All our undergraduate and some of our postgraduate courses give you the option of going on a placement. You can decide whether you want to go on a placement after you’ve started your course and over 60% of all science students do choose to go on one.

• Placements give you the opportunity to make contacts and try out future career options to see if it's what you really want to do.
• They're valuable for developing transferable skills to enhance your CV, including improving your problem solving abilities, time management skills and prioritising tasks to meet deadlines.
• You'll have the chance to put what you've learnt so far on your course to practical use. Students say the skills they develop on placement are useful for completing the rest of their studies.

'I think the placement helped me to be better at university. I'd get up every day at 7 in the morning and be productive and that's what I applied in my 3rd year as well. I'd get up to campus earlier than I used to and then use the day.' — Nadia Jaszczynska, BSc Natural Sciences including placement

As a graduate with employment experience you're more likely to be highly valued and sought after by employers. Some students receive a graduate job offer from their placement employer.

In 2021-2022, the average salary for paid placements within the UK was £20,399, with most students earning between £16,000 and £26,000^1. Earnings may vary depending on the degree and placement.

'A paid placement is nice. It's a higher standard of living than when you're trying to stretch a student budget.' — Lewis Dixon, MChem Chemistry including placement year

During your placement, you'll usually pay a reduced tuition fee to the University instead of the full year's fee. The reduced fee pays for support from our Placement teams before, during, and after your placement.

Find out more about the tuition fees you'll pay for your course.

Many of our employers only take Bath students and over 450 employers advertise placements with us.

Recent employers include:

• BAE Systems
• CERN
• GSK
• JP Morgan
• PayPal
• Science & Technologies Facilities Council

'I’ve worked with 4 placement students now as my marketing assistants over the last 4 years, and all have been really amazing in terms of what they’ve brought to the team and achieved.' — Craig Bradley, Head of Marketing - Immunology & HAE, Takeda UK.

We have a team of staff within the Faculty of Science dedicated to supporting you in your search for a placement. They'll help you find available positions and advise you about CVs and interviews. They run skills workshops to prepare you for the recruitment process and will stay in regular contact with you throughout the year.

Each member of the placements team is a specialist in a certain subject. They'll be able to offer in-depth advice to both you and your placement employer and are experts in matching students with employers.

You will also be visited by a member of staff while you're on placement to ensure you get the best experience possible.