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Introducing Connected Degrees®
Exclusive to ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú
Book an Undergraduate Open Day
Explore our unique Connected Degrees and get a taste for undergrad life in ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú.
What is a Connected Degree®?
At the ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú, most of our undergraduate courses offer you the flexibility to choose when to take your placement year: either before your final year or after you’ve completed your degree. Known as Connected Degrees®, this unique option—available to students starting from September 2024—puts you in control of your university experience.
ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú is the only UK university offering this innovative approach to sandwich placements, allowing you to pursue real-world work experience at the time that best suits your personal and career goals. You can decide on your placement as late as February of your final year.
Connected Degrees® are designed to enhance employability by providing practical experience that builds confidence, a professional mindset, and better job prospects. To make the most of this opportunity, register with our Careers and Employability Service, which supports students in finding optional work placements during or after their studies.
Only ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú has Connected Degrees
Weigh up the pros and pros of ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú’s unique Connected Degrees.
Pro: 3 years with friends.
Pro: Explore more options.
Pro: Launch your career.
It’s all win.
Onscreen text reads:
Introducing Connected Degrees. 3 year course with a 4th year placement.
Connect your course directly to your future career.
ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú is the only UK university to give students this option.
Traditional unis only offer a placement in your 3rd year.
At ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú, you can prioritise what matters to you.
Career-ready
Take the extra time to find your perfect placement.
Community
Stay with the same friends throughout your studies.
Support
Glide into professional life with full university support.
Flexibility
If you prefer, you can still choose a 3rd year placement.
You’ll graduate at the end of your 4th year, whether it’s study or placement.
UK students can start a Connected Degree from September 2024.
Connect your degree to your ambitions at ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú.
Explore the UK’s only 3 year course with 4th year placement.
Discover Connected Degrees.
Is a fourth year placement worth it?
The option to take your placement at the end of your studies makes ºÚÁÏÈë¿Ú the only university where you can:
- spend an extra year thinking about your future career path
- explore options for placements in more depth
- take more time to develop skills for the workplace
- continue your studies without a break, and still get the benefits of taking a placement year
- stay with your friends throughout your course, before going on placement
- connect your placement more closely to the modules you choose
- build a bridge directly from your degree to working life
- receive an extra year of support from the University before starting your career
How do your placement year options compare?
Completing a placement year has many benefits, with some different advantages if you choose to take your placement before or after your third year.
Placement year benefits
- Boost your job prospects and potential starting salary
- Build your professional network before graduating
- Increase your workplace skills and access to professional roles
- Graduate with a professional mindset and industry experience
After second year
- Potential to be invited back for a graduate role job
- Boost your chance of getting a 2:1 or first class degree
- Use your final year to explore and apply for jobs
After third year
- Potential to get a job offer from your placement provider
- Study with your friends in your third year
- Use your full degree journey to consider placement options
When do you need to decide?
If you're not sure when to take your placement, don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to settle into your studies and explore your options before making your choice.
This decision usually takes place early in your second or third year – depending on when you choose to take your placement. Careers and Employability can help you decide before you start looking for opportunities.
Once you've decided, our Careers and Employability Team will support you through the recruitment process as you search and apply for placements.
Ready to find your course?
Explore courses with flexible placement options that connect you to the workplace, whenever you're ready.
Can you do a placement after you graduate?
You need to be a student to do a university degree placement — so you'll graduate after your first year in industry if you take your placement at the end of your studies.
As a student, you'll have access to University support and resources throughout your first year in the workplace, as well as perks such as student discounts.
And no matter when you take your placement year, you'll have support from our Careers and Employability Service for 5 years after you graduate.
How will you find the right placement?
You’ll get support from our dedicated Careers and Employability Team. They can advise you on finding and applying for the right placement year jobs. They’ll also help you decide when will be the best time to do your placement.
How does a flexible placement year work?
On your Connected Degree® placement year, you’ll connect with:
- professional colleagues and build your network for the future
- a whole industry by experiencing what it’s like to work in
- real professional projects and challenges related to your studies
- the skills you’ve developed to visible outcomes at work
- a clear sense of purpose and direction for your future
Whenever you choose to do your sandwich year, you’ll graduate with proof of your placement recorded on your degree transcript. This shows future employers that you have valuable experience. It also says you’re very serious about your professional development.
How can a placement benefit your employability?
Your Connected Degree® will boost your job prospects. You’re likely to find better paid, professional work faster if you have a placement year on your CV. What’s more, students who do placements are often offered a permanent job, back with their placement employer.
Got more questions?
Read our frequently asked questions below to find out more.
Optional work placements are periods of time spent in employment with organisations in the private, public or voluntary sectors. Optional placements differ from mandatory placements which are a compulsory element of the learning experience within professional courses e.g. teaching, nursing and social work.
