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NAT-30008 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

NAT-30008 - Flexible Work Placement (Level 6)
Coordinator: Sharon Farrow Tel: +44 1782 7 34274
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

Students cannot take both Flexible Work Placement (Level 5) (NAT-20011) and Flexible Work Placement (Level 6), or the Flexible Work Placement (Level 6) and Professional Experience in Education (NAT-30012)

Description for 2025/26

In a competitive job market, practical skills and understanding workplace dynamics are crucial. This module allows you to gain hands-on experience, enhancing your employability, and the opportunity to gain valuable professional insights via a 75-hour placement.
You will be supported by various activities to secure a role and can source your own placement or apply to university-sourced roles. This module offers flexibility on when and how you complete your placement, enabling you to balance your placement around existing demands.

Aims
This module aims to:
· Enhance the career knowledge and employability of students studying within the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
· Support students in effectively researching and applying for employment roles.
· Provide students with first-hand experience of the day-today operations of a relevant working environment, including developing their ability to work co-operatively and productively with others.
· Encourage Faculty of Natural Science students to apply and reflect on the range of degree-relevant skills in a broader work context.
· Develop students’ capacity to construct and carry through independent tasks/projects.
· Increase students’ knowledge of and familiarity with the Careers and Employability service.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Develop resources to present a suitable candidate identity tailored to a specific graduate-level opportunity: 1
Devise a professional and personal goal-oriented action plan  : 1
Critically reflect on the graduate attributes developed and demonstrated through the placement experience: 2

Study hours

Active Learning: 25 hours
Consisting of
Semester 1: 7 x 2hr workshops; 11 hours of drop in sessions.
75 hours of placement
Independent Study: 50 hours
Applying for placement and Assessment 1 - 25 hours
Assessment 2 - 25 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Portfolio weighted 50%
Development of a Career Portfolio
This portfolio assessment aims to support students in developing a career portfolio that they can build onto as they progress through their programme, and through their life-long learning. In this portfolio, students will: 1) Create a professional CV and covering letter tailored to a specific graduate-level opportunity (50%). Students must provide details of the job description and criteria to demonstrate how their CV and cover letter targets the job advert. The CV should be two sides of A4, and the cover letter should be one side of A4; 2) Use knowledge of their employment sector of interest to create a Career Development Plan, which should set a series of professional and personal goals they want to achieve by the end of their programme and why; and outline the actions needed to achieve them (50%). Word count: 1000 words.

2: Assignment weighted 50%
Reflection on the Placement
Interview style presentation and reflection Students will complete an 8 minute (maximum) recorded interview style presentation, reflecting on their placement experience. In the interview, students should provide answers to the questions supplied and support their answers with references to appropriate sources (career websites or peer-reviewed literature) to demonstrate understanding of experiential learning.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025