Work experience
Every full time student at Nottingham College needs to complete a minimum of 30 hours of work experience or industry activities. Your course type and level will determine which type of work experience you will need to partake in. Students who are studying courses with a mandatory placement such as a T level will need to complete their required hours for the course.
Industry Placements
Industry Placements are the mandatory placements you need to complete in order to achieve your qualification such as T levels or BTECs. The placement will be with a profession related to your chosen course - This can be sourced by yourself or we will have our placement team on hand to help.
Industry activities
Industry activities are different from the standard work experience, they provide insights into the work environment through industry professionals. There is a large variety of different activities to partake in, each will provide essential skills and experience to boost your confidence and provide insight into your chosen career path.
What are the benefits?
Getting used to the work environment
The workplace will be different to what you are used to at college, placements will help you learn what these differences are and boost your confidence in a exciting new environment!
Learning new skills
During your placement you will have the opportunity to apply your skills learnt from your course in a professional setting whilst also learning even more from the industry professionals!
Develop your CV
Work experience is crucial for an impressive CV - with some employers insisting on having some form of experience to get the job. The employer may even provide a statement for future Job applications!
Start networking
Through work experience and placements you will begin to meet other professionals and put your name out there which will help massively in the future when looking to start your career journey!
Check out what one of our students had to say about their work experience!
For Jemima, welcoming Nottingham College students into the business is a full-circle moment. Having started her own career at WigWag as a student, she’s now helping to mentor others taking their first steps into the creative industry.
“My experience working with students from Nottingham College has been really rewarding,” said Jemima. “It’s amazing to see them grow from being inexperienced in the workplace to becoming part of the team – developing their technical and social skills, and growing in confidence. It’s a journey that I’ve been part of myself.”
FAQs
Work experience is a an amazing opportunity to get hands on experience in a real working environment that’ll help you gain practical skills and insight into your chosen career.
It helps you build your CV, develop key employability skills, and zone in on your career goals.
Work experience and placements are not mandatory for students studying lower level courses, however, students are expected to engage in relevant industry-related activities. Industry activities provide insight into the profession related to the course. It is a vital part of your studies with us and helps prepare you for future employment or education.
Typically work experience can last 1–2 weeks or a minimum of 30 hours, but some courses offer extended placements like T levels which will see you take on an industry placement for a minimum of 315 hours. These longer placements are an amazing opportunity to get your foot in the door in your chosen industry.
There’s lots of ways in which you can find work experience or an industry placement, including:
- Ask your course tutors and our work experience team to support you
- Talk to our careers team about which industries you want to work in
- Search online and locally for opportunities (e.g., local businesses, job boards).
- Network with family, friends, or tutors – this is a common route that many of our students take!
Yes you can! If you have a placement lined up, please contact the work placements team to let them know the details so we can add it to your record.
You can do placements in a wide range of industries, it really is up to you and what you want to experience. This could include:
- Office-based (admin, marketing, IT)
- Retail or hospitality
- Health and social care
- Construction or engineering
- Creative industries (media, design)
- Public sector (councils, libraries, NHS)
- Plus many more!
Get in touch with the work placement team if you want to learn more about the employers we work with.
Absolutely! It's valuable evidence of your skills and motivation
Yes! Some students are offered part-time jobs or apprenticeships after impressing during their placement.
If you have additional needs or requirements please let the work placement team know so we can work with the employer to ensure reasonable adjustments are made.
If you are struggling to find a placement, please get in touch with our work placement team and they will try to support you in finding a suitable placement.
The employer should tell you what to wear if there is a dress code or uniform requirements. But if you don’t hear anything please get in touch with the employer or our work placement team to support.
Contact our work experience team or your tutor if you have any issues or concerns on your work placement.
Got any more questions?
Our dedicated work placements team will be happy to answer any of your queries!
