PHY-30043 - Module Specification
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Students must be in good academic standing, have a good University attendance record and must have passed all Level 4 and Level 5 (Semester 1) modules with an overall average of equal to or greater than 60% to be eligible for the Work Placement Year module.

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

In a competitive job market, employers are increasingly looking beyond degree results and towards academically successful graduates who also understand how the professional work environment functions and who have well-developed employability skills. Narrowing the gap between the skills students develop during their degree and the skills graduate employers desire can be key to a graduate securing employment and studies suggest a link between graduates who have undertaken a placement and securing employment.
During this Placement Year module, students will undertake a long-term (minimum of 30 weeks, full-time) work placement with a company or organisation undertaking Physics/Astrophysics in an applied setting. Students will be supported in developing key professional and employability skills whilst applying the theories and laboratory skills learnt to real situations in the industrial workplace.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the opportunity to carry out a long-term work-based learning experience (minimum 30 weeks equivalent of full-time work) between Years 2 and 3 (Levels 5 and 6) of their degree programme.
The module will be underpinned by professional skills development, reflective assessment, employer and tutor evaluation, with support from academic tutors.

Intended Learning Outcomes

develop key professional skills in the accurate documentation of information; the analysis and presentation of various types of data: 1
apply the theories and laboratory skills learnt to real situations in the workplace to design, plan, risk asses, and critically evaluate practical investigations: 1
develop employability skills in the presentation and communication of data; the writing of reports; and the ability to work effectively, individually, and as part of a team: 1
explain how their perspective on Physics/Astrophysics has been influenced by working during work placement year: 1

Study hours

The placement year is the equivalent of 120 credits and the student will be expected to be on placement for a MINIMUM of 30 weeks equivalent of full-time work (this is roughly equivalent to a standard university teaching period), therefore a minimum of 1,050 hours should be spent on placement. The placements can continue for up to 12 months, providing the necessary assessments are submitted and passed for progression into the final year (FHEQ Level 6).
2 hours are given for scheduled learning and teaching activities - these are the oral presentations the students are expected to attend. 148 hours are provided for guided independent study.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment