FAQs for Placements When does the placement process begin and who is involved? Why is there a MMU student in the school down the road from me but I have to travel further? If I am placed later this time, what will happen next time? What is my role in the process? When will I find out about my placement? How do you decide who goes where? Will there be enough places for everyone? Who shall I contact to discuss my placement allocation? Why can’t I ring schools and arrange my own placement? What kind of school will I be placed in?

1.Be nice to the Placements Office and help them to help you! 2.Watch out for the ‘window of opportunity’ when you will have the chance to suggest a school for your placement – you will be notified of this window by your Partnership Coordinator. 3.Let know if you have a personal contact with a school which might host a student placement (give the name of a contact at the school and how you know 4.Remember that the placements office will contact the school(s) on your behalf What is my role in the process? Return to FAQs

When does the placement process begin and who is involved? The process begins in March of the previous academic year when the ‘Request for Placements’ package of information goes to all Partnership schools. At least 4 months ahead of each individual placement, the Partnership team begin matching the offers to individual students (see the information on ‘How do you decide who goes where?’) The process involves the Placements office team, the Partnership Coordinator and School Experience leads for your year group/programme, the Partnership Tutors. Return to FAQs

Priority order for matching students to offers 1.Whether later placed in previous placement, i.e. placed after the rest of the cohort have been given the details of their confirmed placement school and age phase. 2.Childcare or other carer commitments 3.Any notification of exceptional factors or PLPs (Personal Learning Plans) 4.Special placement requirements (Refer/Defer and targets, Erasmus, MFL) 5.Breadth of experience in terms of age/phases 6.Distance/time of travel to previous placement 7.Context of schools previously placed in. 8.Number of students in a geographical location vs the number of suitable offers in that locality 9. Use of car vs requirements to access public transport 10. Within one and a half hour travel time (if possible, cannot be guaranteed) 11. Possibility of shared transport (car sharing) How do you decide who goes where? Return to FAQs

The MMU Partnership is wonderfully diverse. You will be in a Partnership school/setting. Partnership schools/settings are in a wide range of locations and contexts. They include faith schools, academies, independent schools, free schools, nurseries, children’s centres, large schools, small schools. All will support the development of your professional skills and knowledge. What kind of school will I be placed in? Return to FAQs

We will notify you of your placement four weeks before the placement begins. There may be some students who are still awaiting a placement allocation at this point – this is normal and is not a reason to panic! Your Partnership Coordinator will contact you before the cohort’s placements list is released and will keep you informed of progress from that point until a placement is confirmed for you. When will I find out about my placement? Return to FAQs

You become the first priority for placing next time – see the information on ‘How do you decide who goes where?’ If I am placed later this time, what will happen next time? Return to FAQs

The process of allocating students to placements is like a complicated jigsaw puzzle. We are at all times trying to get the best match between student and school, taking into account the student’s needs and experiences and also what the school offers and needs. The school closest to you may not have offered the key stage you need or it may be a specialist provider in an area targeted for development by another student or it may be taking a break from placements for staffing reasons or a myriad of other reasons….. We will take into account the distance you travelled when allocating you to your next placement (see ‘How do you decide who goes where?’) Why is there a MMU student in the school down the road from me but I have to travel further? Return to FAQs

Who shall I contact to discuss my placement allocation? Return to FAQs

The bigger picture to begin with - We work with over a thousand schools across a large area. This gives a significant variety of contexts and helps us to provide placements that meet the needs of our students across a wide geographical area. In we successfully arranged over 2000 student placements in time for the commencement of block placements. However, there is a national shortage of placement offers. In common with all HE providers, there are still some areas that we struggle to secure enough offers of placements in. Not all schools offer placements and there is quite often an overlap between HE providers looking for placements in particular areas. Also there are some schools that we choose not to work with because we feel that they are not able to offer our students the experience that they need. Will there be enough places for everyone? Return to FAQs

The process of matching students to schools is complicated and depends on many factors. We have a carefully planned process for contacting schools, gathering offers, liaising with school staff, training school mentors and making the best possible matches between students and schools. Quality assurance is very important – we try as far as we can to only place our students in MMU Partnership schools, with trained mentors Sometimes if a student contacts a school which they know and asks to do their placement there, it can trigger a domino effect, with the school cancelling the placement offer for someone else already allocated to the school or the school to which you had been allocated having their offer turned down. You can support the process of arranging placements by ensuring we have the most up-to-date information (via the SP1 form) and responding promptly to alerts, requests and information from your Partnership Coordinator. Why can’t I ring schools and arrange my own placement? Return to FAQs