1. Background

Practice placements are a mandatory part of the below health and social care courses. It is expected that students will attend 100% of their allocated placement. Failure to attend your allocated placement, without a valid reason, may result in failure of your placement module which could impact on your ability to successfully complete the course.

All practice placements for the following courses are allocated by the Professional Placements team in conjunction with the relevant course teams:

  • Nursing and Midwifery, including Learning Disability, Return to Practice and Specialist Community Public Health Nursing
  • Social Work
  • Working with Children, Young People and Families
  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Operating Department Practice
  • Paramedics
  • Diagnostic Radiography
  • Physicians Associates
  • Radiotherapy & Oncology
  • Art Psychotherapy
  • Dietetics

 

  1. Placement Availability

Sheffield Hallam University allocates student placements across a wide geographical area. This area extends beyond South Yorkshire. This is essential to ensure that the breadth of placement experiences and types are available to meet the required standards and proficiencies in line with the relevant professional statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs) e.g. Health & Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Social Work England.

Placement availability is dependent upon programme requirements, service level agreements and contracts with placement providers as well as provider capacity. The range of placements available is communicated to students throughout the recruitment, admissions and induction cycle.

Placement availability is subject to change across the lifetime of the programme as providers may change their placement offers for reasons beyond the University’s control. New areas may be added and existing areas may be removed.

All placement areas will be audited to ensure they meet the requirements of the study programme.

 

 

 

  1. Placement Allocation Criteria

The Professional Placements team allocate placements based upon the principles of transparency and fairness. Due regard is given to the following criteria during this process:

  • Placement availability and capacity
  • Programme requirements (including those set by the relevant professional statutory regulatory bodies)
  • Disclosed disabilities/ occupational health recommendations and any reasonably adjustments required
  • Registered or exceptional caring responsibilities (for example if you have children with additional needs)
  • Travel time (up to 2 hours each way unless suitable accommodation provided)

However, placement availability and capacity will be considered the priority.

Students should be aware that travel (usually up to 2 hours each way), cost of travel, risk of poor weather and routine carer responsibilities (including routine childcare) are not considered grounds for prioritisation.

 

  1. Placement Allocation Process

The intended student placement allocation lifecycle can be found here: https://www.shu.ac.uk/-/media/home/health-wellbeing-placements/allocation—generic/placementallocationcyclemmxxii.pdf

Where possible, the Professional Placements team aims to share details of final allocations 6 weeks before the placement block is due to begin in line with the above lifecycle. However, there will be times when this is not possible due to issues outside of the University’s control, for example where a placement area can no longer accommodate a student. When this occurs, the Professional Placements team will communicate directly with the affected student(s) and provide as much information as possible. We will keep you informed of plans for alternative placements.

 

  1. Non-allocation of placement

 

As above, if there are delays to allocation or changes relating to your placement. We will notify you of this as soon as possible, and will keep you informed of any alternative plans, working closely with your course management team.

 

  1. Student expectations

As part of their professional behaviours to meet their programme requirements, all students are expected to:

  • Read and understand their placement requirements. This is clearly set out in the student checklist: (please refer to your Student Placement Learning Checklist on BlackBoard)
  • Ensure they have sufficient funding available to meet required placement costs (including travel and accommodation costs), regardless of their funding status. If a student is experiencing financial difficulties, support is available via the University: https://www.shu.ac.uk/funding/financial-difficulties
  • Attend their allocated placement unless agreed with their relevant Course Management Team and communicated with the Professional Placements Team or unless specifically requested not to attend by the University
  • Provide all relevant information requested to inform placement allocation in a timely manner (for example, term-time address, access to a car etc)