Careers and placements

Placement Year

A Placement Year is an exciting opportunity to gain workplace experience as part of your course.

The Placement Year team are here to answer any questions and support you with your Placement Year.

Get in touch by emailing placementyear@yorksj.ac.uk.

What is a Placement Year?

A Placement Year is also know as a Sandwich Year or Year in Industry.

You can do a Placement Year as part of your course at York St John. It is an exciting opportunity for you to apply the skills you have learned on your course and to gain a significant amount of work experience. This will be recognised in the title of your degree at the end of your studies.

On your Placement Year you will develop your employability skills while finding out about an area of work that interests you. You will usually be paid in the process.

The placement takes place at the end of your second year, for a minimum of 9, but usually 12 months. You will get an 85% fee reduction to your annual tuition fees during your year on placement.

You will then return to York St John to spend your fourth year completing your course, with the opportunity to support second year students sourcing their own placement.

Neev Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Undertaking a placement year was the best decision I've done! I learnt valuable skills that have helped my personal and professional life.

Joseph Townends Accountants

I wanted to do a placement because I thought it would be a good experience that gave me an insight into the industry. My placement year has helped me in looking for graduate jobs as it has narrowed down the options I am interested in and the experience also looks good on my CV.

Ben York St John University

I did placement for social and technical skill improvement. The experience was stressful but valuable for my confidence. The placement year will enable me to be more confident in the work I do.

How to apply for a Placement Year

If you are interested in studying a course in the Business School or on a Computer Science route then you can apply for a course with a placement year through UCAS.

You can also decide to do a Placement Year after you have started your course.

If you are enrolled on one of our other courses that don't contain a Professional Placement requirement (such as Teaching or Nursing), you will be given the opportunity to opt in to a Placement Year.

To opt in to a Placement Year you need to be:

Enrolled on an eligible full time undergraduate course
Have achieved the minimum requirements for progression in Year 2

If you would like to do a Placement Year, contact the Placement Year team: placements@yorksj.ac.uk.

Preparing for your Placement Year

Placement preparation sessions will be part of your timetable in your second year. In these sessions you will:

Find out where you can apply
Learn how to communicate your skills
Learn how to prepare your CV and cover letter
Take part in practice interviews and assessment centres
Connect with employers offering placements
Hear from speakers and former students who can help you

Finding accommodation for your placement year

It goes without saying that where you will be living, and your cost of living will be a large factor in your placement success. It is your responsibility to secure accommodation that is suitable for your placement needs. Close proximity and manageable transport are important, as is affordability. Make it a priority to research this information, and to ask for advice at the interview.

Please email accommodation@yorksj.ac.uk or telephone the accommodation team on 01904 876 650 for advice and support on this.

6 reasons to do a Placement Year

Build your confidence

A Placement Year is your chance to secure a fantastic opportunity and make a real difference within a workplace. Returning students often say the different challenges and situations they experienced on placement were some of the best things they did at University.

Fast track to a graduate job

Lots of companies use Placement Year schemes to develop talent for their graduate schemes. Even if your company doesn't offer this, the skills and experience you'll develop will help you get ahead in the competitive graduate job market.

Apply your knowledge

Use your skills in a workplace environment. Everything you've learnt so far, from collaborative work to research for assignments, will be used during your Placement Year. This will help you to understand how you can apply your studies in a professional context.

Gain industry insight

Whether you are set on working in a specific industry, or are not sure on your next steps, this is a chance to try out a role, company or industry and see if it works for you.

Build your professional network

Sometimes who you know is just as good as what you know. This is your opportunity to make fantastic connections with a variety of fellow students, graduates and people who work in the companies and industries that interest you.

Improve your degree outcome

Students who complete a sandwich degree are 12 times more likely to achieve a 'good degree,' a 2.1 or a first, when compared to those who do not.

University of Bath, 2018

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Placement Year

What is a Placement Year?

How to apply for a Placement Year

Preparing for your Placement Year