EN2PPY: Professional Placement Year

Module code: EN2PPY

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 120

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr Mary Morrissey, email: m.e.morrissey@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded: IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE EN2SAY OR TAKE EN2SOC1 OR TAKE EN2SOC2 OR TAKE EN2SOC3 OR TAKE EN2SOC4 OR TAKE EN2SOC6 OR TAKE EN2SSA1 OR TAKE EN2SSA2 (Compulsory)

Placement information: Maxi placement

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to complete a placement year within a professional environment of their choice, either in the UK or overseas. The placement year will give students the opportunity to enhance their transferable skills, add to their personal and professional development and explore a career or industry of interest to them. Students will gain experience of the job application process through the actions they take to secure a placement.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand the structure, functioning and operating procedures of their placement provider
2. Understand the professional environment including the employment opportunities (career paths) and requirements within the sector/industry
3. Apply the skills and knowledge acquired in their taught courses to tasks in the workplace whenever possible
4. Assess the work carried out on the placement, their role, and how it has contributed to the activity of the placement provider
5. Reflect on their professional performance in the workplace
6. Demonstrating industry specific and transferrable skills acquired and, where appropriate, the results of the work they have undertaken
7. Understand language use in a professional setting and the challenges and opportunities relating to professional communication in a workplace setting

Module content

Students will be employed by a company/university/school to undertake a range of responsible activities, which will vary according to the company.

Students are expected to secure and organise their own placement; each placement must be approved by the module convenor, with all necessary legal, health and safety documents completed before commencement.

The placement should be of a minimum of 9 months (40 weeks) full-time work with the content of the placement determined by the placement provider.

The placement must provide the student with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of the working environment and provide them with situations to develop their ‘soft-skills’ (such as working on own initiative, flexibility, problem-solving and time-management). Students have access to advice and support from the Careers Team.

During the placement, the student must abide by the rules and regulations of the placement provider.

Costs associated with undertaking a placement, in addition to the reduced tuition fee (15%), will vary according to each student and will be the responsibility of the individual to cover. These costs may include travel, visa, living expenses and in some cases clothing and equipment. There is a limited placement bursary available from the University for home/EU students with a household income of £42,000 or less.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module consists of work-based learning. At the end of their placement, students will submit a Work Placement Report (2,500 words) for assessment. 

Study hours

This module is a placement or study abroad module and therefore the teaching and learning activities will predominantly, or entirely, take place away from the University of Reading. Your host organisation will normally advise you of the associated hours of your placement or year abroad. If the module includes any in-person activities at the University of Reading, these will be confirmed to you before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs