Placement Year

Start your search - placement roles will start to be advertised from September. Look at Finding you placement below.

Discuss work experience options - if you are still exploring options available to you, attend a Careers Drop In Monday to Friday, 11am to 1pm (during semesters).

• Registration is open between 1 September and 10 February. Registration is only for current 2nd year students or 3rd year students on an integrated Masters programme. 
• After 10 February, if you are still interested in completing a placement next academic year, or if you have secured a placement, please email careers-placements@york.ac.uk with the job description attached and we will advise on your options.
• Continue to make use of Placement Year appointments and events, which you can book via Handshake. 

Please note - registering does not guarantee you a placement.  If you register and do not secure a placement, you will continue as normal into your final year of study.

• Secure a placement - once you have a placement offer please email careers-placements@york.ac.uk. You will be required to complete our approval form. You must complete this form by 30 June to be considered for the programme.
• Pre-placement briefing - before you can start your placement you will be required to attend a pre-placement briefing. You will be invited to book onto a briefing session following approval of your placement.
• Programme transfer - when your placement has been approved we will confirm to you in writing your place on the Placement Year and will allocate you a Placement Supervisor from Careers and Placements. Your department will also keep in touch with you.

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 to12 months or two shorter placements that total 9 to 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 to 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.

Placement Year contacts

Placement Year deadlines

• Start applying for placements in Semester 1 of your second year (or choose between second or third year if you're on an integrated masters) 
• Opt into the Placement Year programme between 1 September and 10 February of your second year (or choose between second and third year if you're on an integrated masters) 
• Secure a placement by 30 June 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 information below)
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.

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 and 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.

Finding accommodation for your placement can be both exciting and stressful. We have put together resources for you to help you with your search.

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?

You are able to apply for a room on campus when room bookings open in early December each year; applications are only open for a very short period of time. If you're successful in getting a placement outside of York, you can cancel your booking. You will need to provide evidence of your placement to the Accommodation Services Team as soon as you have it, otherwise you will still be committed for the full let period of your room.

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.

To find out how how undertaking a placement affects your tuition fees, maintenance loan, bursaries, and more see the student finance information on placements.

Check out the University’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 income. You will need to make a copy of the spreadsheet to edit it.

Average monthly costs 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.