How can we halt the decline in placement take up

1. How can we halt the decline in placement take up? Apologies: Dry run Teresa�s role The Conference in Preston is information exchange between delegates - experiences but importantly ideas for improvement (as important � will talk about this but limited to university figures not learning (a whole additional area) In a nutshell, today is Looking at secondary research on work on placement take up and compared our own A discussion of interviews completed with those who have just finished their degrees having taken a placement and those who are taking a shorter placement (I�ll talk a bit more about this later) An analysis of first destination figures, in the context of their flaws � looking at some useful research from 2000 and our own figures. All of the above but not quite the same as the ConferenceApologies: Dry run Teresa�s role The Conference in Preston is information exchange between delegates - experiences but importantly ideas for improvement (as important � will talk about this but limited to university figures not learning (a whole additional area) In a nutshell, today is Looking at secondary research on work on placement take up and compared our own A discussion of interviews completed with those who have just finished their degrees having taken a placement and those who are taking a shorter placement (I�ll talk a bit more about this later) An analysis of first destination figures, in the context of their flaws � looking at some useful research from 2000 and our own figures. All of the above but not quite the same as the Conference

2. Contents National trends in placement decline Business & Management 4 year sandwich degree � Year in Business (YiB) What are the barriers? Shorter placement options Employability statistics Student perspectives Discussion � writing up our own experiences So here is a bit of a run through of the areas I�ll be discussing in more detail. Context � looking at the context both in terms of the national trends in placement take up within all undergraduate students and our figures and also about what we actually offer and have offered. I�ll be asking you to think about some of the possible reasons for this, before showing you what some of the limited research is showing and bringing in some of the experiences of our own students. There�s a bit of clue there, shorter placement options as one of our solutions � how popular are they and what is the implication of including this as an option in our programme. Finally, I�ve been looking at the First Destination employability figures which included sitting over Rosy Williams� shoulder and talking to Adam on Tuesday to get more details. Look through some raw data and finding out for myself about some of the limitation of this reporting system. So here is a bit of a run through of the areas I�ll be discussing in more detail. Context � looking at the context both in terms of the national trends in placement take up within all undergraduate students and our figures and also about what we actually offer and have offered. I�ll be asking you to think about some of the possible reasons for this, before showing you what some of the limited research is showing and bringing in some of the experiences of our own students. There�s a bit of clue there, shorter placement options as one of our solutions � how popular are they and what is the implication of including this as an option in our programme. Finally, I�ve been looking at the First Destination employability figures which included sitting over Rosy Williams� shoulder and talking to Adam on Tuesday to get more details. Look through some raw data and finding out for myself about some of the limitation of this reporting system.

3. National trends in placement decline Little & Harvey (2007) reported: Where placements are optional, there has been a reported decline In 1999-2000 sandwich students accounted for 10% of all undergraduates, by 2004-2005, this had declined to 7% The largest decline has been in post-1992 universities Also, often a higher interest initially, but poor conversion rates into placements: 66 students register an interest, only 10-15% secure a placement (London Metropolitan University, 2004) Business & Management, 2008-2009, 25 students registered an interest, 6 completed YiB So what are the national trends in the numbers of students taking a course which includes a sandwich year. Firstly by looking at some research, Little & Harvey, they have reported the following findings: where placements are optional, there has been a reported decline in 1999-2000 sandwich students accounted for 10% of all undergraduates, by 2004-2005, this had declined to 7% the largest decline has been in post-1992 universities Other research, interestingly for us found that this is often a high interest in taking a sandwich year at the beginning of the course, or at the beginning of the eligible year but this does not materialise into high numbers in placements (London Metropolitan University). This fits in exactly with our own experiences. 66 students register an interest, only 10-15% secure a placement (London Metropolitan University, 2004) B&M, 2008-2009, 25 students registered an interest, 6 completed YiB It is the top question area at visit days and open days. They are asking questions about it at induction and we have a huge interest at the beginning of the academic year in the second year, and students steady withdraw from the process. In questioning students who have opted not to take a year long placement, many stated where they do have any work experience that this was a key determinate in their decision to come to BSU. High figures initially, Emily T: This was the top reason for the choice for coming to university but it became less important as the years progressed to the point that she had decided not to take it up as an option. The reason for her change of heart was that she had a management job at the time and thought that she had enough experience already. She was only pursued to take this through strong intervention from her personal tutor (not me), after a particular opportunity came up and her placement tutor persuaded her that this would be a good idea. So what are the national trends in the numbers of students taking a course which includes a sandwich year. Firstly by looking at some research, Little & Harvey, they have reported the following findings: where placements are optional, there has been a reported decline in 1999-2000 sandwich students accounted for 10% of all undergraduates, by 2004-2005, this had declined to 7% the largest decline has been in post-1992 universities Other research, interestingly for us found that this is often a high interest in taking a sandwich year at the beginning of the course, or at the beginning of the eligible year but this does not materialise into high numbers in placements (London Metropolitan University). This fits in exactly with our own experiences. 66 students register an interest, only 10-15% secure a placement (London Metropolitan University, 2004) B&M, 2008-2009, 25 students registered an interest, 6 completed YiB It is the top question area at visit days and open days. They are asking questions about it at induction and we have a huge interest at the beginning of the academic year in the second year, and students steady withdraw from the process. In questioning students who have opted not to take a year long placement, many stated where they do have any work experience that this was a key determinate in their decision to come to BSU. High figures initially, Emily T: This was the top reason for the choice for coming to university but it became less important as the years progressed to the point that she had decided not to take it up as an option. The reason for her change of heart was that she had a management job at the time and thought that she had enough experience already. She was only pursued to take this through strong intervention from her personal tutor (not me), after a particular opportunity came up and her placement tutor persuaded her that this would be a good idea.

4. An example of placement take up decline UCLAN � from a peak of just over 200 in 2000/1 to 50 in 2008/9 13.8% students take up placement opportunities.