Placement Options
There are many things you can do during your placement experience, including a combination of options.
Our award-winning Employer Engagement Team work closely with hundreds of companies around the world to provide you with exciting opportunities. We work with big companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, Network Rail, Aldi, The Prince’s Trust, and Rolls-Royce, as well as SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises). For those of you interested in a study placement, we have partner universities all over the globe.
How you spend your placement is up to you – there are lots of options which we’ve outlined below.
Don’t forget, we have a team of friendly Placement Coordinators who are here to support you with your search. They can explore your options with you.
Want to know what is required for an opportunity to qualify as a placement? Take a look at this handy guide!
You can complete between 30-48 weeks with one organisation, either in the UK or abroad. You must work a minimum of 16 hours per week.
You can study abroad with one of our partner universities. We've put together a really useful guide to help you to explore your options for studying abroad.
Alix Twiggs did a Study Abroad placement in Valencia, Spain. We interviewed her for our From Campus to Careers podcast, and you can hear all about her experience below.
Enterprise placements enable you to set up and/or run a business for your placement year. Enterprise Placements are managed jointly by the Aston Enterprise and Careers and Placements team. If eligible, you may also be able to receive support via the BSEEN programme during your placement year. Interested?
Applications for 2023/2024 enterprise placements are now open. Find out more.
Undertaking a placement in 2023/2024 will mean you have to complete between 30 and 48 weeks of placement experience. This can be made up of one or more of the flexible combinations below:
For any of the flexible placement options below, you must work at least 16 hours per week for 5 weeks to meet the minimum requirements for it to be considered part of your placement year experience.
Options | |
Part-time Job | You can take a part-time role. However, you must provide proof your employer is happy to accommodate this first before it can be approved. |
Join the family business | You could take on projects with the family business, as long as they would develop your skills. The business must have public liability insurance to be approved. Please speak to your Placement Coordinator about this option. |
Entry-level jobs | Entry-level jobs could be a good option for you to gain valuable work experience. |
Volunteering | Get some work experience and have a positive impact on your community! |