The University have and continue to build relationships with local and national organisations and we have a number of employers who advertise their vacancies through our CareerHub pages. You should register for CareerHub by using your existing student ID and password.
You can also find placement opportunities by using the variety of Placement Vacancy sites available including: Prospects; Rate My Placement; Fledglings; The Big Choice, by utilising contacts you may already have and by identifying and contacting directly organisations you would be interested in undertaking your placement with.
We will support and equip students with the skills and knowledge to source their own placement in a competitive environment. The Sandwich Placement Team have and continue to build relationships with local and national organisations and when notified about upcoming vacancies we will advertise them on our placement vacancy portal.
We run support sessions in the second year of your degree which will help you prepare for finding a placement and the placement itself. These sessions include input from employers, previous sandwich placement students, academic tutors, the sandwich placement team and the Careers and Employability team and will cover a wide range of topics including: CV and Cover Letter guidance; utilising Social Media; Networking; Psychometric Testing guidance and guidance on interviews and assessment centres.
You can start your placement anytime between mid/end of June (usually following Work Based Learning) and mid-September. This is to ensure that you can complete your 12 months before returning to your final year at University. During your Sandwich Placement year you will be expected to complete a period of 48 weeks (excluding holidays other than Bank Holidays). Your placement year must end before the start of your first term in your final year of study. The placement should be a full-time placement (minimum of 30 hours per week).
As you will remain a student during your year placement you will still pay fees and enroll as a student for that year. Students undertaking a 12 month placement as an integral part of their degree are entitled to apply for a student loan for this period. You should contact your national Student Finance provider (www.gov.uk/student-finance ) to confirm the amount you are eligible to receive, the deadlines for applying and the information the Student Finance provider will require.
Sandwich Placements can attract varied salaries upwards of £16,000 per annum, depending on the placement provider and the job role. You may well wish to consider undertaking a placement with a not for profit organisation / charity, but please be aware that many of these opportunities will be unpaid and so you should seriously consider the impact of undertaking an unpaid placement.
Each Placement student will be assigned an Academic Tutor by the University. Your Academic Tutor will offer you support throughout the year, answer any academic queries you may have and will visit you on placement during your placement year. You should also be assigned a Workplace Supervisor by your placement provider who will offer you day to day support. Both the Tutor and Workplace Supervisor will guide and support you during the year.
The year is assessed through: attendance and presentation at the Mid Placement Conference (30%) and the submission of a reflective portfolio of your placement experience comprising: learning log, visit report and analysis, learning agreement, employer appraisal and a case study (70%).
