Spring Weeks for First-Year Students: What They Are and How to Get One

A 'spring week' is a 3–5 day insight programme run by banks, consulting firms, and law firms, aimed almost exclusively at first-year undergraduates (or second-years on four-year courses). They exist for one reason: to identify candidates early and fast-track them to a summer internship the following year — which in turn feeds directly into a graduate offer. In many parts of the City, it is the pipeline, and applying without one puts you two rounds behind.

Which employers run spring weeks

• Investment banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UBS, HSBC — all run structured programmes.
• Boutiques: Rothschild, Lazard, Evercore, Moelis, PJT Partners — smaller cohorts, competitive.
• Consulting: Bain, BCG, McKinsey, Oliver Wyman — mostly branded as 'insight days' or 'first-year programmes'.
• Law: Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Allen & Overy — usually called 'open days' or 'first-year schemes'.
• Increasingly: tech (JP Morgan tech, Amazon, Google Building Opportunities), asset management, and Big Four consulting arms.

Why they matter more than most first-years realise

At many bulge-bracket banks, 60–90% of summer internship offers go to spring week alumni. The summer internship then converts at 70–90% into a full-time graduate offer. In effect, one successful spring week application in November of your first year can determine your route into the industry two years before you graduate.

When to apply

Spring week applications open on a rolling basis from September of your first year, and the largest firms close by early December — some by mid-November. If you're a first-year student reading this in autumn term, the calendar looks like this:

1. September – early October: applications begin opening. Start drafting your CV and covering paragraphs before the first one goes live.
2. October – November: submit to every firm that interests you. Rolling recruitment means every week matters.
3. November – January: online tests and video interviews.
4. January – February: assessment centres or final interviews.
5. March – April: the spring week itself.

What a competitive spring week application actually looks like

The bar is different from a graduate scheme — you're a first-year, so no one expects investment banking internships on your CV. What employers do look for:

• A-level results (or IB / Highers). Most City firms want AAA / 38+ IB or a clear equivalent.
• University and course. Russell Group is standard; specific target universities dominate at some banks.
• Predicted 2:1 minimum, ideally First. Firms ask for it and screen on it.
• One or two specific extracurriculars that show initiative — a society committee, a competition, a self-directed project.
• A coherent, specific answer to 'why this firm, why this division'. This is where most applications fall over.

Nailing the 'why us, why this division' question

First-year applications are won and lost on the motivation answers. Recruiters at spring week stage read thousands of nearly-identical CVs — the differentiator is a paragraph that shows you actually know what the firm does. Bad answer: 'I want to work at Goldman Sachs because it's the leading global investment bank.' Good answer: 'I've been tracking your firm's advisory work on the [specific 2025 deal] and it's the type of cross-border M&A I want to be inside a team on — which is why I'm applying to the investment banking division rather than markets.'

If you're a second-year on a three-year course

The spring-week route is largely closed — you apply directly to summer internships in your penultimate year. But a small number of firms (usually boutiques and specialist teams) run second-year insight days or 'off-cycle' internships. Your equivalent play is direct applications to summer internships in September–November of your second year.

If you don't get a spring week

Not landing one isn't game over — a strong penultimate-year summer internship application still gets you into the pipeline, and the summer intern to graduate conversion rate is higher than the spring week to summer intern rate anyway. Use the summer of your first year for something signal-heavy: a self-directed project, a smaller-firm internship, a serious extracurricular. Employers care more about what you did than that you didn't do the specific thing they gate on.

Tracking spring week applications

Most first-year candidates apply to 10–20 spring weeks. Deadlines are staggered across two months, video interview invites arrive on random days, and one missed email can cost you a slot. Track it in a spreadsheet — or any tracker you'll actually keep updated — from the day you send the first application.