Work Placements
All our full-time students carry out work placement or experience. This can be working on an employer-led project, spending a few days with a company, or something more substantial like an industry placement with an employer working for one or two days a week.
We work with local, regional and national organisations to provide work experience and placements. Our relationships with businesses are an important aspect of developing our students and supporting their career progression.
We offer a variety of different placement models, which can be tailored to your specific business needs. We work closely with you to understand your offer and needs to ensure that the placement benefits our students and your business.
We have three types of placements:
1. Work Placements as a requirement of the qualification
Students on these courses must attend a placement and meet a minimum number of hours to achieve the qualification.
Subjects with mandatory placements include:
- Health and Social Care
- Childcare and Early Years
- Animal Management
- Floristry
- Teacher Education
- Teaching Assistants
- Sports Coaching.
If you can provide a student placement, please complete the form at the bottom of this page and a member of our Work Placement Team will contact you.
2. Industry Placements
T Level students must a minimum of 315 hours, over one or two academic years. This means that you have an additional member of staff for a significant period of time.
T Level subjects include:
- Accountancy
- Animal Management
- Business Support Services
- Design, Plan and Survey for Construction: Civil Engineering and Construction & the Built Environment
- Digital Design and Development
- Education: Teaching and Early Years Education
- Electrical Installation
- Fashion & Clothing
- Health and Social Care: Mental Health, Nursing and Healthcare Professional
3. Study Programme Placements
These are placements that all students must complete. They are a minimum of 15 hours across an academic year; however, we do encourage them to do more. Every student is encouraged to find some form of work experience associated with their course. They can carry out these placements through working on-site, on an employer-led project, or on a virtual placement.
How do student placements benefit your organisation?
Work experience and placements are a flexible method of student support without the associated commitment of taking on a new employee. We offer specialist support for placements through the college’s dedicated Work Placement Team.
We can help you to:
- Attract motivated young people to your business with fresh ideas and often highly developed digital capability.
- Improve the recruitment pipeline.
- Address local and national skills gaps developing in young people the skills your industry needs.
- Develop employee mentoring and management skills.
- Build a more diverse and creative workforce.
- Play an important role in the local community.
- Build partnerships with local training and education providers.
- Save on recruitment costs, providing the opportunity to see what the young person can offer, on a no obligation employment basis.
- Click here for our Work Placement leaflet.
Placement support
Our Work Placement Team is a dedicated support resource to guide you through the process from initial enquiry to the student starting work.
- Your initial enquiry for student placement / work experience.
- We arrange a meeting or call you to find out more about your requirements.
- We liaise with our tutors to gauge student interest and ensure that the right candidate is put forward for the placement.
- We visit your organisation to complete an Employer Agreement (agree the objectives of the placement) and a simple Health and Safety check to ensure the environment is safe for our learner.
- You meet the student for an informal chat or interview and agree a start date.
- We monitor the placement and support you for the agreed placement duration.
Call the Work Placement Team on 01942 761530 or e mail workplacements@wigan-leigh.ac.uk
Alternatively, you can complete the enquiry form below.
