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Embedding professional experience into your master’s

Embedding professional experience into your master’s

Professional experience gives you the opportunity to develop practical skills that could benefit your future employability, and could help you to put into practice the theory and knowledge learned during your course.

In light of these potential benefits, the College of Business and Law has added a professional experience option to a number of our master’s programmes, providing you with the opportunity to put theory into practice through the addition of professional experience to your one-year master’s programme. When professional experience is added, your master’s programme could extend to be 16, 20 or 24 months long, as professional experience opportunities can last for either one, two or three semesters (4,8 or 12 months respectively), with the variable lengths aiming to provide you with the flexibility to apply for experience from a wider range of employers.

During your first semester, we can help you to identify, prepare and apply for a range of professional experience opportunities with the support of our employability and placements team. If you are successful in securing one, then, as the table below shows, you would begin your professional experience during semester three. Depending on the length of the professional experience, you would then continue your studies in Coventry during either semester four, five or six, as set out in the table below.

Semester 1 year master's 2 year master's with professional experience
Semester one Core modules Core modules
Semester two Core modules Core modules
Semester three Core modules and project Professional experience
Semester four   Professional experience (core modules and project if completing one semester of professional experience)
Semester five   Professional experience (core modules and project if completing two semesters of professional experience)
Semester six   Core modules and project if completing three semesters of professional experience

Additional details

  • Professional experience opportunities incur additional fees. Completing three semesters of professional experience will incur a maximum fee of £4000.00, which will be pro-rated down if you choose to complete only one or two semesters of professional experience (for one semester, this fee will be £1,333.33, and for two semesters £2,666.66). Fees will be invoiced separately only when your placement is secured and tier 4 visa extended if required. To extend your master’s with the professional experience option, you will need to prove you have secured a tier 4 visa extension through the submission of relevant paperwork.
  • Please note that we are unable to guarantee any professional experience opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
  • Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed and you will be responsible for securing your own professional opportunity, however you can benefit from the support of our employability and placements team in trying to identify and secure an opportunity.
  • Please note, professional experience opportunities may be paid, however paid placements will not be guaranteed and such placements will be subject to availability.
  • If you change your mind or are unable to secure professional experience, you can still complete your master’s in the first year.
  • Master’s courses with the professional experience option are available to UK, EU and international students.
  • Professional experience modules take place in semesters three to five, and are assessed on a pass/fail basis.
  • Master’s courses with the professional experience option are designed to be fully tier 4 Visa compliant, subject to you successfully extending your visa.
  • During your professional experience, you will be supported by an academic supervisor as well as our employability team.

The following postgraduate courses provide you with the option to extend your Master’s with professional experience:

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