Placement Search

Search online for advertised roles:

• Handshake - University of York's career portal
• Prospects - General careers advice and guidance
• Rate my placement  - Advertise and review placement year and internship roles
• Bright Network - Internships, placements and graduate roles
• TARGETjobs - General graduate jobs/placement search
• Gradcracker - STEM jobs
• Indeed - General job/placement search
• Careerjet - General job/placement search
• Glassdoor - General job/placement search & reviews
• W4MPJobs - Political jobs
• Bubble - Digital and Tech jobs
• Games Jobs Direct - Video games industry jobs
• LinkedIn - Set up a LinkedIn profile and make industry connections/search for jobs (it's like an online CV!)
• Search for International Placements

Self sourcing placements that are not advertised:

• Target Jobs - Advice on speculative applications
• Prospects - How to write a speculative application
• How to write a covering letter and CV

Meet employers:

• Attend on campus Recruitment Fairs
• Look out for employer sessions
• Attend skills workshops

Top tips:

• Understand the application process - There are a variety of recruitment methods, eg applications, online tests, assessment centres. Have a look at our online guide or book an appointment on Handshake.

• Apply early - applications for many placement schemes often open in September and deadlines tend to be between December – February.

• Understand the language - Placement opportunities may be advertised under a variety of titles; look out for ‘Sandwich Years’,  ‘Industrial Placements’, 'Year In Industry' or 'Internships'.

• Skill up - Placements are competitive so make the most of on-campus opportunities to prepare for writing applications and CVs, interviews and assessment centres.

• Speak up - It can get overwhelming when applying for placements, so don’t forget to talk through any concerns you may have with one of our team - email careers-placements@york.ac.uk to make an appointment. 

Accommodation Resources

Cost of Living

Finding accommodation for your placement can be both exciting and stressful. We have put together resources for you to help you with your search.
Check out the University of York’s Cost of Living Hub for resources and access to advice. Examples of help available include a Student Support Fund, emergency loans, food vouchers, free period products, and advice on how to access government benefits. 

There are many tools available to help you with budgeting. Save the Student has a free mini budget sheet, including money hacks. If you are unsure about your costs for a placement, we recommend filling out our Personal Survival Budget spreadsheet to get an idea of outgoings and incomings. You will need to make a copy of the spreadsheet to edit it.

Average Monthly Cost Example 

Transport costs can change depending on the length and frequency of your commute. If you are working in London, expect these monthly costs to be higher. On average, the cost of living in London as a student is £1211 per month. Rent in particular is higher in London than the rest of the UK. 

You can save on transport in London with the 18+ Oyster Card, saving 30% on Travelcards and Bus & Tram Pass season tickets. You may also benefit from a railcard if you use trains to travel. 

Practical tips for your search

SpareRoom is a great place to start looking for professional and student house/flatshares. You can filter by housemate preferences, bills included, radius, etc. Some features, such as contacting people who posted ads early, require the Early Bird Access (paid feature). Carefully consider the benefits of this versus the short-term cost. It is not a requirement to secure a room, but can be beneficial. Rooms will often be advertised 1-2 months before the intended tenancy start month. Use email alerts to be notified of rooms matching your SpareRoom search criteria. 

Remember that you are still a registered student during your Placement Year. This means you are exempt from Council Tax. If you opt for a professional flatshare, you need to communicate this to your non-student flatmates.  

If you have not rented off-campus before, our  Private Sector Accommodation page has guidance on what to look out for during viewings, what to check before you sign a contract, dealing with problems during your tenancy and further resources. You can also get in touch with YUSU’s specialist for private sector accommodation.

What should I do about accommodation for next year if I haven't secured a placement yet?

Network with others for accommodation

If you would like to connect with other University of York students going out on placement to find accommodation together, we provide access to our network spreadsheet through a Google Form on request. Please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk once you are in the approval process for your placement or have completed the approval process and ask for access.

Student Tips

“Find friends or a social group outside of work. If there are any universities around see if you can join societies, lots will be happy for you to join”

“Bring your Uni card around as many places do offer students discount with proof of ID”

“Keep the hobbies you’ve been doing at uni going, you will need the outlet”

“If the placement company has a wide network of other placement students [you] should definitely befriend and network with them. With all of my friends I’ve made at work, we make sure to arrange activities outside of the office or even after work hours. It is really great to do this with colleagues who are not interns as well, as you may find a lot more in common with an older colleague than you think. Befriending them is just as rewarding as befriending a fellow intern”

“Pack a lunch, it’ll save you loads of money over the course of the year. Make it the night before/several lunches at once to save time and allow you to stay in bed longer in the morning”

“Keep contact with Uni friends, making the trip back to Uni every so often helps to keep your social life thriving instead of just ‘leaving everything behind’. A common anxiety is the feeling of leaving everyone behind and coming back a year later to a completely different set of people. Making the trip to Uni while your friends are still around in their final year is a great way to strengthen the connections you already have and reassure yourself whilst on placement”.

