Placement years: how to find one, fund it and make it count
A placement year adds professional experience to your degree, usually between your penultimate and final year. This guide covers whether it suits you, when to apply, how recruitment works, pay and funding, Student visa rules and what to do during the year so you return to university with useful evidence.
Should you do a placement year?
A placement is valuable when the extra year gives you useful experience, a stronger understanding of the work and evidence you can carry into final year. It is not automatically the right answer for every student.
The placement-year application timeline
Many large programmes recruit early, but smaller employers and university-sourced vacancies can continue well into spring. Do not treat September as the only chance, but do not wait for spring to start.
The application process is graduate recruitment practice
Large placement programmes often use the same tools as graduate schemes, which means the application itself is useful preparation even before you secure a role.
Placement-year fees and Student Finance
The finance rules depend on where you normally live, your course and the type of placement. The figures below explain the current England structure and should be checked against your own funding body.
At an approved fee-cap provider, the placement-year tuition fee can be up to 20% of the normal maximum standard full-time or accelerated-course fee.
This is the arithmetic maximum for a standard full-time 2026/27 fee cap of £9,790. Your university may charge less and different provider categories have different caps.
The same 20% placement structure is set to continue in 2027/28 for the standard maximum at qualifying fee-cap providers.
England fee structure checked against the Department for Education's 2026/27 and 2027/28 tuition-fee guidance. Student Finance can also be lower in a placement year, so check the amount shown in your own entitlement rather than assuming a fixed percentage applies to everyone.
Will your placement year be paid?
Many commercial placement years are salaried, but UK minimum-wage law has a specific student-placement exemption that makes the legal position more complicated than "every placement must pay minimum wage".
If the placement is required by the course
Students doing work experience as a required part of a UK-based further or higher education course are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage for that placement if it does not exceed one year. Employers can still choose to pay a salary, and many do.
- Compare the annual salary with rent and commuting costs
- Check whether travel, relocation or meal support is included
- Ask how annual leave and pension enrolment work
- Confirm whether the role is genuinely part of the approved course placement
If the exemption does not apply
Internship and work-experience labels do not decide pay rights. Where you are legally a worker and no exemption applies, normal minimum-wage rules can apply.
- Check the contract rather than relying on the word "intern"
- Keep records of hours and agreed pay
- Use ACAS or GOV.UK if the employment status is unclear
- Do not assume unpaid work is lawful simply because it offers experience
See current GOV.UK work-experience and minimum-wage guidance.
have a part-time job or are currently looking for one
351 of 500 respondents in Unifresher's 2026 Student Experience Survey were either already working part time or actively looking.
How to make the 12 months useful
The value of a placement is not the job title on your CV. It is the evidence, contacts and professional habits you bring back.
Learn the system
Understand the team, tools, decision-making and what good performance looks like before trying to prove yourself with everything at once.
Own something
Ask for a project or responsibility with a clear outcome. This gives you better evidence than only supporting other people's work.
Widen the network
Meet teams outside your immediate role, ask how careers develop and understand which parts of the organisation interest you.
Capture the evidence
Record projects, numbers, feedback and skills before access disappears. Ask about references, return opportunities and staying in touch.
International students can do course placements, but the visa rules matter
A qualifying work placement is treated differently from ordinary term-time work when it is an assessed and integral part of the sponsored course.
For qualifying degree-level study with an eligible sponsor, a work placement can form part of the course and can be up to half of the total course length where the immigration-rule conditions are met.
The placement needs to meet Student route requirements. Do not assume an independently found year of work is automatically covered by Student visa permission. Confirm approval with your university before accepting.
Current rules are set out in Appendix Student.
Placement year FAQs
Quick answers to the questions that matter before you add another year to the degree.
What is a placement year?
A placement year, industrial placement or sandwich year is an extended period of work built into a university course, commonly between the penultimate and final year. The university normally needs to approve the role and can require assessments or reports during the year.
When should I apply for placement years?
Start preparing before second-year autumn if your placement will begin the following summer. Many large employers open in September and autumn, while smaller employers can recruit later into spring.
How much is the placement-year tuition fee in England?
For qualifying sandwich courses at approved fee-cap providers, the placement-year fee can be up to 20% of the normal maximum standard full-time or accelerated fee. On the £9,790 standard 2026/27 maximum, 20% is £1,958. Your actual university fee can be lower.
Do I still get a Maintenance Loan on placement?
You may still qualify for maintenance support, but the amount can be lower during a placement year and depends on the placement type, location, course and funding system. Check the award calculated by your funding body rather than using a blanket percentage from an old guide.
Does a placement have to pay minimum wage?
Not always. There is a specific minimum-wage exemption for students doing required work experience as part of a UK-based further or higher education course where the placement does not exceed one year. Many commercial placements are still salaried. Other internships can be entitled to minimum wage depending on employment status and exemptions.
Can international students do placement years?
Yes, where the placement is an assessed and integral part of a qualifying sponsored course and the Student route rules are met. University approval is essential because an ordinary year of employment is not automatically covered by the placement provisions.
What happens if I cannot find a placement?
If the placement is optional, many universities allow students to return to the non-placement version of the course, but the rules and deadlines vary. If it is compulsory, speak to the placement team early so the university can explain the approved alternatives and support available.
A placement year should give you more than a line on the CV.
Choose the role carefully, understand the funding before you commit and use the year to collect evidence you can take into final year and graduate applications.