Data Science Internship
Contract: 1-year fixed-term
Location: London or Newcastle office with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with our hybrid working policy
Salary: £27,811 in London and £25,089 in Newcastle
Job Description:
We welcome applications to participate in our year-long Data Science Internship Scheme starting from September 2026. This is an entry-level position in our Analysis Hub, aimed at supporting and developing people looking to start a career in data science.
As part of the scheme, you will benefit from dedicated training to develop skills using R, SQL and Python mixed with the opportunity to put those skills into practice. For example, you will spend your time:
• applying your quantitative and qualitative skills to large messy datasets to derive new insights;
• building and implementing data tools to support our range of assurance work. For example, take a look at the Data Visualisations presented on our website- (https://www.nao.org.uk/?s=Interactive+visualisation&post_type=any), such as Waste Management- (https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/waste-reforms-visualisation/), or Integrated Care Systems- (https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/integrated-care-systems-visualisation/)
• collaborating with our financial auditors to review high value, high risk quantitative models which underpin accounting estimates. For example, the value of the student loans book, the rate of fraud and error in tax credit and benefit payments, and the money needed in the future to compensate people who have experienced clinical negligence.
For more information on the role please click on the link to access our candidate pack- https://bit.ly/49Pna6U
How to Apply:
If you are interested in applying, you will need to do the following:
1. Submit and upload your CV
2. Complete and upload the following Application form- https://bit.ly/48xhbkT
All applicants will be invited to complete a numerical reasoning assessment. Following completion of the assessment, screening of your CV, and a review of your application form, we will invite you to complete a technical exercise in January. This will be followed by an in-person interview in February.
The closing deadline for applications is 23:59pm Sunday 14th December 2025.
The internship starts in September 2026.
Equal opportunities and diversity
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments
Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HR Service Desk (HRServiceDesk@nao.org.uk).
Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic.
Nationality Requirement:
• UK Nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas or accept temporary visas as we are looking to hire on a fixed term basis. Please contact the HR Service desk (hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk) should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.
Responsibilities
You’ll work as a team member in our Analysis Hub. In your first month you will undertake intensive training in our programming and development tools and languages. From your second month you will start to apply the skills you have learned to real life problems, helping the office produce insights into the data we receive from government departments. You will also get the opportunity to collaborate in the review of government models which produce estimates for the audited financial accounts.
You’ll benefit from dedicated training to develop skills using R, SQL and Python, mixed with the opportunity to put those skills into practice developing new applications, as well as getting your hands dirty doing analysis and reviewing models produced by government. By the time you have completed your year, you will have outstanding professional experience in the application of data science and modelling skills.
Skills required
No previous experience of audit is necessary, and training will be provided in key data science skills such as R and Python.
An interest in learning programming skills is required; previous programming experience is desirable but not essential.
Educational requirements
We do have some minimum criteria which you will need to meet:
• A minimum of 120 UCAS points (or 300 based on the pre-2017 UCAS tariff) or equivalent from your top 3 A-Levels, not including General Studies. If you have 104 UCAS points (or 260 based on pre-2017 UCAS tariff), you may still be eligible to apply– please email HRServiceDesk@nao.org.uk for further details.
• An undergraduate degree course with a substantive quantitative component such as data science, operational research, mathematics, statistics, physics, engineering, management science, economics (the data science internship is unlikely to be suitable for people studying accounting finance degree courses), where:
o You are in your second year of a sandwich degree course
o You are in your final year and are expecting a 2.1 degree or better, or
o You have completed your undergraduate degree course and achieved a 2.1 degree or better
