Work placements

Register

Registering for a work placement

Upon course registration, students are invited to register for the work placement scheme. If you have not chosen this option at course registration, and want to take a work placement, you need to make contact with the placements office and complete the required forms.

You then need to begin searching for a placement opportunity.

Support is available to help you secure a placement, including help with identifying placement goals, placement search, application and interview skills.

Business and Computing students in Worcester Business School and School can access all relevant information on work placements via the Blackboard/Worcester Business School/Content/Work Placements.

Finding a placement

Support in searching for the right position

Searching for positions, writing a CV, making applications and attending interviews are vital parts of the work placement experience.

Practice in these essential skills will help you when you come to apply for graduate positions. Worcester Business School assists you in all aspects of this process. We advertise vacancies, run applications and interviewing workshops, provide one to one advice and guidance and provide a range of student support guides.

Whilst looking for placements you will receive the following:

• Access to tutorials with the work placement coordinator for guidance and advice 
• A workshop on creative job searching, preparing a CV and making applications 
• One-to-one CV feedback sessions to improve your CV 
• An interviewing workshop 
• The chance to participate in a mock interview with feedback on your performance 
• An assessment centres workshop 
• Mock assessment centres with real employers evaluating your performance and providing feedback 
• A weekly job vacancies newsletter 
• Opportunity to visit the National Work Placements Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, where you will be able to talk to employers and representatives from more than 40 participating organisations 
• Access to the University’s online Job Zone 
• Membership of the University’s ‘Bright Futures’ employability society 
• Opportunity to meet with national and local employers in our three Future Weeks throughout the year

Costs

How much will the placement year cost?

Tuition fees are substantially reduced for students who are taking a sandwich year.

You should also consider the costs of travelling to a placement, relocating if necessary and purchasing any clothing you may need for your placement.  As most placements are paid these costs should not prevent you from taking a work placement and you should actually benefit from a placement financially. You are also able to collect a proportion of your student loan whilst on placement to further assist with any costs.

What do my tuition fees cover whilst I am on placement?

Your tuition fees cover the following:

• A dedicated placements team able to respond to any problems you may be having
• An individual tutor who visits you twice while you are on placement
• Access to all the University facilities including e-resources
• A preparation for final year workshop
• A mid-placement workshop
• Assessment of your placement portfolio
• Your administrative records within the University
• Fees from the placement year also pay for pre-placement support including the workshops

Supporting your placement

We are here to provide support for you when you are on placement and when you are looking for a placement opportunity.

Placement support

While you are on placement, you will receive:

• A dedicated placements team able to respond to any problems you may be having
• An individual tutor who visits you twice while you are on placement
• Access to all the University facilities including e-resources
• Preparation for return to final year

How is the year monitored?

When you secure a work placement, the office will make contact with your employer to complete a health and safety and risk assessment and to provide the employer with a placements handbook, which details their responsibilities.

When you start your placement, you will be allocated a visiting tutor who will come to your place of work to meet with you and your employer in the first couple of months, and again towards the end of your placement.

Throughout the year the will keep in contact with you to check on your progress and help you prepare you for your final year.

At the end of the placement, you are required to submit a placement portfolio containing your learning contract, a satisfactory employer appraisal, a case study an end of placement presentation. Your visiting tutor should sign this off.

Information for Employers

Offering a placement to a University of Worcester student

Work placements are a period of employment undertaken by students as part of their studies with the Worcester Business School.

Typically, students undertake either a year-long placement between their second and final years of study, or they take part in a shorter summer placement at any stage of their studies.

These are not the only types of placements that can take place however. For example, some students undertake part-time placements alongside their studies, or much shorter placement experiences at Christmas and Easter.

Worcester Business School is constantly seeking to generate new placement opportunities for its students, both in the local area and nationally. We provide support for employers at all stages of the work placement process to ensure that both the employer and the student get the most out of placement experience.

Employers pay students minimum wage plus, as the student is employed by the employer on a fixed term contract. Placements last 9-15 months FTE. Students are able to start placements from June onwards. The office will promote your placement opportunity to the students free of charge