Placements

Placements are a valuable part of the courses here at Huddersfield.

We know how much employers value graduates who have real-world experience on their CV and that is why we encourage our students to make the most of the opportunities available during your time at Huddersfield.

There’s a real focus on the practical career environment and I love the University’s emphasis on work placements.

Hannah Kitching, Travel and Tourism Management BA(Hons)

What’s in it for me?

1. Work with the best - we work with some of the biggest and best companies in the UK and overseas to ensure you have the best possible opportunities during your time at Huddersfield. Our students have gone on to work for companies like The BBC, Sky, Burberry, Red Bull F1 and KPMG to name but a few. Find out more about the companies we work with on our Who we work with page.
2. Graduate employability - some of our students return from their placement year with sponsorship and the offer of a permanent job from their host company, and this is reflected in our excellent graduate employability record. 97.3% of our undergraduate students go on to work and/or further study within six months of graduating (Destinations of Leavers Survey 2016/17).
3. Get paid* - if you are on a placement year, you are usually paid by the company employing you, and are regarded as a regular employee undertaking a real job of work with appropriate responsibility.
4. All the support you need - you will be allocated a work supervisor and an academic staff member from the University would normally visit the supervisor to discuss your progress at various times throughout the year, so we will be in regular contact.

*In some instances, a placement or period of work experience may be unpaid. Take a look at the course you're interested in for the placement opportunities that may be available.

Industry experience

Most of the courses at Huddersfield include the opportunity to gain industry experience and we're one of the UK's leading universities when it comes to integrating work placements into our courses. And that's precisely what employers are looking for - evidence of real-world work experience.

A work placement can last for 1 to 48 weeks.

If you have a burning desire to work overseas, we will work with you to try and ensure you secure an international placement. Our students have gone on to work for companies all over the globe and we have links with some of the leading companies with headquarters in countries on all continents.

Enterprise placement year

You’ve got a bright business idea or a small bedroom enterprise, but what next?

If you think you’ve got what it takes, you could choose to set up and run your own business during an Enterprise Placement Year* – instead of taking a conventional work placement with an employer. Over the years, we’ve helped (and are helping) lots of students like you take the first step on a really exciting journey.

To find out more about the Enterprise Placement Year visit the Enterprise Team.

*International students should initially seek visa compliance guidance from the University International Office.

Having access to the staff and facilities within The Enterprise Team has increased my motivation and confidence to succeed in such a competitive industry. The Team’s business expertise has really helped me get a head start on setting up and running a business.

Gary Lloyd, Computer Games Design BA(Hons) 2015, Sigtrap

Who we work with

As you can imagine, with so many different courses to choose from at Huddersfield, our students have the opportunity to go and work at a wide variety of companies out in the real world and come back feeling energised for their final year at the University. Here are just a few of the companies that our students have completed their placement year with:

PricewaterhouseCoopers	Sky	Yorkshire Museums and Galleries
Pinewood Studios	The BBC	Unilever
Burberry	Universal Music	DLA Piper
Airbus	Aedas	KPMG
HSBC	Lego	Lawrence Batley Theatre
Royal Armouries Museum	Morgan Stanley	Vivienne Westwood
Panasonic	Oxfam	Bonmarche
DuPuy	Sheffield Crucible	DHL Supply Chain
NHS	Red Bull F1

100% of our undergraduate students have the opportunity to undertake professional work-related experience during their studies. This includes placements, industry standard projects and real-world case studies**.
** This applies to undergraduate courses of more than 12 months duration.

How can I find out more?

You will see information about any placement opportunities for your chosen course in the course information listings, and of course you can talk to your tutors about this in detail at our Open Days. You can also watch our video below and hear from current students about their placement and the benefits and opportunities available to students at Huddersfield.