Build real-world experience while you study through placements, internships, industry projects and more.
Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is where you apply your classroom learning to real work contexts as part of your course.
At RMIT, WIL is designed to help you integrate theory with meaningful practice, so your learning is intentionally built into the course and formally assessed.
WIL can look different depending on what you study, but the purpose stays the same. It gives you structured, supported experience that connects your learning to industry, community or professional practice.
What is WIL?
WIL is intentionally designed into your course so you can apply your learning in real or simulated professional contexts.
Rather than sitting outside your studies, WIL is connected to your learning outcomes and formally assessed as part of your curriculum.
Depending on your discipline, this may include placements, internships, industry projects, creative practice or simulated workplace experiences.WIL is designed to help you build practical capability, professional confidence and experience that reflects contemporary industry and community practice.
My internship helped me establish my own jewellery and teaching business. I now run workshops for community audiences in galleries, museums, libraries, and other organisations
- Vivian, MiniMe Paris Intern
What are the types of WIL?
There are many different types of Work Integrated Learning, and they vary depending on your course design. Here are some common WIL formats:
Professional degrees
In some professional degrees, WIL is embedded across the course and may be linked to professional standards or accreditation expectations.
Professional placements
Placements are supervised experiences in professional settings. Some placements are clinical, some are supervised practice in workplaces and some involve structured field education. RMIT has school-specific placement models, including health-related placements as a cornerstone of industry-relevant education and training in that area.
Work placements and internships
Internships and work experience are formal experiences aligned to your studies where you develop professional skills. If the experience is intentionally built into your course and assessed for credit, that’s when it sits clearly in WIL territory, rather than being ‘just’ an extracurricular internship.
Industry-sponsored projects
These are structured projects where students work on real problems set by industry or community partners, often in teams. At RMIT, WIL often includes learning in real-life situations with actual industry or community partners.
Creative practice, including exhibitions
In creative disciplines, WIL can include project-based work, production, publishing, exhibitions and public-facing outcomes, where professional practice is part of the learning design.
WIL in a simulated workplace environment
In some fields, the ‘work context’ is simulated for safety, ethics, access or feasibility reasons. Examples can include simulated environments, mock briefs or practice settings designed to reflect professional standards.
Offshore and online WIL
Some WIL experiences are delivered online or with international context, depending on course design and partner arrangements.
How WIL fits into your degree
At RMIT, WIL is often an assessed component of your course and designed to align with your learning outcomes. Depending on your program, it may be a core requirement, embedded across multiple subjects or offered through electives or specialised pathways.
Because WIL requirements vary by course, the best way to understand how it appears in your degree is to explore your course structure and description.
Some courses may also offer WIL-coded electives or flexible pathways, but this is course-specific and has to align with their rules. Substitutions would need to comply with course requirements.
WIL vs internship vs placement – what’s the difference?
Here’s the simplest way to explain it:
- WIL is the umbrella term for work-context learning that is intentionally designed into your course and assessed as part of the curriculum.
- Internships or work experience are formal experiences aligned to your studies. They may or may not be assessed for credit, depending on how they’re arranged.
- Placements are a common format of WIL, particularly in professional or clinical contexts, where supervision and structured learning are central.
If it’s credited and assessed as part of your course, you’re usually looking at WIL. If it sits outside your enrolled study load, it may be an internship or work experience without academic credit.
How WIL improves employability
Work Integrated Learning is one of the clearest ways you can build evidence of capability before graduating, because it produces real-world examples you can talk about in interviews and portfolios.
WIL and internships are great opportunities to build professional skills aligned to your study and demonstrate real industry experience before graduating.
Many WIL experiences are available to both domestic and international students. Participation can depend on factors such as course structure, placement availability and visa conditions.
If you’re unsure what opportunities are available in your program, check your course information or speak with your school’s WIL team for guidance.
More information
Work Integrated Learning partnerships
Find out how your business could can get involved and how it can benefit from offering WIL.
WIL for current students
Gain valuable professional experience, develop your skills in a workplace setting and make industry connections.
