Placements - A short guide for Employers
Introduction
We believe that university should prepare students for the world of work as well as enhancing their academic qualifications, which is why we offer all undergraduate students the opportunity to undertake placements, whatever course they are studying
We are held in high regard by industry and we encourage and welcome queries from organisations interested in offering paid placement opportunities to our students.
Our staff are happy to help and support you throughout this process, from an initial enquiry and advertisement to you offering a place and beyond.
Placement Coordinator Contact Details can be seen from this page
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1. How long are placements?
Placements provide an opportunity for our students to gain ‘real world’ work experience. They can be as short as one week or as long as thirty weeks (sandwich year), depending on the requirements of the degree.
Placements can commence at any time after the student has completed their exams, which is generally from the beginning of June.
Short placements are usually completed during summer.
Undergraduate long placements are taken in the student’s third year before they return to university to complete their studies. Postgraduates complete their placements once their teaching timetable is complete.
All placements, however short are assessed as part of the student’s degree, dependent upon faculty requirements.
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2. How does BU support placements?
The placement process is managed by BU’s dedicated placements team within each Faculty who support both employers and students throughout the process.
Placement Coordinators and Placement Development Advisors are the key contacts for employers and students during this time.
Placement Coordinators (PCs) are the primary contact prior to both long and short placements commencing and are based in the faculties.
They provide placement assistance to our students to ensure they source a relevant placement for their course. All placements must be approved before commencing employment to ensure they meet course requirements.
Throughout the academic year the PCs work with the students providing information, advice and guidance on searching for a placement, CV writing, mock interviews, and general preparation for any placement found.
Click here for Placement Coordinator Contact Details
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Placement Development Advisors (PDAs) are the primary contact during the long placement. They support the student and employers during the placement and organise reviews and visits to the workplace. They will maintain communication with the employer during the placement.
Whilst on placement, students complete coursework as dictated by their course requirements. Employers are expected to complete an appraisal of the students’ performance, which can be in different formats depending upon the requirements of the faculties.
Click here for further information regarding the support offered to employers during a Placement, and PDA contact details
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3. Advertising Process
You are currently viewing a page within MyCareerHub, which is Bournemouth University's Jobs Portal. Once you have registered (from the top of the main menu) and been authorised, a job advert can be created any time of the year and managed autonomously.
The jobs are accessible to our students and graduates from the day they join BU, throughout their time here - 24/7, 365, and for three years after they finish their course.
Competition among organisations for students is intense, making it vital for you to sell your opportunities to potential applicants. Your placement advert should be written in order to attract the best candidates. Placement Coordinators can offer guidance on what to include. All placement opportunities are screened and must be 'approved' by the placements team before going live.
Bournemouth University has a duty of care to ensure that opportunities promoted to students do not disadvantage, endanger or discriminate (under current legislation) against them in any way and Terms and Conditions for advertising apply as below:
You can advertise:
- Full or part time jobs that meets at least the National Minimum or Living Wage requirements
- Placements or internships.
We do NOT advertise:
- 1. Commission only jobs - if you have a post with On Target Earnings (OTE), you must state the basic salary.
- 2. If connected with a Pyramid, multi-level marketing or similar style selling scheme.
- 4. Self-employment opportunities.
- 5. Applications to a personal email account such as @hotmail.co.uk. If the job has an application process via email, the email address needs to be a business one.
- 6. Any opportunity that asks for an upfront payment from candidates.
- 7. Positions for students to share academic material or study notes.
- 8. Advertisements that contain premium rate telephone numbers.
- 9. Vacancies for individuals/Au Pairs based in private homes unless placed by a registered agency.
- 10. Opportunities that contain duties which raise health and safety concerns for example lone working in potentially dangerous environments or drug/medical trials.
- 11. Roles which are paid in kind for example vouchers rather than being salaried.
- 12. Positions placed on behalf of tobacco companies.
- 13. Multiple postings for a single vacancy.
- 14. On behalf of agencies (or similar third parties) and any role which requires the student to pay a fee.
- 15. Positions which require applicants to disclose building society or personal banking details prior to being appointed, this should not be requested as part of a job application process.
- 16. Vacancies that Bournemouth University believes to be in breach of (or potentially in breach of) any aspect of UK employment legislation.
- 17. Unpaid graduate vacancies.
- 18. Any opportunity which would be considered to pose a risk of generating negative publicity for Bournemouth University.
