It's paid, it's twelve weeks, and about a fifth of it is admin. Those are the three worth knowing first.

Paid, at the real living wage or above — A number, weekly or hourly, stated before anybody fills anything in. Not "competitive", and not "expenses only"
Why unpaid isn't offered here — An unpaid internship is a job with a means test attached. It selects for people whose family can subsidise them for three months, which is a proxy for money rather than for ability
Travel paid up front, not reimbursed — A travel card or the cost of one, in your hand before the first day. Reimbursement quietly assumes somebody can float it for a month, and plenty of people can't
Weekly for the first month — Monthly afterwards if you'd rather. A four-week wait for a first payslip is a real problem for a lot of people and it's an easy one to remove
Equipment provided — A laptop, a desk and whatever else the job needs. Nobody uses their own machine and nobody buys anything out of their own pocket
The same rate across the cohort — Not negotiated, so nobody starts behind because they didn't know it was possible to ask

About a fifth of it is admin — Notes, tickets, tidying up data. That's true of nearly every job in this building, and we'd rather write it here than have you discover it in week two feeling misled
Real work, with your name on it — Something that ships, gets used, or goes to a client. Not an invented project filed away at the end — that's how people finish twelve weeks with nothing they can describe at an interview
One named person, not a rota — Somebody whose actual job description includes you. Half an hour, twice a week, in the diary rather than whenever there's a gap
Something you'll be bad at — On purpose. Twelve weeks spent only doing what you're already good at is a pleasant waste of a term
Meetings you're allowed to leave — You'll be invited to plenty. Nobody minds you leaving, and working out which ones matter is most of what an office actually teaches
What you won't be asked to do — Coffee runs, lunch orders, personal errands. If anybody asks, tell your named person and it stops that day

Names off at the first sift — Names, schools and addresses removed. The first read is the answers and nothing else
We don't ask what school you went to — Or which university, or whether you went at all. It correlates with money far more reliably than with whether somebody can do this work
Unpaid experience counts for nothing — It is a record of who could afford to work for free. Have it by all means — it just earns no credit here
A friend of somebody here goes in the same pile — Written down because it is the commonest quiet failure in internships. Anybody connected to a member of staff declares it, and that member of staff takes no part in the decision
The questions are about the work — Three short ones, answerable with no experience at all, which is rather the point of an internship. Nothing about your greatest weakness
Everybody hears back, with a reason — Including the no. Where somebody was close they're told so plainly, rather than left to work it out from silence

Sometimes, and not always — Put your real proportion here — how many interns have been offered something over the last few years. A page implying a job that mostly doesn't exist is a worse lie than saying no outright
It is not a twelve-week interview — Nobody is quietly being assessed for a role that hasn't been budgeted. Where one does open, you hear about it first, and that is the honest limit of what can be promised
A reference written in week eleven — Written down and agreed with you, not promised for some later date. Yours to use whether or not anything else follows
A named person who'll take the call — Real contact details, good for two years. A reference nobody will pick up the phone about is decorative
Something specific to point at — The thing you worked on, described so it means something to a stranger. Vague is the enemy of a first CV and it is the thing most internships leave people with
An honest conversation in week twelve — What you're good at and what would get in your way. More useful than a certificate, and nobody else is going to give it to you for free

Ask for adjustments at any point — Including after you've started. No diagnosis, no letter, no explanation, and it is never a factor in any decision
Caring responsibilities and part-time — Say so on the application. Twelve weeks can be spread across sixteen at fewer days a week, and it is arranged rather than debated
Hybrid, but not entirely — Being in the room is a large part of what an internship is for. Two or three days is the usual shape and travel is covered for all of them
If money is short before the first payslip — Say so and something is worked out. It has come up before, it will again, and it is not held against anybody
Right to work — State plainly what's needed and whether sponsorship is possible. "Ask us" costs somebody a week of hoping and an application they'd have skipped
Anything else — Ask before applying rather than after. Questions are answered by the person running the programme and are never recorded against an application

The form takes about twenty minutes — Three questions about the work plus the basics. No CV needed and no cover letter wanted
One conversation, forty minutes — With the person you'd be working with. Half of it is yours for questions and that half is not assessed
A decision within two weeks of closing — For everybody, not only the people going forward. If it slips you'll be told the new date rather than left waiting
Reapplying next year is fine — It happens most years and it is not held against anybody. Where somebody got close last time, we say so and start from there