Increase your employment opportunities
What is a placement year?
A placement year is an opportunity to apply your degree learning by working for a year in industry before you graduate. You'll spend your placement year working for an employer or setting up your own business, and experience what it's like to work in your potential career.
Most employers prefer to hire graduates who have professional work experience alongside their studies, so choosing a degree that includes a work placement helps to put you ahead in the job market. Many of our students are hired by their placement employer after graduation.
What are the benefits of a placement year?
Gain experience in your chosen industry and build your confidence. This will help you make informed decisions about your future career and increase your employment opportunities.
Get to know the national and international business environment, and build useful skills like team-working, communication, problem-solving and commercial awareness.
Build a professional network and meet new friends, including potential career mentors. There are lots of new experiences to be had, especially if you choose to live in another city or country.
What's it like to take a placement year?
Hear from some of our placement year students - Finlay, who took a placement at NBC Universal, Anastasia, who found a place at St Vincent College, and Charley, who took a role at Castle View Academy.
Find out about their experiences and hear what advice they have to give other students.
Finlay: I've loved every moment of my placement. It's probably one of the most fantastic years I've ever done in my life, probably one of the best things I've ever done.
Emily Parry: The school covers area studies, sociology, history, politics and literature. There are a number of different placement opportunities that are based locally or nationally around the UK, covering lots of different sectors and areas. So there's something there for everybody.
Finlay: Before university, I was always somebody that really didn't want to rush university. I wanted to try a placement year out, which was something that I'd love to do, and here we are today at NBC Universal. I got very, very lucky with it, but it's great.
Emily Parry: One of the misconceptions about placements and work experience for humanities students is that it would be very restricted on the kind of things that they can do.
Finlay: As a politics student, obviously I do love politics, but it's the other interests you have outside of politics. I love my films, I love my TV series, so I work in an environment selling content that I love.
Anastasia: Since about year ten, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. The work placement has definitely put it in perspective that it’s still what I want to do and it means that I don't have to go into a PGCE placement completely unaware of what I have to do. It gives me the experience of what a teacher actually needs to do and what their role is in a college.
Charley: Teaching is something I find quite natural to do. It wasn't really to do with my degree, but I found it was quite easy to interlink the two. So I was able to run a politics club here and it was really quite inspiring to see how enlightened the students were and how knowledgeable they were about current day events, and went from there, really.
Emily Parry: What I love about placements is seeing the students when they come back and you can see the development in them of the confidence that they've built and their ability to communicate and work as part of a team.
Charley: Before, I really struggled with public speaking. So standing in front of an audience is not something I would initially choose to do, and for some people, standing in front of 30 children is even more scary than standing in front of adults.
Finlay: University of Portsmouth really helped me with confidence and the ability to speak, which I've then brought into NBCU where I present in front of my managers once a month.
Charley: Having that sort of exposure was really, really important to me. For students who want to do a placement, I would just say go for it.
Anastasia: It’s a brilliant opportunity to put yourself in a workplace environment with loads and loads of support.
Finlay: Just put everything into it because it really is a year that's really helped me feel a lot more confident going into my final year of university.
Emily Parry: It's the best feeling when a student gets that placement because you know the opportunities that's going to open up for them with their future career.
How do placement years work?
Some professional courses, like teaching, nursing and social work, have mandatory work placements as part of the learning experience. For other courses, you can do an optional work placement.
Placement years start after your second year of study (known as a sandwich year) and typically last 9-12 months. Whether you do a mandatory or optional placement, you'll graduate after returning and completing your final year of studies.
The University of Portsmouth also offers Connected Degrees, where you have the flexibility to do a work placement before or after your final year of study. If you choose to do a 4th year placement (after three years of study), you'll graduate after your placement year.
Connected Degrees®
Portsmouth is the only UK university that gives you the option to do a 4th year placement. This flexibility means you have your full degree journey to consider your options and choose a placement that best fits your career plans.
Placement degree
Placement degrees give you the chance to apply your knowledge before you graduate. By spending your placement year working for an employer or setting up your own business, you can experience what it's like to work in your potential career.
The placement process
On some courses, your course team chooses your placement for you to ensure you get appropriate experiences to meet your degree needs. These include health and social care courses.
If you decide to do an optional work placement, our Placement Officers can help you find a suitable role, or help you prepare for a self-employed placement year. We have links with many organisations and companies from various industries.
You can apply for optional placements advertised by us on our jobs board, MyCareer, or you can find your own. Either way, once an offer is in place, the placement MUST be approved by the Placement Team who will carry out further checks (in line with our approval process and University’s Optional Placement Policy) to ensure the placement is suitable, and establish an agreement with the placement provider to manage the relationship.
While on your placement, you'll have ongoing support from a dedicated Placement Officer. They'll be there to answer any questions you have, or help with problems if they arise.
Each month, your Placement Officer will check in with you. They'll also meet with you and your line manager twice during the year to keep you on track with your professional development and the placement assessment.
As you'll remain an enrolled student, so you’ll still have access to:
- Student discounts
- University facilities and services
- Exemption from paying council tax
Your placement year is assessed by a portfolio of evidence. This could include things like a diary, a reflective analysis of your personal development, or a reference from your placement provider.