We anticipate that most undergraduate students will continue to take their placements between their second and final year. These are often referred to as ‘sandwich placements’, since employment is sandwiched between two academic years. Sandwich placements typically last from 9-12 months and many placement roles are aimed specifically at students in their penultimate year of study.
Connected Degrees give students the choice to take an optional work placement either as a traditional sandwich year or, if they prefer, after their course. For Home students, when the placement option is taken after the final year, work placements can be three, six, or nine months in duration, depending on the student and their placement provider. For international students, due to current UKVI legislation, placements must be twelve months duration and be completed by the course end date.
Students seeking advice about the placement options available to them, should contact the Careers and Employability Service for placement advice. International students should also contact the Universty’s International Student Advisors for immigration or visa advice.
- Sandwich placements have a number of potential benefits, including:
- Alignment with recruitment practices of many graduate recruiters, who actively seek placement students as a part of their hiring strategies;
- The potential for placement students to be invited back after graduation, for a graduate role;
- The opportunity for placement students to bring technical and subject knowledge into their final year;
- Improved academic performance, with sandwich placements on average improving final degree classifications by up to half a degree classification
- Improved job prospects, with placement students 15% more likely to gain professional employment than other students;
- Enhanced salary on graduation;
- The opportunity for placement students to use their final year to apply for jobs, with an enhanced CV.
Taking an optional work placement at the end of a degree course has a number of potential benefits, including:
- Valuable work experience
- Extra time for students to evaluate their options
- The possibility of being offered ongoing employment after an optional work placement, and to progress straight into a job
- The opportunity to graduate with your undergraduate classmates, before starting your optional work placement
- An opportunity to put into practice three or four years of learning
- The opportunity for graduates to try out an employer or sector without a long-term commitment
Whether students choose to pursue an optional work placement as a sandwich option, or at the end of their course, optional work placements are not guaranteed. It is the responsibility of students to apply for and secure optional work placements, with support from the University. All optional work placements remain subject to approval by the University using its standard process and in line with the .
Whether students choose to do their optional work placement during or after their undergraduate course, they will get support with:
- Searching and applying for suitable roles
- Writing applications and preparing for interviews
- Navigating competitive recruitment processes
- Deciding the right time for them to do a placement
- Access to ongoing support from the University during the placement
Students choosing an optional sandwich placement will also benefit from placement preparation sessions embedded into our taught courses.
Each year, around 20-30 Home Students choose to undertake a Self-Employed Placement during their course, in which they are supported to start their own business. Students opting for a Self-Employed Placement (or SEP) are given advice and support throughout their placement year, including access to office space on campus from which to operate. This option is not available to students as a Connected Degree after graduation, although UK graduates can still access ongoing advice and support to start businesses.
International students are not permitted to undertake Self-Employed Placements either during or after their course, as their Student Visa, or Home Office legislation, do not allow them to engage in business activities including starting a business.
Every home and international undergraduate student starting an undergraduate course from September 2024 is able to undertake an optional work placement at the end of their course, with specific rules for international students under Home Office legislation. The option for is not available to postgraduate students.
Home students who choose to take an optional work placement after their course will graduate with their cohort at the end of their final year of study. Depending on when their optional work placement commences, their graduation ceremony may be during or before their placement.
Due to Home Office regulations, international students who secure an optional work placement after their course, will graduate after completing their placement, and after completing their placement assessment. This will be a year after their undergraduate course finishes.
Home students will pay a reduced tuition fee to undertake a sandwich placement, currently set at 15% of the full tuition fee for each year. There is currently no fee for home students to undertake an optional work placement after their course.
International students will pay 15% of their tuition fee for their placement year, regardless of whether this is taken as a sandwich placement or after their course.
Home students choosing an optional work placement as a sandwich year may be eligible for a tuition fee and reduced maintenance loan. They should contact the University’s Student Finance Team for detailed individual advice but, in broad terms, the maintenance loan for the placement year is based on the placement location, salary, and residence (i.e. whether living at home or elsewhere).
Optional work placements taken after our undergraduate degree courses are not eligible for Student Finance support under current rules.
Students who plan to take their placement as a sandwich must communicate notice of the accepted placement offer by 31 July in their second year of study (L5).
Students who plan to take their placement at the end of their degree, must communicate notice of the accepted placement offer by mid-February in the final year of their studies.
All students undertaking a sandwich placement will be required to undertake a pass/fail assessment before progressing into the final year of their course. Details of this assessment, including submission deadlines, will be communicated to students before starting their placement.
Home students will not be required to complete an assessment if their placement is after their undergraduate course. Due to their visa requirements, international students choosing a placement after their course will need to complete a pass/fail assessment.
Students can choose to work or study abroad in their sandwich year (traditional placement model) and then undertake a post study work placement later. However, the study abroad option is not available after our undergraduate courses (Connected Degree model).
Need advice?
If you have questions or need advice on placements, contact the Careers and Employability Service. Eligible students planning an optional work placement during or after their undergraduate course must register with the service.