Recruitment Agencies:
We welcome opportunities from recruitment agencies however we do require you to name your client to BU staff, to ensure the advert is for a specific role and will advertise graduate and other vacancies free of charge. Adverts are accepted subject to our usual terms and conditions.
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4. Recruitment Process
The University expects that you will recruit placement students in the same way and using the same procedure as for any other staff. In the UK, employers have full legal liability for students as employees.
All students should be provided with a copy of their written contract/agreement of employment, detailing hours of work, salary expected to be paid, holiday allocation, period of notice from both employer and student and any other details pertinent to their employment and subject to employment law requirements. Further information on UK employment legislation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/browse/employing-people/contracts
During the placement year the student is an employee of your organisation; they are expected to work normal company hours and are paid a salary. Salary should be commensurate with location and industry, degree of responsibility and hours worked.
Note that there may be some employment restrictions for international students studying in the UK on a Student Route Visa as below. The University staff are happy to advise in this instance.
- If the work placement with the university is part of the student’s course, they will be allowed to work full time.
- When their placement finishes, the student on the Student Route Visa must stop working full-time.
- The UKBA require strict monitoring of any unexplained absences of Student Route Visa students and the employer must report these to the University immediately.
BU recognises that for some charity organisations or voluntary work, it is possible that the student may be provided with reimbursement of travelling costs if a full salary is not available. The actual amount is a matter for negotiation between the student and employer. It should be pointed out however that students still need to pay a long placement (sandwich year) fee to the University for their placement year.
Our full expectation of Employers taking a student on Placement is included as Appendix 1 below.
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5. Placement Insurances
Students are covered by BU’s Public Liability Insurance policy and for initial travel to the placement, and for return travel home at the end of placement if students are based overseas.
There is an expectation that employers will have both Employers Liability and Public Liability insurances (or equivalent outside the UK) in place for the period of the placement and that these will apply to a placement student as they would to any regular member of your staff. If this is not the case, or if this creates any questions or problems, please let us know as soon as possible.
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6. Health & Safety
Before the placement commences, BU will send an email to employers based in the UK or overseas as appropriate, advising you of our Health and Safety requirements.
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7. Join us as we celebrate our success
We have successful placement relationships with top employers at home and abroad.
Visit MyPlacementStory where BU students share their experiences on placement as a part of their course.
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8. Services to Business
We like to take a collaborative approach and there are many other opportunities for employers to work with our university. Find out more at: https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/collaborate/services-business
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Appendix 1:
Expectations of Employers taking a student on Placement
- Recruit placement students in the same way and using the same procedure as for any other staff e.g. job and person specifications, contracts of employment, remuneration packages, Health & Safety, and complying with all relevant UK* employment legislation including working-time directive, holiday time entitlement, payment of national insurance,tax.
- Provide the student with a copy of their written contract/agreement of employment, detailing hours of work,salary expected to be paid,holiday allocation,period of notice from either employer or student and any other details pertinent to their employment and subject to employment law requirements. Further information on UK employment legislation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/browse/employing-people/contracts
- Note that in the UK, employers have full legal liability for students as employees.
- Ensure a suitable staff to student ratio. We expect this to be a minimum of one full-time staff member to every student employed. This is to allow appropriate support and development for the student and business contingency for the employer.
- Appoint a mentor/buddy in addition to the line manager/supervisor so that the student has peer support.
- Provide full Health and Safety training at the start of the placement experience on day one.
- Provide company induction at the beginning of the placement with ongoing training throughout.
- Pay the student**. During the placement year the student is an employee of your organisation; they are expected to work normal company hours and are paid a salary. Salary should be commensurate with location and industry, degree of responsibility and hours worked.
- Adhere to BU guidelines and The Equality Act 2010 to ensure that access and support requirements are provided and reasonable adjustments are made,for students on placement with disabilities who might personally experience substantial disadvantage in comparison with people who are not disabled. The Equality Act prohibits direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in the workplace on the grounds of any of the protected characteristic and some students might need support or allowances for cultural differences.
- Provide confirmation of the student performance – this could be a reference, statement, BU Company Appraisal Form, or the company’s own appraisal documentation.
- Communicate with both the student and university representatives in order that all parties get the best from the placement.
BU reserves the right to withdraw a student from the workplace if conditions are not met and to decline future advertisements for the company.
*Or equivalent legislation if the placement is outside of the UK
**BU recognises that for some charity organisations or voluntary work, it is possible that the student may be provided with reimbursement of travelling and/or subsistence costs if a full salary is not available. The actual amount is a matter for negotiation between the student and employer.
