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Improve your employability with a Bath placement

Choose an undergraduate placement degree from Bath to increase your employability by gaining valuable work experience and making contacts for the future.

Over 50 years ago the University of Bath was established to fuse academic thinking with practical experience. This is still at the core of what we do today.

Our placements can help you take your ideas and passion for your subject to the next level.

Placements at Bath

Bath graduates are highly valued and sought after by leading graduate employers.

Two-thirds

The majority of our undergraduates choose a placement or to study abroad1

6th

We’re ranked 6th for graduate prospects by the Complete University Guide 2022
90%

90% of our UK-based graduates are in high-skilled employment 15 months after leaving2

Why placements

It’s a great opportunity to get your CV off to an incredible start, have some fun, and gain the skills and experience that set you apart from other graduates.

At Bath, all undergraduate course areas 3/4/5 offer a placement, sometimes called an internship, or study abroad option 6/7. Some placements are paid so you could earn a salary while you work.

Going on a placement gives you the opportunity to work in a business or organisation, apply your academic knowledge and gain practical work experience. Your work may make an impact on the world before you even graduate.

Placements can last between six and twelve months depending on your course and employer. You can even take a placement in different parts of the world.

The majority of students take a placement or study abroad so when you return to finish your degree you'll be back with people you know.

Discover our placement opportunities

Watch a video about the placements opportunities you could have at Bath.

Benefit from dedicated support

Bath's placements teams are well-placed to help you find the placement that’s right for you. They work with a range of organisations and have developed lasting relationships with the companies and charities they've placed students with in the past.

The team will work alongside you to identify your personal objectives, develop your CV, and help you to find a suitable placement. They will also organise practice interviews to help you get the placement you want.

If you are disabled your placements team will work with your employer to understand any adjustments that need to be made and help you to apply for any grants you're eligible for.

A placement student talking with her supervisor

Get transferable skills

A placement gives you the opportunity to learn from experts who’ll share their knowledge with you. As part of a workplace community, you’ll get to meet colleagues and learn more about what the organisation does.

You’ll also learn how to solve problems, manage your time, and work to deadlines. Employers value these transferable skills highly.

Going on a placement will help you to improve your understanding of an employer and industry before you commit to a future career.

A student working on a machine

Make contacts for the future

Build valuable professional connections that could help you with your future career.

As a student, you have a variety of placement options to help you find something to suit your career plans. You could work for a multinational corporation overseas, a small to medium size business in the UK, or a start-up in the local area. Depending on the course you choose, you could do a research-focused placement, or work for a non-governmental organisation or charity.

Our students have previously completed placements at organisations8 like:

Banking and consultancy

  • Deloitte
  • JP Morgan
  • HSBC
  • PWC

Charity and non-governmental organisation (NGO)

  • Cancer Research UK
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital
  • International Citizen Service (ICS)
  • Unicef UK

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail

  • Hello Fresh
  • Innocent Drinks
  • Superdrug
  • Unilever

Pharmaceutical and Science

  • African Lion and Environmental Trust (ALERT)
  • ASL laboratories
  • Cern
  • GlaxoSmithKline

Public sector

  • European Parliament
  • House of Commons
  • Metropolitan Police
  • NHS

Tech and Design

  • Arup
  • Apple
  • Dyson
  • Monodraught

On placement you'll get the opportunity to work with other employees or volunteers, helping you to build valuable professional connections. They could help you with your future career by giving you references for job applications.

If you work really hard and impress your employer it may even lead to a full-time job when you graduate.

Max Robson
‘The more you put in, the more you get out, and if you try something slightly outside your comfort zone, you’ll be sure to feel some reward’
— Max Robson MChem Chemistry including placement year (2018)

Explore undergraduate courses with placements

Find a course
  1. Over two-thirds of Bath-based students graduated from a course with a placement or study abroad option in the 2017/18 academic year
  2. Compared to 74% of employed graduates nationally - data from the Graduate Outcomes Survey for 2017-18 leavers relating to full-time UK domiciled first-degree graduates entering work in the UK 15 months after leaving university
  3. Based on undergraduate courses starting in the 2020/21 academic year
  4. Social Work and Pharmacy have mandatory work-based learning as part of the degree, not year placements
  5. FdSc Sport (Sports Performance) has a placement when taken with a Bachelors top-up
  6. Placements are not guaranteed
  7. Students pay a reduced tuition fee to the University during their placement instead of the full year fee
  8. Company names and logos do not constitute any endorsement or sponsorship by the companies