Enhancing employability through hospital placements for Biomedical Science students: A Case Study from the University of Essex, UK

Collaboration between Universities and hospitals has provided the National Health Service (NHS) with many excellent Biomedical Scientists through the placement year scheme. Here, we document the number of students joining the placement scheme and the number and type of hospital departments offering student placements over a 10-year period. Prior to 2012, students were able to join fully-funded placements through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Since then, there has been a fluctuation in numbers completing a placement year at the University of Essex, but the employability of these graduates remains consistently higher than our 3-year graduates. We demonstrate the positive impact of completing a placement year in an NHS hospital laboratory for students, and the contribution to university metrics in good degrees and graduate outcomes as well as the provision of much needed, qualified biomedical science staff to hospitals.