Employer FAQs (Co-ops)

Co-ops are a type of student work placement that is more immersive than an internship and shorter than a full year in industry. These placements are integral to NU London’s experiential learning approach. They offer employers flexible access to talent, whilst building students’ workplace readiness.

Typically 4 or 6 months, though can be shorter or longer and are flexible to organisational needs.

Yes, to align with the student’s wider degree programme, we recommend planning to start your co-op at the following times:

1. January – June (for six month placements)
2. June – December (for six month placements)
3. May – August  (for four month placements)

As students complete co-op placements at varying points in their degree programmes, different students will have different levels of experience. Students can complete placements from the second half of their second year onwards and postgraduate students may also complete a co-op.

Before completing a co-op all students must complete a course designed to prepare them for undertaking a placement. Students will bring knowledge from their degree programme and any previous co-ops to date. NU London currently offers a wide range of degree programmes including law, data science, and business. You can find more information about all of our degree programmes here.

Typically co-op placements are either full-time for 32 hours per week or part-time for 16 hours per week, however, there is flexibility around this, so if needed the NU London team can support with designing options to accommodate your preferred placement structure.

Co-op students can work with your organization in the same way as traditional employees, they may be in person, hybrid or fully remote. Whilst most students at our campus are London-based during term time, we are part of a global university network and support placements nationally and globally.

Yes, often students go on to work for employers they completed co-ops with, and full-time work offers can be made for students to begin after graduation. As our graduates are highly sought after, this is an excellent opportunity to engage early on with this fantastic pool of talented individuals.

Alternatively, you may wish to set up a rolling co-op. This means you can have a new placement starting as soon as another ends, so you can have different students completing placements on an ongoing basis.

We recommend planning at least three months in advance before hiring a placement student to allow time to promote the vacancy, for students to apply and for you to complete recruitment and selection processes.

For example, if you plan to hire a June – December co-op student, we would recommend advertising by early March and completing interviews by early April, as this also gives the co-op student enough time to prepare for their placement.

Employers set student wages for individual co-op placements, and are dependent on factors including the type of industry and pay for similar roles in the sector. In some cases co-op placements may be unpaid, for example if there is particularly high educational value to the placement or in specific sectors, such as at not-for-profits or NGOs.

NU London offers support to students and employers throughout their co-op journey. This includes free-of-charge access to NU London’s placement advertising platform, opportunities to hold on-campus interviews, and a dedicated advisor throughout. Other costs will be in-line with your typical recruitment and resourcing costs.

Rather than being matched, as an employer you will have guidance from us but also the freedom to select the student that is right for you. Once agreed by your organisation and our partnership team, you can add your vacancy to NU London’s placement platform. From here, students can apply to you directly and you can shortlist candidates for interviews at your convenience. Throughout, the NU London team will be on-hand to guide you and provide any support needed.

As well as advertising your vacancy through our placement platform, the NU London team can help you engage with students at on-campus or virtual careers events, or share details of the opportunities through our various communications channels including social media and newsletters.

All students are prepared ahead of their co-op placement with sessions on workplace skills and expectations as part of NU London’s Career service, setting them up to excel and make the most of their experience at your organisation. The student and their appointed line manager will have a dedicated NU London advisor who will support you throughout your journey.