Placement year

I wanna pursue biomedical sciences ..Should i go for 3 years bachelors or 4 years with one placement year .. Is it really worth or another thing i wanna ask i visited some universities profile .. the placement year tuition fees are around 1500 £ .. is it right or not .. looking forward for anyone response or experience.. Thank you

Hi!

While I do not study biomedical sciences, I am currently on my placement year as part of my maths degree. For me, taking a placement year has been an invaluable experience! It has helped me narrow down my career choices and given me lots of skills I otherwise wouldn't have gained. Not only have I improved my degree-related skills but also soft skills (communication etc) that are crucial for the workplace. Also, you may get the opportunity to return to your workplace after graduation if you enjoy your time there (and if not you will have learnt a lot about what you would like from a job!).

Also, with tuition fees - you still have to pay a small tuition fee for your placement year (for me this was 20% of the standard fee). This can be done through student finance or paid directly as usual.

I hope this helps!
- Florence (Lancaster Student Ambassador)

Sorry for inconvenience…..Soo it would be better to pursue master degree of one year after 3 years of bachelor programm or 4 years bachelor with placement year … My degree is some sort of more like a research based degree so would it be beneficial for me

Hi there,

I also study at Lancaster University. I did a placement year as part of my Natural Sciences undergraduate degree and I found it extremely useful! I did this as a 4 years BSc with Placement year and I'm now studying my MSc in Mechanical Engineering so I did both! If you were interested in research, you could also do an MRes instead of an MSc after your BSc, which is more focussed on individual research over taught modules.

In terms of cost, you have to pay some tuition fees for your placement year however you should also be earning money on your placement. The money that I earned has actually funded my Masters this year! If you are eligible for government funding, you can get the full 4 years of your BSc with placement, then they offer a separate postgraduate loan for the Masters (which can be a bit less than what you get for undergraduate). If you wanted to do an integrated Masters, you would not be able to get funding for 4 years of undergraduate study plus a placement so that is worth bearing in mind.

For me, this was the best path for me to take but weigh up the costs in terms of money, time, and experience that you'll gain.

Best of luck with your choices! Let me know if you have any other questions

- Bethan (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)