placements explained

Your placement might last a year or four weeks, and could be an integral part of your course or an extra-curricular choice. Whatever type of placement you take, it really will make a difference – to your CV, career, networking opportunities, skillset, and ability to study well. As well as benefitting your personal and professional development, a work placement means you’ll make a difference to your employer. You’ll be putting what you've learned into practice, bringing fresh perspectives to your placement organisation, impressing them on a daily basis and making a real difference. How do we know this? Our placement employers tell us so – every year.

Long or short placement?

Although for some degrees a placement is part of the course structure, the option to undertake a placement as part of your degree is open to every student. Some courses offer placements between two and six weeks, while for others you'll be working for at least 30 weeks. If you’re studying one of our Nursing, Midwifery or Social Work courdes, or one of our Allied Health Professional courses (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Operating Department Practice, Paramedic Science), you’ll undertake placements throughout your course and will be placed at various health and social care settings throughout the South.

Finding the right organisation

Finding the ideal role and organisation takes time, research and preparation, and that's why many students start looking a year or so in advance. You'll be empowered to find placement opportunities that meet both your needs and the course requirements, but you won't be on your own. Our experienced placement team offers advice and guidance throughout the process, supplemented by our online careers centre.

Our Placement Co-ordinators will help you plan your placement, so you can be sure you’ll gain the right experience. If that means a placement in another part of the UK, or even in another country, we can offer help and support.

Support on placement

You're still very much a member of the BU community while you are on your placement. A Placement Development Adviser will work with and support you throughout your placement. Their role is to work with you to make sure that your time in industry is as valuable to you and your future career as possible.

Tuition fees on placement

If you undertake a placement year, you’ll still pay tuition fees, but they will be considerably lower than the taught years of your degree. This means that you'll still have access to all the support services on offer from both BU and SUBU – see pages 34 and 38 to find out more.

You'll also still have access to all of the university’s online and on-campus facilities while you are working, ensuring you’re able to do any preparation needed ahead of your final year of study.

Short placements (typically between two and six weeks) and integrated placements on health courses do not have fees.

Getting paid while on placement

We would like all of our students to find paid work placements, and most do. We encourage all the employers we work with to provide at least a minimum wage to our students and many pay much more. If you are finding things difficult, you may still be eligible for financial support during your placement year.