Becoming a new placement provider

Partner with us to provide high-quality student placements with step-by-step guidance and ongoing support.

Step-by-step process of setting up a new placement provider

Step 1	After you have expressed an interest in providing student placements, a member of the Practice Learning team will contact you to arrange an initial meeting to discuss the learning opportunities available for different types of learners, training and placement process.
Step 2	Next, our Placements Quality team will send you the placement agreement to sign and request evidence of relevant contractual insurances. Once these have been submitted to the Placements Quality team, a member of the Practice Learning team will contact you to arrange a visit.
Step 3	In order to assure that the placement is a positive, effective learning environment, we use the NHSE Practice Learning Environment Assurance Toolkit (PLEAT). Practice approval is achieved by meeting with the team to discuss the suitability of the learning environment in detail. The Practice approval process may identify actions to be taken prior to placements starting, and we will support you with these actions. A profile of the placement is developed for students to learn about your service and team prior to commencing a placement with you.
Step 4	The set up of the placement tariff will be completed, which allows your organisation to receive the tariff payment.
Step 5	A named person will be allocated to your service to provide ongoing support.
Step 6	You will then be allocated your first student/s.

Resources to support new placements

Placement Profile Template

This is a placement profile of your service and provides students with information about the service philosophy, speciality, who to contact, usual working day and about the learning opportunities available. Students will access the profile before they contact you and it helps prepare them for their placement learning experience.

Student Welcome/Orientation Pack Example

The student welcome pack aims to help students settle into their placement, provides relevant information about the service and staff.

Student Evaluation Form

The University collates feedback from students about their practice learning experiences this is monitored and shared with placement providers. You may like to develop your own student evaluation form which will help you monitor, improve and further develop the placement learning experience. You can find the student placement feedback form here.

Student Education Board

Some practice areas have student education boards on display which provide relevant information for students while on placement. The information may include learning opportunities, training sessions, examples of student feedback, regulatory information about roles and responsibilities and relevant posters.

Practice Learning Environment Assurance

The practice learning environment assurance (PLEAT) is to review, monitor and enhance the quality of the practice learning environment, in line with professional body regulations.

The PLEAT ensures that there is a process evident for student learning, supervision and assessment, and that areas are adhering to professional body standards. It is also an opportunity to identify any learning or support needs required which academic staff could help with. A PLEAT is also an opportunity to give recognition to the staff working in areas of excellence.

The PLEAT is undertaken every 3 years, unless there is a significant change in the learning environment and PLEATs can be shared between universities. The academic from CCCU will complete the PLEAT with a placement representative (manager, matron, or educational/student lead). Students on placements are encouraged to be included.

For further information, please visit the below links:

Placement feedback

CCCU wants to hear and learn from students’ experiences of their practice placement. It is important for us and our practice partners to hear and learn from student feedback, which is regularly gathered through direct conversations and evaluation forms. This feedback is monitored and shared with the relevant practice areas.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

An initial discussion or meeting– to discuss the learning opportunities and placement process followed by the completion of an educational audit and development of a placement profile for your service alongside obtaining a placement agreement and relevant insurance evidence. The setting up of new placement can be as quick as a few weeks.

You can find out more about the benefits of being a placement provider by visiting our Work-based Learning webpage.

Placement blocks range from 4-12 weeks for pre-registration courses, we also have 1–2-week non-assessed sampling experiences.

You will be notified of placement allocation via email which will provide the student's name and university email contact, course, year of study and placement dates. We aim to notify placement providers 12 weeks prior to the placement block.

Students attend placement preparation sessions, mandatory training and relevant simulated practice. Occupational health and disclosure barring service (DBS) clearance is completed. All students have a Readiness to Practice certificate which confirms all the necessary training and relevant checks this is evidenced on their Readiness to Practice certificate.

A supportive learning environment to allow learners to become well-rounded professionals with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate care of the highest quality. Find out more here.

As a new placement provider, you will need to submit public, employer and professional indemnity certificates. Not every placement requires all 3 of these certificates this is dependent on the type of learners and model of supervision and assessment. You may need to provide a list of qualified staff who have undertaken practice assessor/supervisor/educator training and the dates of the training.

If you have any issues or concerns during a placement, please contact us.

The practice learning environment assurance (PLEAT) takes around 1 hour to complete.

Professional Health and Social Care Regulators

Each professional regulator has its own unique guidance and standards for education. These outline the requirements for courses including how practice learning, supervision, and assessment is managed. See links below for more information on each regulator.