Receive up to £300 to help fund unpaid or low-paid work experience or a work-related event.

Available for the 2024/25 academic year, the Placements Award can award up to £300 to help if you’re looking to undertake unpaid or low-paid work experience or want to attend an event such as a job fair or networking opportunity.

The Placements Award can be used towards:

  • Accommodation (if you're required to stay overnight)
  • Travel (petrol, parking and public transport)
  • Workwear
  • Sustenance (we award £5 a day for lunch, and £10 for an evening meal if your placement requires you to stay overnight)

I'm so glad to be doing a placement year as part of my degree. So far I have gained so much experience and it has helped me to understand what I would like to do in the future. Being awarded the Placements Award has really helped and has definitely made me feel at ease financially.

Anisha, BSc (Hons) Psychology (with Professional Placement Year) – work experience at King's College Hospital in London

How to apply

The Placements Award is open for applications until the fund is exhausted during the undergraduate academic year (generally 1 October to 30 June). Applications made outside of this time will not be considered until the award is reopened.

If you meet the below criteria, you can apply via the AppHub by clicking on the button below.

Apply now

Criteria

The Placements Award is open to applications from any UK home student currently enrolled at Bath Spa University on an undergraduate degree course who needs financial assistance to complete an unpaid or low-paid work placement or employability event, and has either:

  • Been assessed by Student Finance as being from a household with an annual income of below £42,875, or
  • Meets one or several of the following criteria:
    • comes from a home postcode area with low participation in higher education
    • is attending University while living at home
    • was in receipt of free school meals at secondary school
    • has parents who did not attend university
    • is a care leaver
    • is a young adult carer
    • has disclosed a disability to Bath Spa University
    • or has been categorised by the Student Loan Company as estranged from their parents

Please note:

  • Students studying at our Educational Partner institutes are not eligible for this scheme.
  • You cannot submit an application if your placement has already finished.
  • The maximum amount the fund will award is £300 per student per academic year.
  • Applications are taken throughout the undergraduate academic year but will cease earlier if funds are exhausted.
  • You must make use of the Award prior to 31 May in the final year of your undergraduate studies.
  • You must provide adequate receipts or screenshots of relevant expenses within ten working days of the placement or event concluding.

If you're unsure if you meet any of these criteria or have any queries about an application, please ask a question on MyCareer.

I wanted to be involved with Cirque Bijou to gain a better understanding about facilitating community circus arts to a variety of people. Without the funding I wouldn’t have been able to commute to Frome/Somerset and meet the circus company's Creative Director and be part of production planning meetings. This was a really great experience and I was able to apply what I had learnt to my own dissertation project about circus arts and supporting wellbeing.

Phoebe, BA (Hons) History (Heritage and Public History) – work experience at Cirque Bijou in Cardiff

How applications are judged

Placements Award applications are judged based on the previously outlined criteria by the Bath Spa University disbursement panel, which consists of representatives from the Careers and Employability team.

The disbursement panel meet regularly to discuss requests and will inform you of their decision as soon as possible.

If the award is granted, funds will be transferred to the bank account that you have detailed in the AppHub within one to two weeks.

Terms and conditions

Successful recipients will be subject to the following conditions:

  • The Award must be used for the purpose stated on your application form.
  • If, by reason of any emergency or other circumstance, you are unable to complete the work placement or attend the event, you will be required to refund all or part of the Award as may be considered reasonable.
  • If a receipt cannot be submitted before the placement or event begins or in the acceptable timeframe of within ten working days of completing the placement or event, you may be required to refund all or part of the Award.
  • If you have received the Award, you will be contacted at the end of the academic year with a short feedback form, which should be completed within one month. Comments may be used for promotion of the Award.