Placements

Placements at Northumbria University have a number of different guises, with variations in criteria. The placement refers to a work-based experience which is linked to an academic programme and for which the student will receive academic credit.

There are placements where students join an organisation for a year. In a typical undergraduate degree, most year-long placements would take place between the second and final year of the academic programme, making it a four-year degree. Most year-long placements start between June and September. They must meet the minimum duration of the relevant faculty and must be completed before the student commences their final year of study.

Many courses also offer the opportunity for students to do a shorter duration placement, alongside their studies. This is a great opportunity for our students, and it also offers employers more flexibility with the amount of time that a student will join their organisation. Many of these placements have their minimum duration in hours and there is flexibility as to when these hours are completed, providing flexibility to both Students and to placement hosts.

Many placements are self-sourced by students and secured by applying for positions advertised on our jobs platform, Jobs Online. If you’d like to find out more about advertising your placement vacancy with us, click here. There are also placements for which we match students to placement hosts, removing the time needed for an employer to undertake the recruitment process.

Northumbria University placement students bring fresh ideas, enthusiasm, intelligence, motivation and commitment and can: 

• Drive forward a project that your organisation may not have the resources to undertake.
• Provide access to up-to-date, specialist knowledge, with the support of academics who are experts in their fields and have extensive industrial or organisational experience.
• Provide a cost-effective method of overcoming temporary staff shortages.
• Identify talent for your future graduate recruitment pipeline, lowering future recruitment costs.
• Inject new, innovative ideas in an area where you’ve identified a skills gap.
• Enabling your current staff to develop managerial and mentoring skills.

The placement must be related to the student’s degree and the role would have to be of appropriate level to undertake for a student. It is important that the role develops student’s skills and is an engaging work experience with appropriate supervision and mentoring.

All placements are subject to Northumbria University’s approval process. This is to check that placements provide a safe and suitable experience for all parties involved.  

Once a student has secured a placement, they submit their placement registration to Northumbria University’s Placements and Internships Team. Placement hosts will then be asked to submit one document: our Risk Assessment and Placement Agreement. The placement cannot start until the student has received approval from the Placements and Internships Team.

If you’d like to discuss the possibility of recruiting placement students, please contact the Placements and Internships Team. Details of the team can be found by clicking here. If you’d like to contact us, please email sv.employers@northumbria.ac.uk. We will be pleased to talk to you about opportunities an advertising the role via our vacancy advertising system, which is free to use.