The majority of entry-level jobs in todays market require several years of experience, posing a forestalling dilemma for recent university graduates. Most graduates are stuck with this chicken-and-egg problem: how can they gain experience if their potential employers are unwilling to hire them?
The solution to this paradoxical situation is to enrol in a sandwich programme. This alternative study method includes a work placement that provides students with professional experience (typically compensated), creates a network of industry professionals in their field, and even boosts their social mobility.
Therefore, sandwich students are college students whose courses include a one-year internship in a relevant industry, such as business, education, or a scientific field. This year (called sandwich year) serves as a bridge between the second and final years of study, allowing students to expand on their prior learning and get ready for their final year of study. The time spent with the hiring company often lasts from September through August, much like a school year.
A sandwich student can expand on the theoretical aspects of their studies, put the acquired abilities into practice, and learn more through regular observation and work. Additionally, the placement offers a real-world case study that the student can use as the basis for their senior thesis.
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What is a Sandwich Course?
Sandwich course, the name is sourced from the fact that it includes a placement year that is "sandwiched" in the centre of the degree, away from the institution. Hence, a so-called sandwich course is a degree programme that includes time spent working on a placement outside of the classroom, perhaps in business or industry.
Another term for a student placement is a sandwich course or sandwich year. These placements are one-year programmes that allow you to waive a year of school to work in the field. You will be paid like any other regular employee where you will be working full-time.
Unfortunately, the term "sandwich year" has little to do with the actual cuisine. Placements are referred to as "sandwiches" since they are sandwiched between the penultimate and final years.
Placements go by a variety of titles, such as an industrial placement or a year in industry. But taking a sandwich programme as part of your degree will increase your chances of landing graduate employment. This is because students can gain all the necessary technical skills and work experience during their 12-month professional work placement.
Types of Sandwich Courses
A degree programme is known as a "Sandwich Course" that combines internships, paid employment, and study abroad opportunities. There are many electives available for this academic degree. This ideally indicates that you have the option of selecting a thick or thin sandwich degree, described as follows:
Thick Sandwich Course
Typically, a thick sandwich course is a four-year course in a subject like pharmacy, engineering, psychology, or sports studies. These graduate programmes provide placement. After two years of full-time study, a Thick Sandwich course programme offers a year off for an internship. After finishing your internship or work experience in the third year, you can pick up your studies again for the final year. However, during the third year of your degree programme, you have the option to study abroad or complete an industry placement.
Thin Sandwich Course
A thin sandwich course is a three-year curriculum that combines academic study with practical professional experience. Internships of two to six months are used to supplement the three years of coursework and help students gain practical experience. Typically, the internships are stretched out between the second and third years.
Your chosen university will assist you in making connections with the businesses of your choosing and even in helping you land jobs there. With its support, you can submit a direct application to the businesses that best meet your needs.
How Do Sandwich Degrees Work?
It is subject to your institution and the programme you have chosen. Before becoming eligible to apply for a work placement, students must typically complete the first two years of their sandwich degrees on campus.
Comparatively speaking, sandwich degrees could take longer to finish than regular full-time degrees. Sandwich courses for undergraduates can last up to four years, while sandwich courses for graduate students can last up to five years.
Universities usually collaborate with national and international businesses to offer students reliable work experience. The firm often evaluates students throughout the placement, and the evaluation may or may not affect the final grade.
The majority of sandwich degrees are in the STEM fields, however, some universities also offer sandwich programmes in the arts.
Sandwich courses are unfortunately not offered at all universities. Even if your university does have the option to do a placement, it's possible that your specific field of study does not. Therefore, it is better to check with your university first and learn about what prospects are available.
You can, however, choose to complete a summer internship instead. They take place throughout the summer when universities are closed, so they are accessible to all students. The duration of these internship programmes can be four weeks to three months.
Difference Between Sandwich Courses and Sandwich Placements
The difference between sandwich courses and sandwich placements is that sandwich courses are degree programmes provided by institutions that also feature a sandwich placement, often known as an industrial placement. This is a predetermined length of time spent working in a related industry or studying internationally.
Sandwich or industrial placements are typical for degree programmes with a vocational focus, including marketing or business, while sandwich programmes with humanities or language focus typically include study abroad opportunities. Sandwich placements also referred to as sandwich years, are opportunities for verified work experience typically done in the penultimate year of a four-year degree.
Sandwich courses are available in a variety of other fields, including finance, law, engineering, sports science, psychology, and foreign language studies, though they are most frequently linked with business-related areas.
How does a Sandwich Degree Improve Mobility and Employability?
The opportunity to gain professional experience in your field before you graduate is perhaps the most significant aspect of a sandwich course, but the advantages do not end there.
The International Student Pathfinder: The Essential Guide to UK Universities and Careers claims that sandwich course graduates have better results than other students because they have more earning potential and are more likely to obtain long-term employment or pursue higher education. Additionally, students get the chance to connect with people in their industry and expand their professional network.
