Industrial experience - introduction for students
While studying towards your physics degree, you can enrich your experience by doing a summer internship or a year in industry placement. The advantage of doing an industrial placement, whether a short one over the summer or a long one for a year, is that it will enhance your degree studies with experience of working in a professional context solving actual business needs of your host organisation. You will apply your classroom learning to solve problems, you will improve your communication and team-working skills working alongside colleagues in a professional setting, you will gain confidence and insights into your strengths and get a clearer idea about what you would like to do professionally once you graduate.
A summer internship and a year in industry vary in depth and breadth of experience, but they are both valuable in terms of the professional skills and confidence you will gain. To undertake a summer internship, one does not need to do any changes to the programme of study. To undertake a year in industry, one would need to transfer to a programme variant that will include a placement year. The school's Placement Officer will help you choose an option with an industrial placement tailored to your individual circumstances and guide you through the process of programme transfer. The Placement officer will also provide comprehensive support to students looking and applying for internships and placements. To see some of the options available to you, please have a look at the Physics Careers Case Study Tool at our White Rose Industrial Physics Academy web page where we showcase a broad variety of opportunities available to physics students.
As a placement student, you remain a registered student at the university and the Placements Officer will keep in touch to provide ongoing support while you are on the placement. All students on a Placement Year are subject to reduced tuition fees. Tuition fees for the placement year are given in the table below.
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Work placement year in the United Kingdom from year 2025-26 onwards
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£1,905 (Home fees)
20% of the relevant international fee
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Work placement year outside the United Kingdom from year 2025-26 onwards
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£1,430 (Home fees)
20% of the relevant international fee
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| For questions about internships and placements, please contact the school's Placement Officer. |
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