Placements thread
Are you a student currently out on a year long placement, or a first year or even an A-level student thinking about applying to a course with a placement? Then this thread is for you! Chat about all things placement related.
For students that are doing or have done a placement already:
What industry did/do you work in?
Did/do you enjoy it?
Did/do you miss university?
Would you recommend doing a placement year to anyone else?
This is more for people that are free to apply to different types of companies, as opposed to courses such as Nursing or Architecture where placements work slightly differently, and as such the information below may not apply to those courses.
Here's what students wish they'd known about placements before starting
For students that are doing or have done a placement already:
What industry did/do you work in?
Did/do you enjoy it?
Did/do you miss university?
Would you recommend doing a placement year to anyone else?
This is more for people that are free to apply to different types of companies, as opposed to courses such as Nursing or Architecture where placements work slightly differently, and as such the information below may not apply to those courses.
Here's what students wish they'd known about placements before starting
(edited 8 years ago)
Scroll to see replies
What is a placement year?
What’s the application process like?
I’ve been rejected by a company. What next?
Is there a deadline for applying to placements?
Do I have to pay tuition fees for the year?
Eek, I’m not on a placement course, what do I do?
Are placement years paid?
What are the other benefits of doing a placement year?
What kind of things do employers look for?
Further information can be found from your university, as well as information on covering letters, CVs, and interviews.
Spoiler
What’s the application process like?
Spoiler
I’ve been rejected by a company. What next?
Spoiler
Is there a deadline for applying to placements?
Spoiler
Do I have to pay tuition fees for the year?
Spoiler
Eek, I’m not on a placement course, what do I do?
Spoiler
Are placement years paid?
Spoiler
What are the other benefits of doing a placement year?
Spoiler
What kind of things do employers look for?
Spoiler
Further information can be found from your university, as well as information on covering letters, CVs, and interviews.
(edited 8 years ago)
To get us all started, I'm a second year MathSci student and I've secured a placement as an analyst at Sainsbury's from July 2016 to July 2017.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by SeanFM
Are placement years paid?
They can be, yes. The amount will vary by location and by company, and some placements are unpaid, so it’s important to think about living costs and whether it’d be worth looking into places that you could commute to from home. There may also be other benefits offered by the company, outlined in your contract. If you earn more than your personal allowance, you will have to pay tax on it.
Are placement years paid?
They can be, yes. The amount will vary by location and by company, and some placements are unpaid, so it’s important to think about living costs and whether it’d be worth looking into places that you could commute to from home. There may also be other benefits offered by the company, outlined in your contract. If you earn more than your personal allowance, you will have to pay tax on it.
This is interesting... I wasn't taxed on my placement in 2014 and that was for £15k over 11 months. I got it all tax free. As far as I am aware these placements weren't taxable because they're not 'real' jobs but part of education. It's a bit like how some placements don't pay you. In the real world an employee has to be paid for all work they carry out (that's the law), but because you are a student you are allowed to be free labour.
It's also worth noting that you are much more likely to find paid placements in STEM subjects (especially physics, engineering, and chemistry) than you are in non-STEM subjects.
Original post by SeanFM
Are you a student currently out on a year long placement, or a first year or even an A-level student thinking about applying to a course with a placement? Then this thread is for you! Chat about all things placement related.
For students that are doing or have done a placement already:
What industry did you work in?
A physics research company. 35 hour working week with 5 hours of breaks during the week (40 hours total). 24 days annual holiday +bank/national holidays. I worked flexible hours but had to work some core hours each day. That meant if I was up early one morning I could just come in for 8am and save up my hours. If I happened to be really into my research I could find myself still at work at 6 or 7pm and building up even more hours. Then when I was having a meh week I could go home at 4pm on every day using my extra hours
Did/do you enjoy it?
YES!!!!!
I was getting so sick of being in education. Coursework, exams, stress, end of semester, start of new semester, coursework, exams, stress, end of semester, start of new semester, .... etc. Life was just stuck in an endless loop of non-achieving.
Once you have learnt enough about the field you want to work in, you get urges to stop learning more and instead to just apply your knowledge in the real world. Learning about it was fun, but I really wanted to do something with what I had learnt and that something wasn't writing essays or sitting exams.
Did/do you miss university?
A bit. You miss your friends at first and the life you had because when you are on placement you once again have to build your life from scratch. But once you settle in (took me a few months) you realise that working life is actually pretty good and you find yourself having so much more spare time. No more late night reading on weekdays, no more coursework weekends, no more early morning revision sessions. You just have free time as soon as you went home. On weekends you could stay in bed all day and not feel guilty.
