry, and it’s fantastic to see the programme continue to go from strength to strength.”
Application Process
Applications for Summer Stars 2027 are open. Employers can choose from two recruitment routes depending on how involved they would like to be in the final selection process.
Submit a Application
The first step is to complete our employer application form and send your internship role description to summerstars@taylorbennettfoundation.org.
This will help us understand your internship opportunity and advertise your role to our candidates.
Attend Employer Briefing
Once submitted, a member of the team will follow-up with you and invite you to attend an employer onboarding in February 2027.
We will also share your opportunity with our candidate pool!
Recruitment Process
The TBF team will conduct screening interviews and shortlist candidates for your internship. Based on the recruitment option chosen, TBF will either manage the full selection process or employers will complete a final-stage assessment and select their intern.
Internships Commence
Internship placements will be finalised and the successful interns will be onboarded. To prepare the interns, all interns will attend an in person Bootcamp hosted by the Foundation from Monday 28th – 30th June 2027.
Internships will commence following the bootcamp.
How to get involved
Applications for the 2027 Summer Stars Internship Programme open!
For organisations that are not part of the Taylor Bennett Foundation Employer Partner Network, the programme fee is £960 per intern where the completed application and role description are received by Monday 21st December 2026. The standard fee is £1,060 per intern for completed applications received after this date and by the final deadline of Monday 29th January 2027.
If you would like to host an intern, please complete the employer application form and send your internship role description to summerstars@taylorbennettfoundation.org.
If you have any questions about the application process or would like to speak with a member of the team, please email summerstars@taylorbennettfoundation.org
