Edinburgh Napier University

  Between 2010 and 2014, e-Placement Scotland worked with industry to create over 800 paid placements for students in Scotland’s universities and colleges. The project team disseminated widely to both education and business sectors in order to maximise project outcomes and their impact on individuals, universities, colleges and businesses. The project found that student placements are transformational: transforming both students and organisations. They provide a positive bridge between business and universities and colleges; developing new relationships, in particular with SMEs, and bringing insights back into universities and colleges. The Scottish Funding Council’s commitment to student placements is evidenced by substantial strategic investment through the Learning to Work 2 projects. To capitalise on the successes of e-Placement Scotland we requested continuation funding on a new cost-effective finance model which would involve decreasing reliance on the Scottish Funding Council strategic funding over a five year term. The project will run during the period August 2014 – July 2019 and maximise the delivery of paid student placements, creating no less than 1500 paid placements. The overall cost of the project is £755,000 and the cost to the Scottish Funding Council is £622,000. Throughout the project, the School of Computing have conducted a number of studies into students’ and graduates’ perceptions and experiences of work placements and employability initiatives. See Dr Sally Smith’s publications for details of these projects.