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The college¡¯s Institute of Biomedical Engineering had agreed to host a week-long work experience placement for an A-level student from the fee-paying Westminster School.

Before being withdrawn, one of the placements was available through an auction, with the proceeds going towards supporting Westminster School¡¯s bursary programme and capital building projects.

The auction website, now taken down, said the placement promised ¡°a fascinating insight into the field of biomedical engineering and would be a wonderful addition to the CV of any budding scientist¡±.

The scheme was called ¡°dismal¡± by Bad Science author Ben Goldacre.

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¡°[Unpaid] internships like these are bad at the best of times¡­This Imperial College internship takes the problem to a whole new level, by actively charging.

¡°I don¡¯t doubt that Westminster public school (?7,236-a-term) wants to do lovely constructive things with the money. Selling access to professions is not the way to do it,¡± he said on his website.?

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The sabbatical officers of the Imperial College Student Union also condemned the auction.

¡°It is our fundamental belief that access to education should be based on merit, not ability to pay; and that efforts to widen access to an Imperial education to students from disadvantaged backgrounds are a central part of the College¡¯s academic mission.

¡°For a publicly-funded body to restrict this transformational opportunity only to the wealthy is a betrayal of our academic principles and the work to widen access to which so many staff and students have given their time,¡± said a statement on the union¡¯s website.

A spokesman for Imperial College said that work experience placements at the institution are considered locally within the college¡¯s departments.

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¡°An Imperial staff member had agreed with Westminster School to host two work experience placements for A-level students at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, each lasting a week,¡± he said.

¡°One placement was to be auctioned, with the proceeds to go towards supporting Westminster School¡¯s bursary programme and capital building projects. The other place was to be reserved for a pupil from one of Westminster¡¯s state school partners.

¡°On reflection the Institute of Biomedical Engineering has requested that the auction place be withdrawn and is considering the best and fairest approach to hosting work experience placements in the future,¡± he added.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com