Responsibilities of the Company to the School and to the Student

This a summary of the responsibilities of a company when taking a student on an industrial placement from the School of Computing, University of Leeds. Because placements vary widely, it may be that modifications to these conditions can be agreed in particular circumstances. Further information about placements is available from the School's Placements Tutor: Alison Marshall.

Before the Placement Starts

• A placement must be for a minimum of nine months. Beyond that it is up to the Company and student to agree the length. Many placements are 12 months.
• The company should provide someone to supervise the student (this is supervision of the work the student does for the company, not supervision of the academic aspect of the placement). When the supervisor changes, the company should ensure that the School is informed of the change (possibly via the student).
• The name, email and phone number of the supervisor should be given to the School before the student starts.
• The company should see that the Health and Safety form is completed and returned to the School before the first day of the student's employment.
• It is the Company's responsibility to ensure that the student is suitable for the work (by normal interviewing, taking of references etc). The fact that the School permits a student to take a placement does not in itself provide an assurance that the student is capable of undertaking a particular task. However, the School will, if asked to supply a reference, provide details of the student's academic and other performance at University, and an opinion of their suitability for specified tasks.
• The company should provide a description of the general duties they require of the student (a job specification).
• The work should be relevant to the student's degree in a general sense. Students on single honours degrees will be expected to spend most of their time on tasks that are "computing related" in a very broad sense. This can include (but is not limited to) customer support, support of hardware or software, analysis, design, software development, work with web pages, databases, writing of documentation etc etc etc. Students on joint degrees may undertake less computing related work, provided it is appropriate to their degree subjects. For example a student taking Computing and Accounting could undertake work that was largely related to accounting but had a computing element.
• The work should allow the student to develop the personal skills in the general areas listed in connection with assessment on the assessment page.
• The salary during the placement is a matter strictly between the student and the company. The School may advise if asked, but does not require any particular minimum rate of pay.

During the Placement

• The student is an employee of the company and the company is responsible for the student as employee in the usual way (including health and safety).
• The student's supervisor should be available to respond to occasional enquiries from the School about the progress of placement. This might involve the completion of one questionnaire and a few phone calls or emails.
• Normally the company should allow the student access the the internet so that they can use the online log which students are required to keep during their placement (see the assessment page for more information).
• The company should allow the student to use relevant non confidential material they have worked on as examples or documentation to support their log and the final portfolio. Such material might include emails, documentation, software (or fragments), web pages, minutes, agendas, plans, etc. The School will only use documentation containing such material as part of the assessment process and will not make any of it available publicly or to other students without the express permission of the company.
• The company should allow the student's mentor from the School to visit at least once (for UK-based placements) and the student's supervisor or other appropriate person should be available for such a visit (usually not more than half a day). In a few cases there might be two visits but one is expected to be the norm.

After the Placement

• At the end of the placement the company should provide a reference to the School outlining the work undertaken and the extent to which it was satisfactory.

Thank you for taking a School of Computing student and giving them such a valuable experience!

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