Why do a Student Placement

What is a Student Placement?

A Student Placement is a real work experience gained within a real working environment that will complement and support the student’s degree qualification and provide mutual benefit to both the employer and the student.

The term student placement usually refers to a year spent in an employer organisation between the second and final year of a degree course. This could be in any area of business, commerce, manufacturing or the public sector, in any size company or organisation.

A student placement can fall into a variety of names including ‘Industrial Placement‘, ‘Sandwich Placement’, ‘Placement Year‘, ‘Year In Industry’, ‘Work Placements’ and probably a few more but they all mean the same thing.

90%
of students believe that work placements are important in deciding on their career

Raptor Student Employability Data Study 2022

Why should I do a Work Placement?

✔ Gain Valuable Work Experience
It allows you to get a step ahead on the graduate career ladder. As more and more students look to university to further their career, the importance of doing a student placement has never been greater.

✔ Build Contacts
On placement you’ll have 12 months to work alongside other placement students and key figures within the organisation. As we’ve seen up to 71% of graduate jobs can be filled by the placements students of that organisation, therefore the contacts and friends you make on your placement year can be influential when it comes to looking for graduate jobs and job references.

✔ Apply Classroom Knowledge
An industrial placement can be seen as the pinnacle of your undergraduate education and give you the chance to use the skills you’ve learned in the classroom in a real-world setting. It’s a chance to prove the worth of your qualifications and to show that you can perform in the role you’ve been given.

When should I start applying?

Normally different companies advertise their vacancies at different times, although the old adage ‘the earlier the better’ certainly rings true! ALWAYS remember, your first year grades and UCAS points will be taken into account when applying for student placements, so while your partying during freshers, remember first year counts!

Many of our clients begin advertising their vacancies from September, therefore the time to apply is right at the beginning of second year. Demand is high for student placements, as placement years are increasingly popular so early applications are vital.

Meet Rebecca who completed her Student Work Placement

  • I wanted to gain real life experience to put me in better stance when I have to find a graduate job. The chance also to be able to take a year away from study and be able to earn a wage enabling me to save some money for my return back to Uni. In terms of what I have thought of the placement would be that I have learnt a lot and it will put me in good stead for gaining a graduate job having a year’s worth of experience in a real workplace.

    Rebecca A
    Rebecca A Business & Marketing Placement Student at Yorkshire Bank