Oh, and having money to spend was a nice change
Would you recommend doing a placement year to anyone else?
100% recommend. Three main reasons.
1. It is a nice break from studying.
2. You get to "try out" a field and see if you like it. You see if you like working life or if you're more suited to something like starting your own business or freelance work in the future. You gain a lot of understanding about how the real world works. (trust me, it works a lot differently to what you believe.) All this stuff is truly invaluable to have before entering the big bad real world for the first time.
3. When you graduate and are looking for a job, employers will care much more about your experience than your degree. Most of the time I spent in interviews was talking about the tasks I carried out while on placement, what I had learned, how I solved problems, my teamworking and communication skills, and so on. None of the employers really seemed that fussed about my degree; although I guess why should they? Everyone else who was applying had the same or similar degree so experience was the way to tell us apart.
No one really cares if in your degree you got 87% in one module and were top of the class, or what uni you went to. Just get experience and that trumps everything else.
(edited 8 years ago)
What industry did/do you work in?
I'm a chemistry student, but I have somehow ended up working for a (predominantly) engineering company (but the stuff I'm doing is, I would say, borderline chemistry/chemical engineering).
Did/do you enjoy it?
Truly? No. Whoops. Although bits of work can be fun (i.e. getting to work with liquid nitrogen on a regular basis, learning how to operate some really cool machines, etc), I am counting the days until I finish in August. (8 months to go.)
But, admittedly, I was blinded by the desire to have a placement, even though I knew full well the stuff I would be doing is not an area of chemistry that I was particularly interested in. This is further exacerbated by the fact that I have to get up at half six every morning
Did/do you miss university?
YES. This year has made me realise how easy I had it as a student and I'm absolutely glad I have one last year to spend as a student before I enter the world of work.
Would you recommend doing a placement year to anyone else?
Yes - but only if you're at least fairly interested in the work that you will be doing. But despite my depressing post about my placement year, I'm glad I'm doing it - not just for the money, or the experience (which I know will help for interviews), but I feel that the rapid transition from university life to full-time work has forced me to mature more quickly and it has improved my work ethic and my overall attitude to life.
I'm a chemistry student, but I have somehow ended up working for a (predominantly) engineering company (but the stuff I'm doing is, I would say, borderline chemistry/chemical engineering).
Did/do you enjoy it?
Truly? No. Whoops. Although bits of work can be fun (i.e. getting to work with liquid nitrogen on a regular basis, learning how to operate some really cool machines, etc), I am counting the days until I finish in August. (8 months to go.)
But, admittedly, I was blinded by the desire to have a placement, even though I knew full well the stuff I would be doing is not an area of chemistry that I was particularly interested in. This is further exacerbated by the fact that I have to get up at half six every morning
Did/do you miss university?
YES. This year has made me realise how easy I had it as a student and I'm absolutely glad I have one last year to spend as a student before I enter the world of work.
Would you recommend doing a placement year to anyone else?
Yes - but only if you're at least fairly interested in the work that you will be doing. But despite my depressing post about my placement year, I'm glad I'm doing it - not just for the money, or the experience (which I know will help for interviews), but I feel that the rapid transition from university life to full-time work has forced me to mature more quickly and it has improved my work ethic and my overall attitude to life.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Keyhofi
This is interesting... I wasn't taxed on my placement in 2014 and that was for £15k over 11 months. I got it all tax free. As far as I am aware these placements weren't taxable because they're not 'real' jobs but part of education. It's a bit like how some placements don't pay you. In the real world an employee has to be paid for all work they carry out (that's the law), but because you are a student you are allowed to be free labour.
As far as I'm aware, you will only be taxed if you go above your personal allowance during the tax year. Placement years are split into two tax years, hence why you didn't get taxed. But if you had a part-time job (or perhaps a full-time summer job) before you started your placement, then if your total income went above your allowance then they would have started taxing you.
Original post by InadequateJusticex
As far as I'm aware, you will only be taxed if you go above your personal allowance during the tax year. Placement years are split into two tax years, hence why you didn't get taxed. But if you had a part-time job (or perhaps a full-time summer job) before you started your placement, then if your total income went above your allowance then they would have started taxing you.
Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, I started my placement in February and had a £5k payment straight off, so that was in one tax year and then the other £10k was in the following tax year.
@Keyhofi that sounds brilliant! I'm an A Level student hoping to go into physics research, may I ask what sort of stuff you did on a daily basis and what things you were working on?
