Placements are a valuable part of the courses here at Huddersfield.

We know how much employers value graduates who have real-world experience on their CV and that is why we encourage our students to make the most of the opportunities available during your time at Huddersfield.

There’s a real focus on the practical career environment and I love the University’s emphasis on work placements.

Hannah Kitching, Travel and Tourism Management BA(Hons)

What’s in it for me?

  1. Work with the best - we work with some of the biggest and best companies in the UK and overseas to ensure you have the best possible opportunities during your time at Huddersfield. Our students have gone on to work for companies like The BBC, Sky, Burberry, Red Bull F1 and KPMG to name but a few. Find out more about the companies we work with on our Who we work with page.
  2. Graduate employability - some of our students return from their placement year with sponsorship and the offer of a permanent job from their host company, and this is reflected in our excellent graduate employability record. 96.5% of our undergraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).
  3. Get paid* - if you are on a placement year, you are usually paid by the company employing you, and are regarded as a regular employee undertaking a real job of work with appropriate responsibility.
  4. All the support you need - you will be allocated a work supervisor and an academic staff member from the University would normally visit the supervisor to discuss your progress at various times throughout the year, so we will be in regular contact.

*In some instances, a placement or period of work experience may be unpaid. Take a look at the course you're interested in for the placement opportunities that may be available.

Industry experience

Most of the courses at Huddersfield include the opportunity to gain industry experience and we're one of the UK's leading universities when it comes to integrating work placements into our courses. And that's precisely what employers are looking for - evidence of real-world work experience.

A work placement can last for 1 to 48 weeks.

If you have a burning desire to work overseas, we will work with you to try and ensure you secure an international placement. Our students have gone on to work for companies all over the globe and we have links with some of the leading companies with headquarters in countries on all continents.

Enterprise placement year

You’ve got a bright business idea or a small bedroom enterprise, but what next?

If you think you’ve got what it takes, you could choose to set up and run your own business during an Enterprise Placement Year* – instead of taking a conventional work placement with an employer. Over the years, we’ve helped (and are helping) lots of students like you take the first step on a really exciting journey.

To find out more about the Enterprise Placement Year visit the Enterprise Team.

*International students should initially seek visa compliance guidance from the University International Office.

I had a lot of fun developing my own business on EPY, and a great aspect of it is making progress alongside fellow EPYers and seeing the variety of businesses. This definitely helped to motivate me, as well as the immense support from the helpful and friendly Enterprise Team.

Hashim Sharif, Business & Management (BA Hons) 2023, UG PCs

Who we work with

As you can imagine, with so many different courses to choose from at Huddersfield, our students have the opportunity to go and work at a wide variety of companies out in the real world and come back feeling energised for their final year at the University. Here are just a few of the companies that our students have completed their placement year with:

Primark

Oxfam Barbour
Tog24 Puma Matalan
Burberry Universal Music DLA Piper
Siemens Boeing Volkswagen
Nestle Walt Disney Corporation Lloyds Banking Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers Cross Country Rail  Arla Foods
Morrisons Aldi Management Scheme Deloitte

100% of our undergraduate students have the opportunity to undertake professional work-related experience during their studies. This includes placements, industry standard projects and real-world case studies**.
** This applies to undergraduate courses of more than 12 months duration.

How can I find out more?

You will see information about any placement opportunities for your chosen course in the course information listings, and of course you can talk to your tutors about this in detail at our Open Days. You can also watch our video below and hear from current students about their placement and the benefits and opportunities available to students at Huddersfield.

Meet our placement students

Get a real picture of what it’s like to work out in your chosen industry. Whether it’s a summer job, sandwich year, placement or graduate job, this section is full of quotes by real University of Huddersfield students doing real jobs.

Meet students
100% have the opportunity to undertake work-related experience
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Work placement articles by our students

Hear from current students talking about life on campus, their tutors and the benefits of work placement.

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Find a course

Find a course that's right for you and learn about the placement opportunities available.