Meaning & use
work placement
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Meanings
nouncountable
A fixed period of time spent working at a company or organization as part of a course, so a student can learn on the job.
Grammar: Countable: she did a work placement at a hospital.
Patterns
- do a work placement
- a work placement at something
- a work placement with someone
Every nursing student completes a work placement at a local hospital.
He did a six-week work placement in a design studio during his second year.
The college helps students find a work placement that matches their career goals.
nouncountable
An arrangement in which an unemployed or disadvantaged person is sent to a workplace to gain experience and skills.
Grammar: Countable and often arranged by an agency: the agency organized a work placement.
Patterns
- offer someone a work placement
- get a work placement
The job center arranged a work placement for her at a bakery.
A short work placement gave him the confidence to apply for permanent jobs.
The scheme offers a work placement to young people who left school without qualifications.
Word forms
| plural | work placements |
|---|
Common combinations
- do a work placement
- I did a work placement at a law firm last summer.
- arrange a work placement
- The school arranges a work placement for every pupil.
- a paid work placement
- She was lucky to get a paid work placement.
- complete a work placement
- You must complete a work placement to pass the course.
- a year-long work placement
- A year-long work placement can lead to a job offer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- internship
- Internship is the common American term and is often used for graduates, while work placement is tied more to a course.
- work experience
- Work experience is the British term for a short stay, often a week, for school pupils, while a placement is longer and part of a program.
- apprenticeship
- An apprenticeship is a long job-based training leading to a qualification and a wage, which is more formal than a placement.
- traineeship
- Traineeship is a similar structured training role, usually aimed at those who have left school.
Word family
Commonly confused: work placement or workplace?
work placement vs workplace
A workplace is the physical place where people work, while a work placement is a temporary training arrangement.
Practice
As part of her engineering degree, Maya spent a year on a ____ at a car manufacturer.
Choose one answer.
A work placement is a period of working at a company as part of a course. A workplace is only the location of work, so it does not fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “work placement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.