Roles and expectations

Attendance is mandatory for all placements, unless you have exceptional circumstances which would need to be discussed with your course leader and Hallam Help student support advisor. You should not book annual leave during a placement block.

Sickness. Please discuss the sickness reporting process with your placement provider, this will normally involve you contacting your educator to inform them that you are unwell and unable to attend placement. Please also inform your academic advisor so they can support and advise where needed. If you take a significant amount of time off during a placement, you would have to discuss if you can complete the required amount to continue and be fairly assessed- course teams will discuss the specific requirements with you. In some cases you would not be able to complete the placement. You must also follow your normal (employed) organisational absence reporting process and inform your employer of any absences during placement.

Practice education of all learners is a partnership arrangement between the apprentice, placement staff and placement tutors/educators. Roles and responsibilities are clarified in the placement learning expectations tab below. The aim is to ensure that learners are prepared to be fit for purpose as registered health or social care professionals and meet HCPC and PSRB requirements.

The wording and terminology of these expectations will differ from one profession to the next depending on the health or social care environment; however the underlying expectations are similar relating to all parties being respectful and courteous, adhering to policies and procedures, being flexible and mindful of as much notice as possible regarding issues such as allocation and absence, conducting themselves in a highly professional manner using optimum communication strategies, be open to raise concerns if necessary, respect the rights, dignity, equality and diversity of all in placement learning environments

Working hours. The expected hours of work for placement are 37.5 hours per week, but this may vary between placement setting and hours will need to be negotiated and agreed with your placement educator. For most courses, the guidance is that you should aim to complete around 1000 hours of clinical placement experience, for some courses this is guidance only (Physiotherapy). Due to some PSRB requirements this 1000 hours is a mandatory requirement to complete (Occupational Therapy and Dietetics).  You will be required to record your placement hours and any concerns of not meeting the requirements discussed with your course and placement team. Where there is a shortfall of hours you may be required to extend placement blocks or complete an additional block of learning and this would need to be discussed and agreed with your employer. Non-clinical work that is contributing to your placement learning such as completing a presentation or case study or tasks given by your educator can be recorded as placement hours (if agreed by your placement educator).

Apprentices should not be on a contract of less than 30 hours per week. If you are on a 30 hour contract you can choose to increase your hours on placement if you are able to do so and this has been agreed with your employer, but this is not expected. Otherwise, you would complete 30 hours per week of placement and you should negotiate with the educator how best this would work, depending on your normal working pattern and the placement service needs. For some courses where number of placement hours are mandated there is the requirement to extend the placement block by one week to ensure the minimum number of placement hours are achieved- this should be discussed with course teams and employers and placement providers made aware for planning.

If there are any changes to the hours per week that an apprentice would work this needs to be negotiated with and agreed by the University.

These documents clarify expectations about apprentice working hours during practice-based learning. 

• DA Occupational Therapy guidance document

• DA Physiotherapy guidance document

• The  placement learning expectations document sets out the general expectations and responsibilities of all those involved in the partnership between learners, clinical staff, university lecturers, patients, service users and carers in the clinical education of health professionals 

• You will find essential guidance from the HCPC  and PSRBs here: Quality Assurance page of this site. 

Please read the placement learning expectations document above. Learners are advised that they must follow their placement provider's policies and guidelines at all times while on placement.

It is an expectation that apprentices' behave in a professional manner with all teams involved in the placement process. Consider your communication style in email and over the phone.

When you are on placement, whether in your own or external organisation, you are learning as an apprentice and should not complete your normal support worker (employed) role or duties.  You will be allocated an educator who will support your throughout your placement and any placement roles and responsibilities should be discussed and agreed with them.  Your educator will need to countersign your notes. You should be assessed fairly at the appropriate level of your learning (4, 5 and 6)

It is an apprentice's responsibility to disclosure any disability or caring responsibilities to SHU and their employer. Ensuring any changes in circumstances are updated. You will also need to make the placement team aware of changes such as change of address, contact telephone number, car driving status and health changes.

You should not plan to take any leave during placement blocks. If you had something booked before starting the course and/or you require leave for an exceptional circumstance (e.g wedding) then you would have to discuss this with the course and placement team to see if an adjustments can be made.

Please discuss the sickness reporting process with your placement provider, this will normally involve you contacting your educator to inform them that you are unwell and unable to attend placement and you will also need to inform your employer. Inform your academic advisor in addition, so they can support and advise where needed. 

As an apprentice you will receive an email (before the end of placement) asking you to complete an evaluation through the PEMS system about your current placement experience. The evaluation is specific for degree apprentices. You have up to 6 weeks after the end of placement to complete this, but it is a mandatory requirement and you MUST complete this per placement block. This feedback is requested by our commissioners and helps the placement team evaluate student placement experiences.  In order for the evaluation to be effective, it is important that you complete this constructively and with detail so that we can follow up and action the responses. Please be professional in how you complete this and do not name specific staff members/educators.

If you complete a placement within the Yorkshire and Humber region you may be asked to complete your evaluation through PARE instead of PEMS. Please see the videos below to guide you

PROFESSIONAL CHECKS FOR STUDENTS ON DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP COURSES IN HEALTHCARE

Applicants to healthcare courses are required to complete some mandatory checks as outlined by registered bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Social Work England (SWE).

All applicants to healthcare courses must engage in the following checks during the application process and must have engaged in these in order to fully enrol onto the course:

·       Suitability Declaration – this is an online form managed by the University.

·       DBS Check (Disclosure and Barring Service) with Child and Adult Workforce – this is a two-step process: online form managed by a third party and digital ID check.  If applicants are unable to engage in a digital ID check (for example if they do not have a valid passport), they must attend the University for a face to face ID check.

·       Health Questionnaire – this is an online form managed by a third party.

Note that the University is legally required to retain responsibility for checking the criminal and health status of all applicants, even if applicants have already completed a DBS check and Occupational Health assessment as part of their employment.

In addition to the above, employers must ensure that all applicants to healthcare courses meet the following requirements in order to fully enrol on the course:

·      Applicants must have had the required vaccinations and immunisations for working in healthcare settings as stipulated by the Department of Health Green Book.

·       Applicants must have completed the online and practical mandatory training for working in healthcare setting as stipulated by the University.  Students may also need to complete additional mandatory training for specialist placement areas whilst on the programme.

An Educational Audit will be undertaken in partnership between the university and the placement provider in accordance with PSRB, Health Education England (HEE) and university requirements and ‘Best Practice’. As part of the educational audit process.

Apprentice evaluations will be discussed and reflected on and actioned as appropriate/necessary. 

Placement education audits also take account of student evaluations of their placement learning experience and feedback from providers.  All quality assurance information can be found on this link Quality Assurance (Audits and Student and Practice Evaluations) 

HCPC Standards

• HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics

• HCPC Guidance on Conduct and Ethics for Students

• HCPC Standards Standards of Proficiency for Dietitians

• HCPC Standards of Continuing Professional Development

• HCPC Standards relevant to Education and Training

• HCPC Students and Learners - information and guidance for students

The Health and Care Profession Council's Standards for Education and Training have been in force since June 2017, providing overarching guidance on the role of Practice Educators. 

Please see the Practice educator page for more support and information. Practice educator page 

Please see the placement learning expectations tab and document above.

AHP Link Tutor Essential Activities - Operating Principles (PDF, 224.3KB) - explains how university link lecturers support students and placement providers who support student learning in practice.

SGPL and Link Team Essential Activities (PDF, 177.5KB) - complement and support the Link Tutor role.

Academic Adviser role. (PDF, 227.5KB)