Page 34 - RVC Undergraduate Prospectus 25-26
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WORK PLACEMENTS



        BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES





        We offer a sandwich Placement Year with all our       Both types of placement will provide you with insight into the
        Biological Sciences courses after your second         organisation and sector you are working in, as well as the huge
        year of study. Courses including the sandwich         variety of jobs available, therefore enabling you to identify your
                                                              preferred career path. Both will also provide you with those
        Placement Year hold Advanced Degree                   crucial employability skills you need as a graduate and enable
        Accreditation by the Royal Society of Biology,        you to expand your network of connections. Most placements
        highlighting its potential to educate the life        are salaried, and you can expect to earn between £8,000 and
        science leaders and innovators of the future.         £17,000 during the year. A placement sometimes leads to an
                                                              offer of a position after graduation or future sponsorship for
                                                              studying a PhD, and you can certainly expect to extend your
        Not only do you get a year of practical work experience, as   professional network.
        part of the sandwich Placement Year you also undertake
        a research project that is devised and supervised by your   All placement providers will provide you with the training you
        placement provider. This allows students to have a diverse   need to complete the work or research you are tasked with.
        experience, which is useful for students who want a taste   You will also be assigned a tutor from the RVC who will guide
        of a certain sector or type of work, and also provides   you through the year, and there are several online tutorials with
        you with a fantastic opportunity to gain and develop   the placement year leader.
        your employability skills and applications to work. This is
        encouraged through a focus on self-reflection, which is
        supported by the Professionalism module.              HOW DO I FIND A PLACEMENT?
                                                              You are required to be proactive in searching for, applying to
        The second type of placement is a master’s Placement   and securing your own placement. Support and guidance
        Year. This is taken in your final year of the MSci Applied   will be provided in specific timetabled sessions and on a
        Biological Research and MSci Applied Bioveterinary    dedicated website listing previous placements and current
        Research courses and can also be taken with an additional   advertisements. Many placements are generated through
        sandwich Placement Year between the second and third   speculative applications to relevant organisations. Further
        years. This master’s placement is dedicated to a research   advice is available from the Careers Service.
        project which is assessed in several ways, including a
        project report and oral exam. This year is particularly   If you are unable to find a sandwich or master’s placement year
        useful for those who want to find out if research is for them   that suits you, you can step off your current course and onto
        before committing to a PhD, and allows them to experience   the equivalent course without placement. If you are unable to
        what it is like to work outside of the RVC, either in industry,   find a sandwich placement year, you can choose to move to
        research institutes, or charities, for example.       MSci Applied Biological Research or MSci Applied Bioveterinary
                                                              Research and carry out a master’s placement year, providing
                                                              you meet the criteria for progression to the master’s year.






        34        CRITICAL-THINKING • PROBLEM-SOLVING • SCIENCE-SHAPING
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