Placement Year

The Placement Year is managed by Careers and Placements and is open to undergraduate and integrated masters students. It offers you the opportunity to gain valuable work experience at a challenging level that will help prepare you for graduate jobs. 

You would take the Placement Year in your penultimate year of study, extending your time at York by one year. If you are an integrated masters student, you can take your Placement Year either between Year 2 and Year 3 or Year 3 and Year 4. While you are on your placement you will retain your student status; benefiting from all the existing support services available to you and receiving recognition of your placement year within your degree title. 

Eligibility:

• This programme is open to undergraduate and integrated masters students
• If your course already offers a Year In Industry option we recommend you explore this option first. 
• Students from Hull York Medical School and Social Work are not eligible for this programme.
• If you are studying under a three-year Student visa, please note that you will need to apply for a new, four-year visa if you secure a placement. Please contact the University’s Immigration Advice Service so you know what the visa process will require. You would apply for a new visa once you have secured a placement and it has been approved by the Placements Team.

Key features to be aware of: 

• It is your responsibility to find and secure your own work placement; we will support you through the selection and the approval process
• Before applying for roles, please read the Placement Criteria. We will need to approve your placement before your department will approve your transfer onto the Placement Year programme
• During the year you can choose to do one placement of 9-12 months or two shorter placements that total 9-12 months of experience. You will need to undertake a minimum of 9 months work experience over the course of the academic year in order to fulfil the programme requirements, eg if your first placement lasts 6 months, you would need to find a second placement of 3 – 6 months duration during the academic year
• If you decide to do two shorter placements, the minimum duration of an individual placement is three months
• Your placement should start during the summer vacation 
• You will be assigned a Placement Supervisor for the duration of your placement
• The Placement Year is an assessed, pass/fail module that would be added to your existing programme of study
• If your placement ends unexpectedly, you will either need to find another placement within the year to achieve a minimum of 9 months experience or alternatively you will be advised to apply for a Leave of Absence for the remainder of the academic year and return to your final year of study as planned. If you don't fulfil the 9 month minimum duration, you would fail the Placement Year but not your degree and you would return to your original programme of study

At York, UK and international placement years are available through either a Department Year In Industry programme or the Placement Year programme within Careers and Placements. There are existing Year In Industry options within some departments so it's worth discussing with your department or the Careers and Placements team to decide what is the best route for you.

Deadlines and approval

Placement Year deadlines

• Start applying for placements in Semester 1 of your second year (or third year if on an integrated masters) 
• Opt into the Placement Year programme between 1 September - 10 February of your second year (or third year if on an integrated masters) 
• Secure a placement by 31 May ready to be approved
• Start your placement in the summer vacation 

Placement approval

Before you are approved onto the programme, we will need to confirm that you have:

1. Secured a placement in line with the Placement Criteria (see Placement Criteria tab)
2. Completed the required Placement Year documentation  
3. Attended the Pre-Placement Briefing 

We will also need your placement provider to complete required documentation in order for us to approve the role. We will contact them once you let us know the details of your placement.

You will gain official approval of transfer onto the Placement Year programme once we have confirmed these actions. This approval will be confirmed to you in writing. Careers and Placements reserves the right not to approve a placement and not to recognise a placement as part of the Placement Year module.

Criteria

If you are intending to take up the the Placement Year option as part of your studies it is essential that you consult with Careers and Placements as soon as possible. As well as providing you with assistance to support your search for a suitable placement, Careers and Placements are also responsible for the process of approving any placement opportunities you find. This is to ensure they are suitable for the purposes of undertaking work experience and can receive the formal recognition of the university through the Placement Year option.

The University of York reserves the right to withhold approval of any placement opportunity for the purposes of the the Placement Year option should it have any concerns about the placement, including the viability of the activities anticipated or the suitability of any organisation or individual involved.

