A national report on industry placements has used Kent’s School of Computing’s Placement Office as an example of best practice.
‘Growing Experience: A Review of Undergraduate Placements in Computer Science’ was published in January by the National Centre for Universities and Businesses, and highlighted the ‘organic growth’ model which is part of the Kent placement team strategy.
The report’s authors said: ‘We surveyed 40 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the UK about the quality and quantity of current computing placement activity, and explored in depth their views, working practices and their perception of the barriers to student uptake.’
The report investigated the relatively high level of unemployment for computer sciences graduates nationally, despite rapid growth in the technology sector. However this trend does not apply to all computer science graduates from Kent, particularly those with a Year in Industry placement. The results of the last National Student Survey showed that 100% of Kent Computer Science with a Year in Industry graduates were employed in a professional or managerial role within six months of graduation.
Katie Van Sanden, one of the School’s two Placement Officers, said: ‘We pride ourselves on being a dedicated Placement Office whose sole purpose is to find suitable year-long placements to complement the theory taught on the course. Over the years, we have managed to build strong relationships with industry, regularly ‘growing’ our own placements organically through the recommendation of graduates to their new employers and sustaining good relationships with employers that last many years.’
Image: Placement Officer Katie Van Sanden visits Year in Industry students at Holiday Extras.
Picture by: Orla Garratt, School of Computing.