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Placements

Why are work placements so important?

Nursing graduates employment score within six months

Building Your Confidence in the Saving Lives

Whichever Health and Human Science Foundation course you choose, you’ll want to finish your degree and have full confidence in your ability to save lives and help people recover. It is for this reason that all University of Plymouth students spend a significant number of hours gaining experience in real-life work placements. By doing this, you’ll get plenty of practical, hands-on experience throughout your degree and be fully prepared to care for patients.

Improve Your Employability Status

As well as gaining hands-on experience, you’ll also be building your network of contacts in the industry, coming face-to-face with the people who are likely to hire you post-graduation. With all of our students undertaking a wide range of work placements, it is no surprise that our employment rates are outstanding. For example, in the Nursing disciplines, 98% of our students are employed or in further study within 6 months of graduating.

Work Placement Costs

Before starting your course, it is important that you are aware of additional costs that may be encountered during your work placements. These costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

Work Placement Options

BSc Nursing Adult or Mental Health

You will be on placement between 16 to 19 weeks per academic year.

These placements can be in Plymouth or its surroundings, often necessitating a daily bus trip. They can also be further away (Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, North Devon) and require an accommodation on site.

Therefore, you can be permanently based on our Exeter campus if you wish, in which case all your placements will be at a commuting distance from Exeter (by bus).

Bus fares to travel to placement locations around Plymouth (or Exeter if on Exeter campus) would have to be covered by you.

If based on our Plymouth campus, we guarantee that no more than half of the placements overall will require double accommodation.

Likely locations of placements are Truro, Torbay or Exeter (in which case no accommodation should be needed), but other locations are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Nursing Child

You are on placement between 16 to 19 weeks per academic year.

These placements can be in Plymouth or its surroundings, often necessitating a daily bus trip. They can also be further away (Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, North Devon) and require an accommodation on site. Bus fares to travel to placement locations around Plymouth would have to be covered by you.

We guarantee that no more than half of the placements overall will require double accommodation. Likely locations of placements are Truro, Torbay or Exeter (in which case no accommodation should be needed), but other locations are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Dietetics

You will be on placement between 2 to 12 weeks per academic year, dependent upon the stage of study.

These placements can be located anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring you to relocate and to find secondary short-term accommodation nearer to the placement. There may be opportunities when a local placement may be achieved, and public transport might be able to be utilised to get to and from the placement.

You will cover the cost of any placement travel and or relocation. Placements are allocated dependent upon capacity and educational needs. Placement areas may include Cornwall, Exeter, Bristol, Gloucester and Bournemouth. You are provided with a list of placements in stage one and are invited to indicate your five preferred placements, we will aim to guarantee one of your choice placements over the 3-year programme.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Occupational Therapy

You will participate in placements between 7 to 12 weeks per academic year, dependent upon the stage of study.

These placements can be located anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring you to relocate and to find short-term accommodation nearer to the placement. There may be opportunities when a local placement can be achieved and public transport can be utilised to get to and from the placement.

You will cover the costs of any placement travel, and or relocation. The Occupational Therapy placement team aim to provide up to one local placement where public transport may be utilised to get to and from placement, however this cannot be guaranteed. Likely locations of placements are Penzance, Barnstaple, and Exeter (no double accommodation should be needed for Exeter), but other areas are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Optometry

You will participate in Optometry placements for up to one week per academic year during the first and second year of the programme.

These placements can be located anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring you to relocate and find secondary accommodation nearer to the placement. Likely locations of placements are Truro, Torbay and Barnstaple, but other locations are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Paramedic Science

You will participate in clinical placements up to 13 weeks per academic year, dependent upon stage of study.

These placements can be located anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring you to relocate and find short-term accommodation nearer to the placement. There may be opportunities when a local placement can be found, however due to the rural nature of the South West, in this situation a car will most likely be required.

The start and finish times of shifts and weekend working requirements mean that public transport is not a viable option. You will cover the costs of any travel to placements, and/or relocation. We endeavour to utilise a secondary address (family/friend), however placements can be up to one and a half hours from the allocated ambulance station. Possible placement locations can be Frome, Penzance and Axminster, but other locations are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Physiotherapy

You will participate in clinical placements during all three years of the Physiotherapy Programme.

These can be between 4 and 5-week blocks (up to 3 blocks max in a year), this equates to between 4 and 15 placement weeks per academic year dependent upon stage of study. These placements can be located anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring you to relocate and find short-term secondary accommodation at or near the placement area.

The Physiotherapy placement team aim to provide at least one local placement where public transport may be utilised to get to and from placement, however this cannot be guaranteed. You will cover the additional costs of placement travel and accommodation. Placement travel and accommodation costs vary depending on the placement location and duration.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

Podiatry

Students participate in clinical placements over the course of the three-year programme; these can be up to 14 weeks per academic year, dependent upon stage of study.

These placements can be based anywhere within the south west region, normally requiring the student to relocate and find secondary accommodation nearer to the placement. There may be opportunities when a local placement may be achieved and public transport can be utilised to get to and from placement.

The student will cover the costs of any placement travel, and or relocation. The Podiatry placement team aim to provide at least one local placement where public transport may be utilised to get to and from placement, however this cannot be guaranteed. Likely locations of placements are Torbay, Exeter and Bristol, but other locations are possible.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

BSc Radiography

Placement costs will be incurred during the second and third years of study. Placements last for 24 weeks in Second Year and 18 weeks in Third Year. Students who are placed outside of Plymouth in second year will be placed in Plymouth in their third year.

EU students can apply for some reimbursement for this – which can be up to £25 per night in NHS accommodation or £55 per night in commercial accommodation.

Placement costs are similar to most programmes throughout the UK – please speak to Student Services for 2023-2024 guideline costs.

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