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