Frequently Asked Questions

LEAD Internships is a remote internship program for high school students aged 14–18. Each student is matched with a real company, works on one scoped project for 6 weeks, meets 1-on-1 with a mentor from the company every week, and finishes with a certificate of completion signed by the host company and a personal letter from their mentor.

A virtual internship is real work for a real company, done online. At LEAD Internships, high school students work remotely on one project for 6 weeks, meet 1-on-1 with a mentor from the company every week, and finish with a signed certificate of completion.

Fully remote. Most of the work happens on your own schedule, so it fits around school and any time zone. Weekly 1-on-1 mentor sessions are booked at a time that works for the student.

6 weeks, with one 1-on-1 session with your mentor each week (6 in total).

Between 5–10 hours a week for 6 weeks, including one 1-on-1 session with your mentor each week.

Week 1: meet your mentor and agree the brief. Week 2: research and a first draft. Week 3: present your first deliverable. Week 4: build the final deliverable. Week 5: polish and rehearse. Week 6: present to the team and receive your certificate.

Business and strategy, marketing and growth, finance and fintech, software engineering, AI and data science, product and design, health and life sciences, climate and sustainability, media and journalism, and non-profit and social impact. If yours isn’t listed, tell us on your free call.

You choose the field. We match you with a company in that field, and you shape the final brief with your mentor in week one.

Real work. Your host company writes a brief for something it actually needs done, and you present the result to the team in week six.

Tell your LEAD coordinator early. Because most of the work is on your own schedule, you can move hours between weeks, and your coordinator and mentor will agree a plan with you.

High school students aged 14–18, anywhere in the world, who can work in English. You don’t need past work experience. You need curiosity and 5–10 hours a week.

No. Most students have never had a job before. We look for curiosity and the time to do the work, not a résumé.

No. LEAD is fully remote and open to students anywhere, as long as you can work in English. Your weekly 1-on-1 sessions are scheduled to fit your time zone.

Book a free 20-minute call if you’d like to talk first (it’s optional), then fill in the application form. Our team reviews it and emails you a decision. Once you’re accepted and have paid, you start whenever suits you.

No. Applying is free, and so is the call with LEAD. You only pay if you’re accepted and decide to join.

By email, within a week of applying. Our team reviews every application; if it’s a yes, we start matching you with a host company and your own mentor straight away.

Yes. Anyone can book the free call: pick Student, Parent or Other on the contact form.

Whenever suits you. Mentoring is 1-on-1, so there’s no class to wait for: once you’re accepted and have paid, you pick the week you begin, around school and exams.

Real, operating companies, mostly startups and growing businesses, in the fields students choose. We’re signing our first host companies now, and we’ll tell you about them on your call.

We match you on your field, your interests and what you want to try, using your application and your call with a LEAD coordinator.

Someone at your host company who does this work every day, and who works with you 1-on-1. You meet once a week to show progress and get feedback, and message in between on LEAD’s channels, where a coordinator can see everything.

Yes, guaranteed. Every student who completes the program receives a certificate of completion signed by their host company, plus a personal letter from their mentor describing their work.

It names you, your host company and the project you delivered, confirms you completed a 6-week remote internship, and is signed by the host company and LEAD Internships.

It gives you real work to write and talk about, which many students find useful in applications and interviews. We can’t promise any admissions outcome, and we won’t.

Lead with what you did and what changed because of it, in plain words. Our guide walks through the activity description step by step.

Your mentor describes the project you delivered, what you did and how you worked. It’s yours to keep and share, for example with your school counselor.

Top performers do. When a mentor sees standout work, they write a recommendation letter. It’s earned, not automatic. The certificate and the personal letter are what every student who completes is guaranteed.

$1,989 (USD) for the full 6-week internship, everything included. Book a free call to ask anything first, and if cost is a barrier, tell us on the call.

Matching with a host company in your field, 6 weekly 1-on-1 sessions with your mentor, a scoped project brief with written feedback, a certificate of completion signed by the company, a personal letter from your mentor, and a LEAD coordinator from start to finish.

No. There’s no application fee, no upsells and no add-on tiers.

Yes. It’s a free 20-minute video call with no obligation.

If cost is a barrier, tell us on your free call. We want to make room for students who can’t pay the full price.

US dollars (USD).

Our rules: every host company and mentor is checked before matching, 1-on-1 mentor sessions and messages happen only on LEAD’s channels, where a coordinator can see messages and join any session, and every student has a named coordinator parents can reach.

Mentoring is 1-on-1, but never unsupervised. Sessions and messages happen on LEAD’s channels, and a LEAD coordinator can see every message and join any session.

Only what we need to run the internship. We won’t sell it or share it for marketing.

Your student’s named LEAD coordinator, from match to certificate. Before matching, email us at hello@leadinternships.com.

No. Hosting is free for companies.

About an hour a week for 6 weeks: one 1-on-1 session with your intern plus a little written feedback. We handle matching, scheduling and safeguarding.

One to three students, depending on the project and how much you want to take on.

Book a free call from our contact page, or email hello@leadinternships.com and tell us about a project you’ve been meaning to start.