Regulations for taught students: Section 15

SECTION 15:  Supervised Work Experience, Work Based Learning, Unpaid Placement Limitations and Unforeseen Placement Termination 

 

If you are a student who is taking or about to undertake a placement as part of your degree, specifically, as part of a sandwich year or work based learning, you should read the following information fully. It sets out what is expected of you and of us. This regulation is not applicable to allocated placements embedded within your academic programme, such as nursing or teaching placements.

You should seek impartial advice and support from the Students’ Union Advice Centre, or your School Placement Team below if you are unclear, or require support on the information listed within this section of the regulations.

 

15.1. Placement expectations

15.1.1 The Placement Provider will: 

15.1.2 The University will:

15.1.2 The Student will

 


15.2 Unforeseen placement termination 

15.2.1 The University has taken into consideration that unforeseen circumstances which may not be within the control of the student may impact your Supervised Work Experience (SWE) or Work-Based Learning (WBL) and may need to be terminated earlier than expected or deemed incomplete. This regulation supports the interests of all parties involved in the placement process and continues its support for your professional development. 

15.2.2 Staff in your School will be responsible for implementing the following regulations in consultation with your placement provider when made aware of issues with completion by either colleagues, students or placement providers.

15.2.3 Due to unforeseen circumstances outside your control, you may not have been able to secure the minimum hours/weeks/days required in employment, as such, the following can be applied if you are still able to meet the module learning outcomes are still able to progress through your course of study. 

 

15.3 Considerations for early placement termination: Supervised Work Experience (SWE) credits 

15.3.1 For Supervised Work Experience (SWE) credits (i.e. S level credits leading to the award of a degree in the sandwich mode), the Course Assessment Meeting (CAM) should confirm the award of S level credit if the following conditions are met: 


15.3.2 Where the above is not possible, you will normally be advised to interrupt your studies for the remainder of the placement year and return in the subsequent academic session to complete the standard (ie non-Sandwich) award. 

 

15.4. Considerations for early placement termination: Work Based Learning (WBL) 

15.4.1 For Work-Based Learning (WBL) credits (i.e. F, I or H level credits completed in a work-based environment), the award of credit for a specific module which has already been commenced should be confirmed subject to the above SWE criteria. 

15.4.2 Where significant work-based elements (usually, over 40%) of the course remain outstanding one of the following can be applied: 

 

15.5 Unpaid placement limitations 

15.5.1 You are not encouraged to undertake unpaid placements, however, the University recognises that it may be the only way for you to obtain experience in a specialist area. Limited unpaid placements are therefore permitted.

15.5.2 If you are undertaking an unpaid placement as part of your sandwich year, the following criteria apply. 

15.5.3 The unpaid year work placement should be based on an arrangement of a maximum of 25 hours per week or an average of 100 hours over a four-week period and must not exceed 12 months. This is a legal requirement and takes into consideration that certain industries, due to normal operating procedures, may work a varied pattern of hours of long days, rest days etc. Should you choose to work additional hours over and above this requirement, that is at your discretion and is not a requirement for the University. 

15.5.4 If you require any reasonable adjustments to help you in your placement, you must inform the Placements Unit so they can identify if funding is available.

15.5.5 Your minimum holiday entitlement would be pro-rata based upon current working time directives and your holiday would also be unpaid. You should take all holiday to which you are entitled so that you have appropriate time off from the workplace. 

15.5.6 All placements must be agreed in advance. You will not be awarded credit retrospectively.