Placements

Doing a placement at King’s can be a great way to give students the opportunity to gain skills specific to their subject or industry of choice as well as the employability skills required for real-life work. It also increases their knowledge of an industry or sector, allowing them to make better-informed decisions about future career choices. A very high proportion of our students are offered jobs in the companies when they graduate, which highlights a benefit for choosing this degree pathway.

Placements take place between years 2 and 4 for a minimum of 11 months. All students at King’s will earn a salary whilst on placement; we don’t work with non-paying organisations. Salaries will vary depending on organisation size, sector and location but start from a minimum of £11,000 (per annum) up to £26,000+ (per annum).

As students undertake a placement year as part of their degree, they will remain students at King’s College London and will receive support from the university throughout their placement. The fee paid during the placement is lower than the standard tuition fee.

Currently, within the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES), we are offering placements in the following programmes in Chemistry and Computer Science:

*Note: Students can specialise their degree following their Placement year, by chosing specialist modules in their final year of study.

NMES has a dedicated Placements Coordinator who is on hand to help students with support, advice and employer information on the different types of placements students can apply for, as well as guiding them through the academic and administrative stages. We also run CV sessions and application advice workshops.

Contact us

Have a question about your placement year? Get in touch with the Global Placements Team: global-placements@kcl.ac.uk

Are you an organisation looking to host a placement student? Please refer to our recruitment pages

There are many benefits to a year in industry:

Stand out in a competitive global labour market
Gain practical skills and experience employers are looking for
Fast-track your career and discover your professional interests
Build up essential professional networks and industry connections
Potentially receive a graduate role upon completion

Accenture - Client Delivery Technology Industrial Placement
Bank of America - Technology Analyst
Bank of England - SWIFT Configuration Analyst Junior
Egress - Technical Services Placement
Expedia - Software Development
GE Aviation - Digital Technology Intern
Goldman Sachs - Internal Audit work placement
GSK - Regulatory Affairs Placement*
IBM - Software Developer
Jaivel Aerospace - Learner Software Developer
Mastercard Vocalink - Analyst, Software Engineering
UBS - Asset Management*
Vitesse PSP - Junior Developer
Vodafone - Project Co-ordinator

*Undertaken by Chemistry students.

In order to undertake a Placement, you must:

Be enrolled on one of the 6 degree programmes in NMES that offer a Placement
Meet the academic requirements as outlined by your specific department
Have secured your own placement by May of your second year (or third year if you are on the MSci Chemistry degree, as you can take your placement after either your second OR third years of study).

All students are responsible for securing their own placement and such opportunities can never be guaranteed, however our dedicated Global Placements Team provides extensive support and advice.

A carefully designed programme of placement events and workshops will help you to develop professional skills, giving you the confidence to find and secure the right opportunity, and make an excellent impression once you are there:

1-1 Careers Consultations
Placement Preparation Workshops
Employer Networking Events
Peer Learning & Placement Student Social Events
Dedicated In-Placement Support
An online Placements Hub full of resources and guidance
King’s CareerConnect: our online vacancy board advertising hundreds of job opportunities.

Information for prospective employers

If your company can offer suitable placement opportunities, please get in touch as soon as possible. Depending on the stage of the placements programme, you can advertise vacancies on our internal job board or establish a link for the next academic year. Vacancies start being advertised from the beginning of the Autumn Term. If you're interested in engaging directly with our students, get in touch with us at Global-Placements@KCL.ac.uk, and we can discuss the best way for you to promote your opportunities directly with our students! We're always happy to receive testimonials from current Placement students too, to promote and share as well.