The following are important criteria that the university will consider before confirming an opportunity to be suitable for the Placement Year option.   If you find a placement opportunity that interests you please consider these criteria for yourself before coming to discuss them with Careers and Placements.  Some of the criteria will require you to provide supporting materials which are indicated.

1. The placement opportunity must contain elements of challenge commensurate with the acquisition of experiences that could directly contribute to the attainment of a graduate destination.    

Although many placements will contain relatively unskilled tasks at some point, for the majority of the role, you should be operating at a level that will support, with developing skills and experiences, an application for graduate level work or further study. As part of the approval process, you will need to show Careers and Placements evidence that this will be the case. Evidence could include a written job description, a letter or an agreement document signed by the placement provider.  

2. The placement is with an organisation that is legally constituted and operates in line with UK/EU employment legislation or equivalent

Ensure the organisation complies with legislation around issues such as: paying at least the minimum wage; compliance with health and safety legislation; providing adequate time off for annual leave, and provision for sick leave. The University of York maintains Terms and Conditions for working with us, that raises a number of legal and good practice issues that you may wish to consider in relation to the opportunity you are considering.

3. The employer organisation should be willing to provide you with a letter of engagement or a contract of employment prior to you starting work for them

If the organisation has no previous experience with these type of documents then the University of York can provide templates. A copy of the final letter or contract of engagement must be presented to Careers and Placements before the commencement of any placement activity on behalf of the employer.

4. The employer must provide evidence to the university that it has full public and employee liability insurance in force, which provides at least an equivalent degree of cover in respect of you as a student which it provides for the placement employer’s full time employees

The University’s template letter of engagement provides details on the evidence required, normally consisting of the relevant insurance policy numbers. In some cases, notably when the employer is based entirely overseas, the issue of insurance can be subject to local laws and culture. In these instances you should consult with Careers and Placements for approval before making any placement commitments.

It should be noted that in  limited circumstances it may be possible to extend university insurance cover to a student on placement. However, this can never be assumed; you will require written confirmation and approval of the placement from Careers and Placements that this is the case, before starting a placement.  

The university will not extend professional indemnity insurance to a placement student on this programme. If a placement provider requires this form of insurance from you then please inform Careers and Placements for approval of the placement before making any placement commitments.

5. The employer should be able to provide a written policy on health, safety and welfare provision. The employer should be willing and able to confirm in writing that all relevant statutory duties in respect of health and safety and welfare are being complied with

Careers and Placements can support you in obtaining these written assurances if they do not appear in your letter of engagement or employment contract.

6. No placement opportunity can be approved if it involves the student travelling to a country where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against this

This can be checked on the Foreign Commonwealth Office website.

7. If a placement opportunity overseas requires you to obtain a work or study visa then this will need to be achieved in advance of the placement starting

The University of York will require a copy of any visa(s) you obtain.

If you are studying at York under a Student visa then you will need to change the terms of your visa in order to take up the the Placement Year option, regardless of where your eventual placement might be located. You should consult with the University’s Immigration Advice Service to discuss this issue in detail to ensure you are fully informed as to the implications of this option before making any placement commitments.

8. The costs of any visas or other requirements, such as disclosure and barring checks, health screening, etc cannot be met by the university

You should weigh these and other costs, such as travel to interviews, against alternatives before making any firm placement commitments.

9. The employer should be fully aware of your status as a placement student and be willing to afford you the time and opportunities to acquire experiences that can contribute to the learning outcomes of the module (see Assessment section of the Placement Year ).  They should also be willing to interact with representatives of the University of York in their supervision of your placement  

The employer must be willing to offer you the opportunities to learn and develop, and also be aware of the requirement for you to provide a written submission about your time with them for assessment purposes. If the work of the employer has confidential elements to it then approaches to handling this process are best agreed with the placement provider before taking up the opportunity. Careers and Placements will support you on these queries should they arise.

Assessment

The assessment will be in the form of a 3000 word reflective report with supporting reflective blogs. It will be assessed by Careers and Placements.

Module learning outcomes:

On completion of the Placement Year module, our students will be able to: 

• Articulate their competencies in a concise manner through consistent reflection of their skill set development over the duration of their placement  

• Articulate a sense of career direction based on an exploration of their own values, skills and motivations arising from their placement experience

• Evaluate the fit of their own personal values to the culture and working environment of their placement employer’s organisation 

• Identify their impact on the placement organisation through a critical analysis of their individual role and the tangible outcomes of their work

• Confidently reflect on specific experiences obtained over the course of their placement

• Articulate the value and utility of any transferable skills they feel their degree studies have provided in a work context.

