Undergraduate Placement year
What is the Undergraduate Optional Placement Year?
- This is an optional year (also known as a year in industry or sandwich year) where you work within your chosen sector. This can be aligned to your degree discipline or can be in an unrelated sector.
- Your degree is extended to four years, with the placement undertaken at the end of your penultimate year, so between year 2 and 3 of your undergraduate degree; this is for one year (48 weeks) and normally paid. You need to have passed at least 100 credits at level 5 (- year 2 modules) to be eligible for the optional placement year.
- The placement can be undertaken within the UK or abroad, but you must spend at least 40% in the place of work, not working from home,
- You will study a work-based learning module alongside your placement year, this has a reduced tuition fee. The module depends on the Undergraduate course you are studying, details of which can be found on your course award map.
- If you are currently eligible for student finance, you can apply for funding through Student Finance England.
- You will be allocated a personal tutor who will support you throughout your placement year.
- You will remain an enrolled student throughout your placement year, allowing you to continue to access UON student support services.
- Students who hold a student route visa are also eligible to apply for the placement year, but additional checks are required by the University.
Why undertake the optional placement year?
- Gain industry experience and develop your transferrable skills.
- Build industry networks.
- Apply the theory from your degree to real-world situations.
- This will help you to make a well-informed decision about your future career.
- If you pass the placement year you will also gain our ‘Business Internship Award’- this looks great on your CV and LinkedIn profile.
- Improve your chances of gaining a graduate role.
Which courses are eligible for the placement year?
The programmes below are eligible for the Optional Placement Year:
- Accounting & Finance BSc (Hons)
- Advertising & Digital Marketing BA (Hons)
- Business Management BA (Hons)
- Economics BSc (Hons)
- Fashion Marketing & Promotion BA (Hons)
- Finance BSc (Hons)
- Hospitality Management BA (Hons)
- Human Resource Management BA (Hons)
- International Business Management BA (Hons)
- Law LLB (Hons)
- Law with Criminology BA (Hons)
- Marketing BSc (Hons)
- Politics & International Relations BA (Hons)
- Psychology BSc (Hons)
- Psychology (Developmental and Educational Psychology) BSc (Hons)
- Psychology (Counselling) Bsc Hons
- Sociology BA (Hons)
- Creative Film, Television & Digital Media Production (BA Hons)
- Electronics and Computing Engineering BEng (Hons)
- Mechanical Engineering BEng/MEng
- Computing BSc (Hons)
- Business Computing BSc (Hons)
- Biomedical Science BSc (Hons)
Student feedback
Hear from our students on the benefits of a placement year:
Other case studies
Accounting & Finance BSc
Advertising and Digital Marketing BA
Business Management BA
Economics / Accounting and Finance
Human Resource Management BA
International Business Management BA
Law LLB
Watch Drishtee’s Year in Industry story and read more of our student case studies below:
Support for applying for a placement
Whilst it is your responsibility to find and secure your placement there is a range of support available.
You can book a 1-2-1 employability appointment with one of our Careers Coaches for application support and where to look for sector specific placements.
You can search for placement vacancies on Student Futures Jobs Board for UON students
Employer Organisation Criteria
When you are looking for jobs that may be suitable for the placement year, here is the criteria you need to consider:
- Employment contract is fixed term , for a minimum of 48 weeks
- You are paid at a rate that meets the UK National minimum wage legislation
- The company needs to employ more than 5 employees
- The company needs to have been trading for a minimum of 2 years
- Your role allows you to spend at least 40% in the workplace, not only working from home.
The job itself does not need to have the word “placement” in the title , as long as the contract meets the criteria above.
Placement approval
All placements have to be approved by the University as suitable to meet the requirements of your course.
For students who hold a student route visa, additional checks are also required to ensure the University is meeting its SRV sponsor obligations.
The deadline for submitting information to the University of the details of your placement year due to start for the academic year 2026/2027 is July 31 2026.
Next steps
Contact Student Futures to arrange your employability appointment.
For students enrolled on Faculty Business and Law Placements:
- Follow FBL Undergraduate Placements on Instagram ugfblplacements_UON
- For further queries, email the FBL Undergraduate Placement Coordinator fblplacements@northampton.ac.uk
Let your personal academic tutor know that you are interested. In the optional placement year, each course has an academic placement year lead who they can put you in touch with.