Staff Guide
What is an Applied Professional Diploma (in setting)?
This is a new non-credit-bearing university award for all students who undertake a Sandwich placement as part of their degree which will align with the five work experience ‘settings’; Community | Industry | International | Research Consultancy | Enterprise. The Diploma will work simultaneously with a Sandwich placement and will give students further reward and recognition for the effort undertaken. It will provide the threshold on which a sandwich placement is completed and provide clarity and consistency across Hallam of the requirement of students to pass the sandwich element of the course. It will do this through a consistent and clear structure, providing an opportunity for students to expand their applied learning and articulation of success through an impactful synoptic portfolio. During the year, students will receive regular touchpoints from Hallam and they will be able to access the support resources through the Careers and Employability website and from their student support triangle.
The Diploma is pass/fail and for that reason is not aligned to any associated assessment regulations. When students complete the required number of weeks on placement for their Sandwich degree and submit a meaningful attempt at the associated synoptic portfolio then they will pass the Diploma and be awarded their Sandwich Degree. If a student does not complete the requirements of their Sandwich placement e.g. incomplete weeks and/or does not submit a meaningful attempt of their synoptic portfolio then they do not pass the Diploma or the Sandwich element of their degree.
Whether or not a particular placement will meet the learning outcomes of the Applied Professional Diploma and the course are a matter for local interpretation. This is usually a case of checking that the requirements of the placement role are sufficiently developmental (in your opinion), along with any course-specific requirements.
The Academic Awards Framework and the relevant Course Descriptor found on the University’s Academic Quality & Standards site are the two documents that define what constitutes a placement (extracted here)
For specifics in relation to pre- and post-placement modules, please refer to the relevant Course Descriptor for the course.