Improve your employability with a School of Management work placement
Get real work experience and earn a salary with an undergraduate placement at one of our partner companies.
Learn business, live business
We want to help kickstart your career. That’s why all of our undergraduate courses offer work placement opportunities.
Placements let you put your studies into action in a real job while learning about a particular industry. Most pay a real salary. Employers often look for workplace experience and many make graduate offers to students as a direct result of placements.
We have over 400 company partners from across all business sectors and of all sizes.
With our worldwide connections, the globe is at your fingertips.
Placements are not guaranteed, but our dedicated Placements Team will do everything they can to support you through the process.
The placement advantage
There are many benefits to doing a work placement
Work placements are:
- valued by employers
- a way to give you an advantage in a competitive job market
- a chance to try out a career you are considering
- a way to gain new skills (and sometimes professional qualifications)
- a potential route into full-time employment
How placements work on our courses
All of our BSc courses offer work placement opportunities.
Placements on our undergraduate courses
BSc Accounting & Finance and BSc Accounting & Management
- a 12-month placement in Year Three of the four-year course
- takes place summer to summer
BSc Business
- two six-month placements, one during Year Two and the second in Year Three. Placements can be with two different companies
- placement one: Summer to January/February
- placement two: January/February to Summer
BSc International Management & Modern Languages
- work placement in Year Three of the four-year course
- placement only option: at least nine months with a company in another country
- study abroad option: an academic year studying at one of our partner business schools in France, Spain, Germany, Latin America or Canada
- combination: one semester studying and one semester working
- takes place summer to summer
BSc Management
- a 12-month placement in Year Three of the four-year course
- takes place summer to summer
BSc Management with Marketing
- 12-month placement in Year Three of the four-year course. Placements must be in a marketing role
- takes place summer to summer
BSc International Management
- work placement in Year Three of the four-year course.
- placement only option: at least six months with an international company
- study abroad option: study at one of our partner business schools
- combination: one semester studying and one semester working
- takes place summer to summer
We recommend that all students study or work abroad, but it's possible to stay in the UK for your placement if:
- you're working at a multinational company
- your role has a significant international aspect
Improve your employability
We work hard to help you gain an advantage in a competitive job market.
We’ve designed our courses to give you the skills you need to succeed in the working world. Because of the business focus in the classroom and our placements, Bath graduates are highly sought after.
Stand-out candidates are more than their degree. Put your key skills to the test. Take your experience forward as you start your career.
Undergraduate placement stories: Wild
BSc Business students Neroli and Natasha share the opportunities that have been available to them on their placement at Wild.
Placing you with the right company
We have strong connections with some of the world’s leading businesses.
Our Placements Team will help you:
- find the right placement
- complete your applications
- prepare for interviews and assessment centres
Current placement employers include:
Consultancy/professional services
- PwC
- Accenture
- Deloitte
- EY
FMCGs and retail
- Kraft Heinz
- L'Oréal
- Unilever
- GlaxoSmithKline
Finance and banking
- Goldman Sachs
- HSBC
- JP Morgan
- BNY Mellon
Telecommunication, energy, technology
- Virgin Media
- Vodafone
- IBM
SMEs, start-ups, creative agencies, marketing and PR
- AKQA
- Wild Cosmetics
- Rocket Internet
- Wheely
You can also do voluntary or charity work for your placements, if you want to give something back. Previous students have worked for hospitals and charities.
How we help you
We have over 40 years' experience placing students with the right companies.
All our courses include our Professional Development Programme (PDP). You will receive training, attend workshops and get help finding placements.
Through PDP, you will:
- improve your CV writing and job application skills
- improve your interview skills
- improve your aptitude test skills
- increase your commercial awareness
- gain industry and sector insights from sessions with alumni and industry contacts
The PDP will help you get the most out of your placement. PDP sessions are run by the Placements Team, the University’s careers network and placement employers.
We help to make sure placements are relevant for your intended career. We’ll keep in regular contact and support you throughout your placement. We will visit all UK-based students where possible.
Develop your language skills
The University's Foreign Languages Service offers a range of language courses and learning opportunities. These may help you prepare for a placement in another country or with global firms trading in the UK. You'll have the opportunity to gain globally-recognised qualifications while improving your language skills.
Available languages
- Arabic
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Mandarin Chinese
- Spanish
These courses are extracurricular and will not count towards your chosen degree.
Earn and learn
Get paid while gaining experience.
Most placements pay a salary, although we can't guarantee you will get one. In 2022/23, our average salaries for students on placement in the UK were:
- BSc Management: £22,321. The highest salary was £37,000. This is based on data provided by 79 students who went on placement in the UK
- BSc Management with Marketing: £21,655. The highest salary was £36,000. This is based on data provided by 67 students who went on placement in the UK
- BSc Accounting and Finance: £20,734. The highest salary was £46,000. This is based on data provided by 73 students who went on placement in the UK
- BSc Business:
- £21,211 for the first placement. This is based on data provided by 101 students who went on their first placement in the UK.
- £27,324 for the second placement. This is based on data provided by 109 students who went on their second placement in the UK.
- the highest salary was £70,000.
If you're an international student you will be able to do a paid placement if you have a Student visa.
‘The placement team at Bath was instrumental in helping me secure my placement and provided ongoing support throughout the year. They were always available to answer any questions or concerns I had.’
More information
Contact us
We're here to answer any questions you have about professional placements.