Professional placement experiences that set you apart
All of our undergraduate students have the opportunity to spend a year on a salaried professional placement as part of their degree.
Study
Test-drive a career and stand out to employers
Professional placements
All of our Business courses and Economics courses have the opportunity to include a professional placement as an integral part of the degree.
Spending up to a year on professional placement enables you to test drive a career, make the most of your final year and stand out to employers.
We work with over 2000 companies worldwide, from multinationals to start-ups and social enterprises. You have options too:
- One year on placement (up to three placements)
- Six months on placement and six months studying abroad
It’s even possible to do a self-employed placement as part of our ‘Year in Enterprise’ scheme where you start up your own company.
Jess' placement at the Bank of England
Jess had a fantastic 12-month placement experience with the Bank of England, and was nominated for a Loughborough University award in recognition of her achievements.
Maddy's placement at Unilever
Maddy describes her incredible achievements on Unilever, how it helped her secure a graduate job with them.
Lucas' placement at Styliff
Lucas describes his incredible experiences and achievements on placement with start-up Styliff.
Every year we see the increasing benefits of the placement year, and every year the returning placement students enthuse about the value of their year out.
- Test-drive a career. You will develop your understanding of business and be able focus more clearly on fine-tuning your final year module choices to suit your career aspirations.
- Professional responsibility. A year on placement gives you the opportunity to put theory into practice, develop key skills such as leadership, communication and teamwork, and even take on managerial responsibilities
- Personal development. Every year our finalists return more confident, mature in outlook and focussed on their career objectives.
- Potential job offer. Typically around 1/3rd of placement students are offered a job by their placement employer.
Our placement students are paid a salary by their employing organisation during their placement year. Satisfactory completion of the placement results in a Diploma in Professional Studies in addition to your degree on graduation.
- We were one of the first business schools to include placements as an integral part of its undergraduate degree courses.
- We now have one of the best records for placing students in top businesses throughout Britain, regularly placing students in top companies such as 3M, IBM, Lloyds Bank, Microsoft, PwC, Morgan Stanley, Unilever, Waitrose, Rolls-Royce and Walt Disney, to name a few.
- Most placements are in the UK but it is possible to spend the placement year abroad. Students with appropriate language skills are particularly encouraged to seek placements in other countries.
- We work with over 2000 corporate contacts around the world.
Although it will be your responsibility to find your own placement, we offer exceptional support tailored to help you find the placement that suits you best.
Our experienced Placements Office team work with over 2000 organisations around the globe and offer extensive support via:
- Employer presentations
- Seminars to help you prepare for interviews and the placement itself
- Skills sessions
- A bespoke resource hub and vacancy database
- Dedicated social media channels
- Drop in sessions
In addition to Loughborough hosting the UK's largest annual Graduate and Placements Fair, every year we organise an intesive 2-day Employer Speed Presentation event where typically 35-40 companies of all sizes and sectors present their placement opportunities.
If you’re a student interested in hearing more about our professional placements, or if you’re a company interested in discussing the benefits of placing a student with skills in business and management, please contact us on:
T: +44 (0)1509 223141
E: sbe.placements@lboro.ac.uk
Click on the links below to hear from some of our students on their experiences whilst on placements.
- Anna Forsyth, Audit Partnership Ltd
- Jessie Ofei, Goldman Sachs
- Tim Ive, IBM
- Emily Shore, PepsiCo
- Busayo Olarinde, Goldman Sachs
For more stories and videos on placement experiences from students and graduates, please visit our student profiles page.
If you are a company and are interested in recruiting our students for professional placements, please visit the information for companies page.