Details about your assessment, including submission deadlines, will be shared with you before you start your placement.
This assessment doesn't apply if you take a language year abroad.
Fees
You'll pay a reduced tuition fee to undertake an optional placement year, currently set at approximately 15% of the full tuition fee for each year. For full fee information specific to your course, please look at the course costs and funding section of your course page.
As you'll remain a registered student, you'll continue to have access to the same student discounts and benefits, including council tax exemption, as well as our guidance and support services.
Funding
If you are a Home Student, you can choose whether to use the Students Loans Company funding to cover your placement fee and/or apply for a reduced maintenance loan.
In general, the maintenance loan for the placement year is based on the placement location, salary, and residence (i.e. whether living at home or elsewhere). For detailed individual advice, you can contact the University’s Student Money Team.
If you are taking the Connected Degree placement option after your degree, and receive funding from the Student Loans Company, you must return to the university for a period of study after your placement.
What you can do during your placement year
Your placement year needs to relate to your degree — but what you do is up to you.
Work for an employer
You can complete your placement by working for a business, charity, or public sector organisation. Previous placement students have completed placement years in areas like project management, engineering, photography, audiobook publishing, forensic accounting, and more.
Overseas placement
On some of our courses, you can do your placement year abroad. Our students have travelled to countries including Japan, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland, Malaysia, America and Spain during their placement year.
Self-employed placement
If you're a Home student, a self-employed placement is a great way to test if freelancing or running your own business is right for you. We'll give you advice and support throughout the year, including access to office space on campus.
Placement roles
Our students have completed placements in a variety of roles, including:
- Environmental management assistant
- Graphic designer
- HR assistant
- Interior design intern
- Junior aerospace engineer
- Junior developer
- Performance analyst assistant
- Photographer
- Quality inspector
- Restorative justice administrator
- Systems engineer
- Victim support caseworker
Placement companies
Previous students have done placements at companies big and small, including:
- IBM
- BBC
- Walt Disney
- Warner Bros
- Paul Smith
- Southern Domestic Abuse Service – a provider of all services to those affected by domestic abuse
- Hampshire Constabulary
- Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service
- Isle Of Wight NHS Trust
- Talking Change (IAPT)
- Pompey in the Community
Browse degrees with placements
Are you ready to increase your employment opportunities and strengthen your skills by doing an optional placement year degree? Find a degree course with a work placement now.
FAQs
Yes, the placement year fee is 15% of your usual annual tuition. For specific information on your tuition fee for a placement year, please refer to the course costs and funding section on your course page.
While on placement, you continue to be registered as a student so have access to the same student discounts and benefits, including council tax exemption, plus all guidance and support services.
A large majority of placements are paid, but you should still consider your living costs and how you'll support yourself financially during your placement year.
It is your responsibility to apply for and secure an optional work placement, with support from the University, by the required deadline each year.
31 July for a 3rd year placement (sandwich year)
31 March for a post studies placement (Connected Degree)
The University does not match you to placements and the application and selection processes are managed by employers/placement providers. Placement opportunities are advertised and you can apply directly to employers as part of a competitive process. All optional work placements remain subject to approval by the University using its standard process and in line with the University’s Optional Placement Policy.
The Optional Placements Team, within Careers and Employability, will work very closely with you to support your placement search by providing tips on how to search for roles, providing 1-2-1 CV and application feedback, interview preparation, and more.
We also run a Placement Club on campus twice a week, faculty placement events, drop in and bookable appointments available each day, that you can book to discuss your placement search, and placement sessions included in our undergraduate and eligible postgraduate courses.
You 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 you to do a placement
- Access to ongoing support from the University during the placement
You can also benefit from placement preparation sessions embedded into our taught courses.
Optional work placements can have a lot of benefits. However, not every student can, or will want to, do an optional work placement. There are other opportunities at the University, within and outside of our courses, for you to gain valuable work or voluntary experience.
These include opportunities available through the Students' Union, such as being a Course Rep or taking on a leadership role in one of our many clubs and societies, and volunteering with a local organisation through Careers and Employability. Students gaining additional experiences like these can gain recognition through our Portsmouth Award, which can be added to your CV or LinkedIn profile.
If you want to increase your work experience, but an optional work placement isn't for you, get advice by visiting Careers and Employability.
You will receive the same award whether or not you complete a placement. If you secure a placement offer, and complete and pass the placement year, there will be an acknowledgement on your degree transcript to show that you completed the placement year.
Placement stories
Placement Experience: Creative Intern at the Walt Disney Company - Corey White
Find out about Corey White BA (Hons) Film Production student on placement as a Creative Intern with the Walt Disney Company
Jamie Legg - This experience allowed me to utilise the technical, planning, and interpersonal skills developed throughout my studies.
Jamie turned his love of practical learning into a successful placement year, which opened up great career opportunities.
Placement Experience: DreamWorks Marketing Intern at NBC Universal
"The University resources helped me to secure my placement through guidance of applications and interviews."
Self employed placement experience: BA (Hons) Photography - Eliska Svrlanska
Find out about Eliska Svrlanska BA (Hons) Photography student reflecting on her Self Employed year placement
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