The Placement Year module will be added to the student’s existing programme of study:

Additional programme learning outcome:

On completion of the Placement Year programme, our graduates will be able to:

Apply employability skills and enhanced self-awareness and understanding through reflection on a minimum of 9 months experience in a work-based context. 

Exceptional circumstances 

Students on placement will be expected to comply with the attendance policy of the placement provider, including any illness or compassionate circumstances.   Exceptional circumstances cases that apply to the submission of the reflective work either during or at the end of the placement will be referred to the home Department’s Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment Committee.

Failure to complete assigned placement

There may be instances that arise that mean you cannot complete your placement, which will have implications on you successfully passing the Placement Year module.  Outlined below are some example circumstances that may  arise; we recommend that you contact your Placement Supervisor as soon as you become aware that any such  situation might occur.

Organisation ceases operation

• If this occurs at the start of your placement, before the commencement of Semester 1 you will be able to enrol for your final year

• If this happens after the start of the academic year and there is time remaining in the year to obtain the minimum nine months' work experience, you may decide to look for another placement and we would support you through the selection and the approval process as before

• The alternative is to apply for a Leave of Absence and return to your final year at the next available opportunity for Undergraduate enrolment.

• If the placement fails through no fault of your own, through the host organisation going into receivership for example, it will not be grounds for appeal through Special Cases.

Dismissal

• If you are reasonably dismissed from your role it would indicate that you have breached an appropriate code of conduct of the host organisation and will be ineligible for support from Careers and Placements in seeking a further placement through the Placement Year programme. You would be advised to apply for a Leave of Absence and return to your final year at the next available opportunity for undergraduate enrolment.

Ill-health/exceptional circumstances 

• If you experience circumstances that require you to miss more than 20 days of placement, you would be advised to take a Leave of Absence for the remaining time to recover and then re-enter for your final year

• The Placement Supervisor or home Department Supervisor, if preferred, would support you through the Leave of Absence process. The Leave of Absence would be signed off by the home Department Board of Studies and a decision would be made around your ability to rejoin or restart the Placement Year based on individual circumstances.

FAQs

See financial information on placements to see how going on a placement affects your tuition fees, Maintenance Loan, bursaries, and more.

What salary can I expect to get for a year placement?

Salaries do vary, however locally, placement year salaries are often between £20K - £23K. More specialist, technical roles often offer a higher salary. Salaries for roles in and around London also vary, however they tend to start at £21K. 

Can I undertake unpaid placements?

We expect at least National Minimum Wage rates for placements, however if you are considering an unpaid placement, please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk to discuss the role in more detail. 

If I work in London will my salary cover living costs?

It’s worth noting that if you apply for a placement in London, living and travel costs can be high and minimum wage may not always cover these costs, therefore we recommend you think carefully about your finances if looking to work in London.

Can I book accommodation on campus when I return from my Placement Year?

You will be able to book a room on campus for the year you return. The booking system opens during Semester 1, and you can see more information online.

Who will pay for travel costs to and from my placement?

Employers are not expected to pay for your travel, so you will generally be expected to fund this yourself. You will be need to discuss reimbursements for travel with your placement provider. 

Will I get reimbursed for travelling to interviews?

This varies depending on the employer so it’s best to ask them in advance of the interview. The University will not be able to contribute to any travel costs.

What welfare support do I get from the university during my placement?

During the Placement Year you will be assigned a Placement Supervisor from Careers and Placements who will be your main point of contact for any issues during the year. Your department will also keep in touch and are on hand to support with ongoing academic queries. 

You will retain your student status and therefore can benefit from the existing welfare provision such as Open Door, etc. Full details of support can be found online here.

Should I disclose my disability?

If you would like to discuss how and when to disclose your disability, book a Careers Advice appointment on Handshake. There is a helpful section on disclosure on the Targetjobs website and we run a workshop each semester on disclosing your disability. More info can be found in the Applying for jobs tab on our page for students with disabilities.

What if I want to withdraw from the placement during the Placement Year?

If you are unhappy in your role, or your placement ends unexpectedly, you will either need to find another placement within the year to achieve a minimum of nine months' experience or alternatively you will be advised to apply for a Leave of Absence for the remainder of the academic year and return to your final year of study as planned. If you don't fulfil the nine month minimum duration, you would fail the Placement Year but not your degree and you would return to your original programme of study.