Student Futures Placement Year for Employers
Employer Information: The Year-Long Placement
A Placement Year is an opportunity for a student to spend typically a year working for a company as an employee on a fixed term contract, gaining valuable work experience and receiving a salary during their University course.
The student should be treated like any other paid employee throughout the duration of their contract of employment, although the nature of their work will ideally be developmental, with increasing responsibilities over the year.
A Placement Year is pivotal in the development of students’ future employability by providing the link between academic knowledge taught within the University framework, and its practical application within a workplace.
Students during the Placement Year will be your employee but also enrolled as a Student at the University of Northampton. Many undergraduate and post graduate courses include a Placement Year integral to their course.
Successful placements which benefit both employers and students are when there is cooperation in relation to the management of the placement process.
For some courses, the Placement Year is completed between students’ second and final years of study, for others, the Placement Year takes place at the end of their course.
Employers FAQ’s
Here’s a list of our frequently asked questions from employers relating to how we support both you and our students during your placement year.
Offering a Placement Year position to a student will bring fresh ideas into your organisation, informed by the most up to date research and teaching. Many previous placement hosts have found that students generate valuable ideas for development which have either saved the company money or generated more income.
A Placement Year student can fulfil a fixed term contract opportunity or focus on project work that has a short timeline, making it a great way of recruiting flexibly.
A Placement Year also provides students with valuable links to industry, which can be mutually beneficial when they graduate as many students are offered permanent positions in the company they completed their Placement Year with. For the company, this reduces recruitment costs significantly, and the company and student both benefit from the existing connection if a permanent position arises.
Students usually choose to complete their Placement Year in the industry they want to graduate into, while those who are unsure of their career path take the opportunity to experience one or two industries to see what they are best suited to. Either way, the experience is invaluable and an essential part of their learning process.
Students will be studying a University module during their Placement Year which means they are required to attend University for a couple of days through the year, as well as meet with their University supervisor. There is no obligation for you to provide study leave or include time off for University study in their contact of employment.
The module will require them to complete a work-based project, drawing on their experience with your company whilst on placement. There is a strict ethics process in place which requires students to ensure any information shared as part of their reflection meets your business confidentiality requirements, and that you assured off such. The most successful outcome of the work-based project is that it solves a business problem or provides tangible outcomes for you, while meeting the requirements of the module.
The student has the primary relationship with you, the employer, not the University. Although still registered as a full-time student while on placement, the student is an employee of their host organisation and must act accordingly: only in rare circumstances will University tutors or staff get involved in the student-employer relationship.
There are criteria that a Placement Year needs to follow. The Employer Engagement team will discuss with how your work opportunity best fits the Placement Year route offered across different courses before it is advertised to students.
- The placement must be fixed-term, not permanent (meeting any minimum duration as per the specific course requirements)
- The placement, if paid, should be at least the UK National minimum wage legislation
- The placement should be full-time
- The placement duration should be stated in the advert, and depending on the course the student is studying, can be 6 to 12 months
- The role allows the student to work at least 40% in the workplace (fully remote roles are not eligible)
- The company needs to employ more than 5 employees
- The company needs to have been trading for a minimum of 2 years
- The role does not need to have the word “placement” in the title
- The role can be developmental for students wanting to learn more about the industry or sector
There are circumstances when the University will approve unpaid work for a Placement Year, considered on a case-by-case basis.
For this to be considered, arrangements must ensure that the student will be provided with the experiences they need to meet the requirements of their course, while also being treated fairly and with respect.
All required checks on contractual arrangements, such as public liability insurance, will still take place, as well as consideration of the level of the learning experience.
All work contracts must be formally approved by the University before the student starts their placement with you. Students will be aware of the process and timescales. The University will also contact you as their employer during the approval process.
Approval is not automatic, the nature of the role will be assessed for its suitability to provide the relevant experience needed for the student to be able to fully engage with the academic assignment of their course.
Students will need to provide to the University:
- Job description
- Offer letter
- Confirmation of health and safety questions, including confirmation of induction and risk management whilst the student is working with you
Our international students bring with them a range of skills and experiences that may be valuable to your business. In addition to language skills, they bring international knowledge, fresh perspective and a high level of resilience.
The University is the sponsor of their Student Route Visa, so there is no additional Visa related responsibility for you to meet should you wish to employ an international student for a Placement Year role.
As the placement Year is an integral part of their course, you can employ an international student full-time for the duration of employment that has been approved as a Placement Year by the University. This is in accordance with UK Home Office rules.
If required, the University will provide you with a letter confirming student status and that the University is the sponsor, either as part of your recruitment process, or during the placement.
In accordance with our Visa sponsor arrangements, we need to inform the Home Office that our student is on placement with you. The details provided are dates of employment contract, name & address of organisation and name and email address of a contact person, typically the line manager, or sometimes the HR manager.
During the placement, students are required to submit electronic timesheets in accordance with the Visa requirements. You will also be invited to confirm their attendance via an electronic system which requires no log in to systems and will take seconds of your time.
Students will be allocated a University academic supervisor who will conduct at least one virtual ‘visit’ of the student in the workplace and guide them through their module and work-based project. We warmly welcome the opportunity for an academic supervisor to meet with the student’s line manager/supervisor to discuss the student’s progress, but this is not a requirement of the course.
More information
For more information please contact employers@northampton.ac.uk
