Accredited work experience
The University of Hertfordshire is committed to providing opportunities for our students to gain accredited work experience.
Work experience can be defined and undertaken in a variety of ways but is essentially any form of employment that a student may engage in during their time at university. Whether this is on or off campus, full/part time, within industry or community settings, paid/volunteering, or toward professional enterprise development, there’s a range of options to boost employability after graduation.
The work experience and placement options available aren't restricted - they are wide-ranging and designed to identify relevant opportunities to further your learning and employable skills while you study. In short, if an experience is sufficiently related to your study area and can be recognised through assessment as something that contributes to your learning or preparation as a graduate, it may be credited with a module, part of a module, or a special award title within your programme of study.
Push the boundaries of work experience while you study
Our definition of work experience in the School of Creative Arts is broad, and our approach is in tune with our sector(s). This means that staff may be willing to consider work experience proposals from students that take a variety of ‘non-traditional’ forms, including the setting up of their own business, engagement with the commissioning of artistic work, etc.
Academic staff will actively support students in this area through guidance, and students are very much encouraged to engage in work based activities as part of their study – to be enterprising and self-motivated, to seek out opportunities, and to make the most of the wider support offered by the university, for example, the Careers, Employment and Enterprise Service. (Link to page about this)
It should be noted upfront that although our courses have been designed to support a variety of options for accredited work experience to be undertaken, our courses and our academic staff themselves are not ‘placement providers’. However, that is not to say that our staff will not actively seek placement opportunities for our students.
Options for work experience while you study
The School of Creative Arts has a variety of options on offer to help facilitate short, medium, and long-term work experiences related to study that can be accredited within our programmes of study.
Short-term work experience
For this option, you may be permitted to substitute part of a module and part of its assessment, for resulting work related to a short period of work experience.
Indicative duration(s) of short-term work experience:
- c.75 hours if within a 15 credit module
- c.150 hours if within a 30 credit module
- c.225 hours if within a 45 credit module
Medium-term work experience
With prior agreement from the Programme Leader, many of our programmes include the option for one module (only) to be substituted by another module of the same credit value that has been specifically designed to accommodate accredited work experience.
Indicative duration(s) of mid-term work experience:
- c.150 hours if in place of a 15 credit module
- c.300 hours if in place of a 30 credit module
- c.450 hours if in place of a 45 credit module
Both short-term and medium-term work experiences may be undertaken simultaneously with your other study commitments during the academic year that the module is running, or undertaken during the summer period (Semester C) prior to the start of the academic year that the module will commence.
Long-term work experience
Our Sandwich Award (also referred to as an ‘Industrial Placement’ or ‘Internship’) allows you to engage in work experience for a year between the second and final years of full-time study, successfully completing a dedicated Sandwich module.
For a Sandwich Year to take place, all agreements need to be in place by Week 3 of the academic year that the placement will commence.
Indicative duration of long-term sandwich placements:
- A Sandwich work experience placement must be sustained for no less than 36 weeks in duration
All students MUST complete the ‘Work Experience Agreement Form’, regardless of the type or duration of the Work Experience.