Placement years

A placement year offers you an exciting opportunity to immerse yourself in a professional environment after your penultimate year of study. Ignite your spark with a university placement and gain valuable, professional experience for the future. A university placement is an accredited period of work completed with an organisation, either as part of a module or in the form of a placement year, which usually becomes the third year of a four year undergraduate degree. This is sometimes known as a sandwich year. In-year placements typically last between 30 and 200 hours and are aligned with a specific module within a course. They're usually optional, but are mandatory for some courses. Most involve working on a flexible basis for a placement provider over a number of weeks. Placement years are a longer experience and involve working with a provider for a minimum of 40 weeks. They're usually full-time and taken during your penultimate year of study, effectively becoming a third year of a four-year degree. Placements offer an exciting opportunity to immerse yourself in a professional environment, allowing you to gain valuable experience, apply your academic knowledge and skills in real-world settings, and enhance your career prospects. From September 2024, all undergraduate students will be offered a placement year, supported by the Centre for Graduate Prospects.

The University of Sunderland