Placement year
Every year hundreds of Nottingham students are successful in securing a placement year in a wide variety of industries.
If you want to immerse yourself in a the world of work to gain an insight into a career area, a specific company or industry, a placement year will be right for you.
Placement years help students develop a wide range of professional competencies, learn about sectors, job roles and increase your chances of securing employment after university.
Now, with my second year behind me and my placement beginning in less than a month, I’m genuinely excited. It was a lot of work, both on my course and outside of it, but I know the experience will be invaluable.
What is a placement year?
Sometimes known as a sandwich year or year in industry, a placement year is a period of work experience that can last between nine and 13 months.
Placement years are typically taken by students after their penultimate year of study. Students can undertake placements aligned to their field of study or in an unrelated field that is linked to an area of career interest.
Students can join the university on a degree where this is an ‘integrated’ part of a four or five year course (for example, BSc Management with Placement Year). These degrees are advertised via UCAS. Examples can be found in; engineering, computer science, physics, Nottingham University Business School.
Options exist within these schools for students to transfer on to or off the degree with the placement year. Alternatively, students from other programmes can ‘add in’ a placement year once they have commenced their degree. For example, a student can start a three-year BA English degree and in year 2 after successfully securing a placement transfer to a four-year BA English with Placement Year degree.
This initiative is called the Optional Placement Year. Students are responsible for applying for and securing their own placement year.
Read Hannah Kane's career insight about how to get the most out of your placement
Searching and applying for a placement year