Placements
A placement year is a fantastic way to gain valuable work experience and start building industry connections of your own.
Every student in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences is able to undertake a placement as part of their degree. As well as giving you the opportunity to put the theory you have learnt into practice and add to your CV, placements can also help you to learn about the potential careers open to you upon graduation.
The value of a placement
As a graduate of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ you will have a significant competitive advantage when entering the job market, particularly with a year of work experience. It has been demonstrated repeatedly that the majority of students across all degree disciplines who obtain a 2:1 or better in their final degree have undertaken a placement year and 70% of placement years lead to a job offer (source: The Guardian).
This is why the option to undertake a four-year sandwich degree course is open to all students in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. These courses consist of three years’ full-time academic study and one year of employment in industry. The placement year is taken at the end of the second year of study, and normally begins between July and September, lasting 45 weeks.
Did you know
- All our undergraduate courses offer a year-long work placement or overseas study
- 398 SSEHS students secured a year-long placement in the 2022/23 academic year
- 95.8% of SSEHS students undertaking a placement achieved a 1st or a 2:1 in the 2022 academic year
- More º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ students secured year-long industrial placements than those at any other university (UK HESA student data 2019/20).
Recent placements
Our students have taken advantage of the University's strong industry reputation and our links to secure a wide variety of placements, dependent on their personal interests and career ambitions.
Organisations that have taken our students on placements in recent years include: English Institute of Sport, Genius Sports, GSK, the Home Office, IBM, the Institute of Cancer Research, Leicester Tigers, the NHS, Manchester United Football Club, Millfield School, Nike, UK Young Autism Project and World Taekwondo, to name a few.
Securing a placement
Searching for a placement will require you to be resourceful and persistent, but the Careers Network offer plenty of support to help you secure the right placement for you.
More than 7,000 graduate jobs, placements, internships, part time opportunities and voluntary roles are advertised on the vacancy database Careers Online, while the weekly Placements and Internships Bulletin also highlights available opportunites.
The Careers Network also provide invaluable advice on everything from making an application to securing financial help if your placement is unpaid, and from making the most of your experience to the sources of support available.
Placements with º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Sport
Every year º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Sport, in partnership with the School of Exercise & Health Sciences, host a variety of placements for our undergraduate and postgraduate students.
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Sport offers a variety of full-time placements for undergraduates undertaking a placement year as part of their course in disciplines including: Performance Analysis, Strength & Conditioning, Physiology, and Operations Support.
Students undertaking these placements will gain practical applied experience in an elite sporting environment, under the guidance of practitioners and coaches. During the placement, there is an opportunity to build a portfolio of practical expertise, enhancing your employability.
Placement support
Our Placement Officers are in regular contact with organisations throughout the UK and advertise the available placements to you. The University Careers Network provides first class help with writing CVs, applications, cover letters, interview practice and presentations. Whilst on your placement you will be given full support by a Visiting Academic Tutor and Workplace Supervisor throughout.
If you are a current student interested in finding out more about the opportunities and support available, please contact:
Biosciences placement support
Clare Wright School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Psychology placement support
Clare Wright School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Sport placement support
Kully Bassi School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Dr Val Dennehy Placement Director
Hear from our students
Callum
Sport and Exercise Science student
My experience at West Ham has helped to shape my career aspirations, while the knowledge and experience gained will be used, and hopefully developed further, to apply to my future work.
