Every year LUMS holds a Placement Fair at which employers and placement students come to campus to recruit for the next placement cycle. In this video they describe the value of placements.
Undergraduate student placement opportunities
Lancaster University Management School has over 200 students each year who are available to undertake placements with organisations. The placements are an assessed part of the student's course. Placements can be of 12, 6 or 3 months' duration.
Most undergraduates requiring placements are taking a general management degree called the BBA in Management or the BBA in European Management. Other students come from more specialised areas such as Marketing Management, Management Science, Operations Management, Management and Entrepreneurship and Management and Organisations. The students on these courses are of high academic calibre, and employers have found them to be capable, highly motivated and commercially aware. On our Undergraduate Profile pages, you'll find many case studies in which our graduates talk about the placements they have completed.
As with all Management School programmes, these courses place a very strong emphasis on practice as well as theory. One of the most important aims of our degrees is to prepare the students for a career in management. Placements should therefore involve genuine responsibility for the students.
Lancaster University Management School facilitates, monitors and co-ordinates all placements. At the end of the placements students are expected to submit a report or dissertation (depending on type of placement) on their experience to the Management School.
12-month placements
BBA in Management, specialist degrees in Marketing Management, Management and Entrepreneurship, Management Science, Operations Management and Management and Organisations
Students undertaking a full-year placement will have completed their second year at Lancaster University Management School and will return for their fourth and final year at the end of the placement. The placement therefore forms part of their degree and as such they are required to submit a 40-50 page dissertation on their placement during their final year.
The full-year placement is therefore a very important part of the students' degree. It enables them to gain practical first-hand experience of issues faced in management today and the methods used to tackle them.
Students take on a wide variety of jobs which we consider 'approved employment'. The best placements for both students and employers are those that can be classed as 'real' jobs, work essential to the employer that involves genuine responsibility.
Timescales: Students are available from mid/late June each year, and placements must end in time for them to return to their course at the end of September the following year.
Costs: Students are usually paid a wage of between £14,000 and £17,000 per year depending on location.
6-month placements
BBA In European Management: A small number of students spending the third and fourth year of their BBA in the UK require a 4-6 month placement. These students will be fluent in both English and a European language, will have had two years' management tuition, and will have already completed a six-month managerial placement in Europe. It is therefore possible for organisations to assign them to fairly substantial projects.
Timescales: Students are available from January.
Costs: There is no fixed rate of pay for these placements, although many employers pay students according to the scales fixed for other employees. At the very least students must be paid enough to cover basic living costs. We would currently recommend a minimum weekly rate of £180 (more if in London). This is to ensure that the students do not incur a financial loss during the placement.
3-month placements
BBA in European Management: This is a four-year degree with students spending two years in the UK and two years in France, Germany, Italy or Spain. Students on this programme tend to come from one of these four countries.
Students spending their first two years in the UK are required to undertake a work placement in each of the first two summer vacations. This is to enable the students to begin to appreciate the realities of management in practice, not just by observing but also by making a positive contribution.
Timescales: BBA in European Management students are available for approximately 12 weeks each year – mid/late June to mid/late September. It is an advantage for both students and organisations if the students return to the same employer for each of these placements.
Costs: There is no fixed rate of pay for these placements, although many employers pay students according to the scales fixed for other employees. At the very least students must be paid enough to cover basic living costs. We would currently recommend a minimum weekly rate of £180 (more if in London). This is to ensure that the students do not incur a financial loss during the placement.
Contact
Further information on all placements can be requested from the LUMS Placements Officer, Rory Daly, on 01524 510763, or email r.daly@lancaster.ac.uk