I'm in second year and I'm hoping to spent next year working as a school science technician. Just need to get it confirmed now!
Original post by h8skoooooool
@Keyhofi that sounds brilliant! I'm an A Level student hoping to go into physics research, may I ask what sort of stuff you did on a daily basis and what things you were working on?
Hi, I'm going to PM you details for it was one of those companies that doesn't want someone shouting out to the world about what they did.
I'll happily PM anyone else who's interested too. I would just rather not post it in a public place.
I plan on starting a Chem Eng course with a year in industry next year and just can't see how in such a short time at uni I'll be able to cope working for a company. Like would you just be thrown in at the deep end and have to learn on everything on the job? Seems rather daunting to me 
Original post by jacob1208
I study International Business Management- As a result, I have to work abroad for the year...
Is anybody else in the same position?
Is anybody else in the same position?
This is the course i've applied for.. What university are you at?
When you applied for your course, did it specifically state "International Business Management with a year in industry" or did you arrange the placement year after you joined?
Original post by ReeceM1
I plan on starting a Chem Eng course with a year in industry next year and just can't see how in such a short time at uni I'll be able to cope working for a company. Like would you just be thrown in at the deep end and have to learn on everything on the job? Seems rather daunting to me
@InadequateJusticex may be able to give you a bit of insight if you're interested in a role that involves Chemical Engineering.
I know that for my placement there'll be a training course at the start to learn how to use a specific program, and I'm sure that they won't throw you in the deep end or let you do things without training that require training.
Original post by Caltaittt
Do you specifically have to apply for courses with placement years, or can this be arranged once your offers are confirmed and you are joining the university?
I've only applied for one degree which has a placement year but I'm desperate to do one..
Thanks,
Cal.
I've only applied for one degree which has a placement year but I'm desperate to do one..
Thanks,
Cal.
It depends on the course and the uni - they may give you an opportunity to switch. It's definitely worth asking them. I was able to switch on my Maths course at Bath, but I also know that for Psychology it's not possible to switch due to limited availability (though those are a different kind of placement to industrial ones). Definitely worth asking your uni.
Original post by SeanFM
@InadequateJusticex may be able to give you a bit of insight if you're interested in a role that involves Chemical Engineering.
I know that for my placement there'll be a training course at the start to learn how to use a specific program, and I'm sure that they won't throw you in the deep end or let you do things without training that require training.
It depends on the course and the uni - they may give you an opportunity to switch. It's definitely worth asking them. I was able to switch on my Maths course at Bath, but I also know that for Psychology it's not possible to switch due to limited availability (though those are a different kind of placement to industrial ones). Definitely worth asking your uni.
I know that for my placement there'll be a training course at the start to learn how to use a specific program, and I'm sure that they won't throw you in the deep end or let you do things without training that require training.
It depends on the course and the uni - they may give you an opportunity to switch. It's definitely worth asking them. I was able to switch on my Maths course at Bath, but I also know that for Psychology it's not possible to switch due to limited availability (though those are a different kind of placement to industrial ones). Definitely worth asking your uni.
Right ok, so i've only applied for one course which specifically states 'with a year in industry' in the title. Does that mean the others will not offer a placement year?
Original post by Caltaittt
Right ok, so i've only applied for one course which specifically states 'with a year in industry' in the title. Does that mean the others will not offer a placement year?
Oh, sorry - I see what you mean now!
I'm not sure whether it'd be possible to switch to a placement course after receiving an offer. But it may be worth emailing the universities to ask. If it's possible to make a switch at all, they might say that you can switch during your first or second year. You'd have to ask a UCAS wizard about whether it's possible to change an offer by adding a placement year, even if the university says that you can.
Here's the Applications and UCAS forum if you do want to ask.
Original post by Caltaittt
Right ok, so i've only applied for one course which specifically states 'with a year in industry' in the title. Does that mean the others will not offer a placement year?
If you go on the university's website you should be able to see if they offer a placement year or not. If they do, generally you can switch between courses until the end of second year but it's harder to transfer from MEng to the year in industry one. Therefore I would suggest applying for the year in industry course and, should you decide not to do one after all, just drop down to the normal four/three year course.
Original post by Caltaittt
This is the course i've applied for.. What university are you at?
When you applied for your course, did it specifically state "International Business Management with a year in industry" or did you arrange the placement year after you joined?
When you applied for your course, did it specifically state "International Business Management with a year in industry" or did you arrange the placement year after you joined?
I study at Northumbria University and it is a compulsory part of my degree.
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