Out of the three main study optionspart-time, full-time, and sandwichthe Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) Report indicated that sandwich degrees lead to the highest salaries.
Want to know which profession gets paid the most abroad? Check out these articles to know about the highest-paid job in each country:
A recent study also discovered that sandwich placements can enhance social mobility. Instead of socially favoured upper-middle-class graduates, prominent and highly compensated postings in elite professional businesses are filled by academically brilliant students from a wide spectrum of social and personal backgrounds.
The findings were summarised and it was accepted that it is up to the students to pick a prestigious university, study hard to earn the highest grades, and take the initiative to improve their interview and Curriculum Vitae (CV) writing skills.
Benefits of a Sandwich Course
Sandwich placements can assist university students in a variety of ways, both during their studies and after they graduate. Among the primary advantages and benefits of a sandwich course are the following:
Learning Enhancement: You may put your learning into context by spending time in the working world in between study sessions. You might be able to accomplish better results and a higher degree of classification with the help of this improved comprehension.
Putting Your Academic Knowledge into Practice: Sandwich year placements provide practical experience that enables you to apply freshly learned academic information in a real-world setting. For individuals that learn best by doing, this can be a useful learning tool.
Take a Taste of Your Future Career: A study-based course will provide you with a theoretical grasp, but sandwich courses will give you a practical sense of what your chosen profession entails. Throughout your internship or sandwich placement, you will have plenty of chances to talk with coworkers about your desired career goal and tackle tasks that are similar to those you will complete as a graduate employee.
Cultural Experience: If you decide to study abroad, you will get new or enhanced language abilities in addition to experiencing a different country and its culture. You will also acquire new competencies, such as assertiveness, and cross-cultural professionalism, all of which are highly desirable to potential employers.
Developing Additional and Transferable Skills: Sandwich placements will help you develop other skills that are important to potential employers, such as communication, teamwork, and multitasking, in addition to broadening your understanding of your chosen field. These skills can be used in any career in any industry, even if you change your mind after graduation.
A Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market: Sandwich courses might provide you with a competitive edge in the graduate job market by enabling you to present your degree combined with relevant work experience. A lot of students who participate in sandwich year placements are also given the chance to join graduate programmes that are fast-tracked by the firms that host their placements.
Networking: Sandwich courses are a great method to network within your profession of choice. If you do well throughout your placement, these colleagues might retain you for other positions or recommend you to their respective contacts, both of which could make it simpler for you to get a job after or even before you finish graduation.
Explore Other Roles Within the Industry: If the role you were assigned during your placement proves to be unsuitable, you may decide to explore other opportunities in your preferred industry. It is preferable to learn this now rather than later on in your professional life.
Things to Consider While Choosing a Sandwich Course in UK
Undertaking a sandwich course in UK enables you to work on a placement as a part of your degree as well as your academic studies. You will be able to choose a career in your preferred sector. This course will help you gain a unique combination of skills sought after by employers. You will also be able to build a strong network within the industry. However, before you take up the sandwich course you must check and satisfy the following parameters.
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Check out the Availability of the Sandwich Course: Some sandwich courses guarantee placements to the students while some are extremely competitive and are allocated on a first-cum-first serve basis. In such cases, you will need to apply for placements in advance and also appear for an interview.
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Check if the Placement is Paid: While some placements in sandwich courses pay a salary, others are generally unpaid internships. It is therefore imperative to make sure whether your placement opportunity is salaried or not.
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Support Provided by the University: Most UK universities provide some level of support to the students pursuing sandwich courses. They provide various career advice and help them connect with employers. They also help with the application process.
Top Countries Offering Sandwich Courses
The credit for the birth of sandwich courses can be given to Alexander Russell, a Scottish electrical engineer and educator, who pioneered this close association between industry and colleges. Thus, most of the countries offering Sandwich programmes are located in the EU region, such as the UK, France, Denmark and Norway. Apart from this, countries like Australia, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, and Nigeria also offer sandwich courses.
Sandwich Courses in the UK
International students choose the UK for higher studies due to its education system, curriculum structure, and post-study job opportunities. The UK is also known for offering several sandwich courses in various disciplines, such as Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Business Maths, and so on. Here are some UK universities offering sandwich courses:
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Middlesex University
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Staffordshire University
It must be noted that this is not an exhaustive list of the universities in UK offering sandwich courses. To get detailed information, take a visit to our page - All About Sandwich Courses in UK.
To sum up, while selecting a degree, the institution's prospectus or website will make it obvious which courses are sandwich courses and what the alternatives are for work placements and possibilities to study abroad. It is imperative to commence the application process early because competition for high-quality sandwich placements might be severe.
Many colleges that offer sandwich programmes collaborate with a number of industries, and in certain cases, your placement could be decided for you. If not, you must conduct thorough research to explore a placement that best supports your professional objectives.
Need more information about sandwich placement or sandwich courses? Drop us a line at abroad@collegedekho.com. and let us know if you have any queries.
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