Helping students record their placement experience

Introduction

By helping students to keep firsthand records of their placement experience, employers can gather valuable information about:

• What students gain from their placements
• Where the placement experience may be improved
• How the organisation benefits from hosting placements

These records are also valuable for the student, who can use them in CVs and job applications.

This resource shows:

• Why employers should help their student to record key experiences in the industry placement
• How they can help the student to do this
• What use employers can make of the information contained in student records

Who it’s for

It will be useful for any employer who:

• Hosts students on industry placements or plans to do so
• Wants to understand how the student sees their placement
• Wants to evaluate and improve the quality of students’ experience on placements
• May be planning to offer more placements

It is especially relevant for:

• Line managers and mentors who support students on their placement
• Industry placement coordinators who lead on the growth and development of the placement programme

What’s in it

• Why record experiences – employer
• Why record experiences – student
• What to record and when – checklist
• Recording methods
• Analysing and using the information
• Case study

Why record experiences – employer

The records that students keep about their experiences in a placement provide information that the  employer can analyse and use to:

• Evaluate the placement
• Identify where and how the placement can be improved
• Demonstrate how the placement benefits the organisation

The table below shows how employers can make good use of the records kept by the student and what information should be analysed.

Why record experiences – student

The act of recording their placement experiences helps the student to:

• Reflect on the experience as it takes place
• Remember what they have learned from the experience
• Review how the experience is helping them to develop and grow

What to record and when

The downloadable checklist contains practical suggestions for:

• What the student could record
• What they could include
• When and how often they could record it

Use it to plan how the student will record their experience.

Recording methods

The diagram below shows six methods students can use to record their placement experience.

The student can use one method or a combination.

The table below provides a brief explanation of:

• Why each method works well
• What should be considered when choosing each method

Analysing and using the information

The diagram below shows how employers can make good use of the information contained in students’ records:

Collect and categorise

• Establish a standard method for students to submit their records, e.g. an online portal
• Organise the information contained in the records into categories, e.g. skills developed, challenges faced, things that students like best, areas for improvement

Assess and evaluate

• Look for recurring themes in what students say, e.g. about the work environment, tasks and activities, support received, and overall experience
• Compare what students say about these themes with feedback from line managers, mentors and others who support students, to identify discrepancies or corroborate findings

Review and benchmark

• Review the information over time to identify changes in students’ experiences on the placements
• Set benchmarks in key categories and measure improvements

Case study

The context

Annie and Janae completed their T Level in Business and Administration in June 2024. Their placement was in the Manchester office of the Department for Education.

The DfE’s placement coordinator encourages all students to keep a record of their experiences using diaries and reflective logs. Some conduct surveys with other groups of students. In Annie and Janae’s case, it was agreed that they should make short videos of their experience to share with other potential placement students, to show them what it’s like to work in a government department.

The experience

What are the videos about?

“I guess for me and Annie, our aim was just to show our authentic selves and try to be as honest as we can,” says Janae. “We wanted them to be as honest and open as possible. Obviously, everyone's experiences are different but ours were really good, and we wanted to showcase what the industry placement was for us.”

Annie agrees that the videos had to be true to life: “We essentially wanted to make a real-life perspective of what goes on within the normal working environment.”

How did they set about making the video?

“I think we dived straight into it, and we created like a bit of a plan. Okay, we'll do this on this day,” says Annie.

“We put together a spreadsheet,” adds Janae. “So what was included would be the days that we wanted to film, the times, the location and what exactly we wanted to film at that location on that day. So it just gave us a kind of set structure.”

What did they learn from making the video?

“I learned a lot about the skills that it requires,” says Annie. “I think it was a reality check for me when we went to Popcorn, seeing these people that have the skills to do the editing, throwing in the sounds and voiceovers. We provided them with 40 minutes’ worth of footage, and they cut it down to about a minute and a half each. That's brilliant.”

“I'm quite reserved and shy,” says Janae. “So knowing that it's going to be all over the internet, I think for me it was a case of just trying to soothe my mind and focus and try to get comfortable in front of the camera.”

Annie agrees: “It does change you. It makes you wonder how people who are in front of the camera every day adapt to it and how they just see it as a normal thing.”

How do they feel about the process, now it’s finished?

“I was very impressed,” says Annie. “I was wowed. We've learned a lot about the whole editing process, and about ourselves as well. I made a YouTube video when I was about six and thought I was going to be famous. I realise now there’s a lot more to it.”

“We had to find our audience,” says Janae. “That was definitely a big discussion between me and Annie – who exactly are we, who is our target audience, you know? In the end we decided to create the videos for other students, so that when they join their placement, they have something to look at.”

Annie agrees: “So obviously throughout the case study we've created this marketing plan for our target group. ‘Practising the perfect shot for the perfect people’ I call it, trying to engage the audience.”

Were there any links with their T Level?

“Definitely,” says Janae. “We really focused heavily on project management in our second year. So in this video project we were doing timetables and organising meetings in between and getting approval for certain things.”

“What we were learning in the classroom was being used in the placement,” Annie adds. “The first time we created a Gantt chart, honestly, I can't believe it, but I was so excited. I really was. It opened us up to this whole new world.”

What’s the outcome?

Annie’s thinking about the future, when she plans to start her own fashion business: “And practising that marketing skill with the videos, I now feel so confident to start talking to people about this business and getting in contact with factories and start the process moving. So yeah, I really do believe that this course is helping me with the future. It’s brilliant”

For Janae, the experience taught her a lot about who she is and how to present herself to the world: “I've always been a go with the flow kind of person, but I've definitely realised I can be majorly motivated by being drawn in to something like this. I think the way that we created our case studies, we threw ourselves out on the line and just showed people who we are.”

“If you’re yourself, you know, people can see and be like, oh, so this is actually the real deal.”