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What is the Year in Industry?

The year in industry (also known as the sandwich year) is taken by nearly 70% of our undergraduate students and can form part of any of the School of Computing’s degree programmes.  Taking place between the second and final years of study, the year in industry gives you the opportunity to work in real-life, business-critical roles which relate to the programme of study.  The placement year forms an integral and assessed part of the degree and gives you the opportunity to put into practice much of the knowledge gained in the first two years of study, as well as completely new skills useful for the future.  The year in industry is also an ideal way to get a clearer picture of current graduate careers in computing and IT.

All industrial placements attract a salary, with the average outside London exceeding £15,000. Some salaries in London are over £30,000.  Many students are able to collaborate with their placement employer on their final-year group project, and some secure a graduate job offer before their placement ends.

Three of our students feature in two short films, produced by e-skills, recounting their experience of being on placement at Select Software UK Ltd and Kinetic Solutions.

Who can I work for?

The Placement Office has industrial links with hundreds of companies from numerous industries, both in the UK and overseas.  Our industrial partners include:

• Banks: HSBC and Morgan Stanley
• Pharmacy: Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline
• Entertainment: Warner Brothers and Disney
• Technology: IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and Thales
• Defense: DSTL

Over the course of your second year you will receive details from over 100 companies requiring placement students, some of whom will be recruiting for several students at once.  IBM, for example, recruits around 500 placement students each year.

While most students undertake UK-based placements, there is the opportunity for School of Computing undergraduates to secure placements abroad. We regularly have students working in the US, Asia and continental Europe. UK and EU students who secure placements in the European Union are also eligible for a grant through the Erasmus scheme as well as language tuition in certain circumstances (subject to certain criteria).

In 2007, the School of Computing set up a placement exchange programme with City University of Hong Kong. Since then every year two of our students go to Hong Kong and work for a big company, such as HSBC.

In 2011 we started regular placements at Cisco in California. In 2012/13 twenty of our students are on placement there. See what the first group did:

Read what other Year in Industry students have to say about their experiences.

What help is available?

To help you arrange your year in industry placement the school has a Placement Office with a team dedicated to helping you get the right job. They will help you to secure a placement, and monitor and support you during your placement. 

Activities that will help you to find a suitable placement begin in your first year of study. However the most intensive support is given to you in your second year. Please see the Year in Industry - Student Timetable to get a clearer idea of the process.

Each year the school organises a Campus Day for students who are part-way through their placement. Students use the day to share their experiences of working in industry and also to prepare themselves for their return to university in September when they begin their final year of study.