Undertaking a placement year is an achievement in itself – in an increasingly competitive market, securing a placement that equips students with the right skills, confidence, and industry knowledge for their future is a commendable success. An important part of our work at the University of Sheffield involves ensuring that all students have the opportunity to undertake a placement year or other types of work experience to develop their employability, skills, and apply their knowledge in real-world situations.
The awards
The Placement Year Awards, organised and run by colleagues across the University of Sheffield’s Careers and Employability Service, recognise exceptional students who have made significant contributions to their workplace, their organisations’ sustainability, and have shown considerable resilience and growth during their placements. The awards also recognise and celebrate extraordinary placement providers who provided exceptional support and development opportunities that have made a significant positive impact on students during their placements.
Students were able to self-nominate for the following awards:
- Celebrating Resilience Award: a student who has overcome challenges to pursue their placement year - these could be related to health, education, finance, caring responsibilities, or challenges within their workplace.
- Sustainability Award: a student who has made a considerable contribution to their placement provider’s social or environmental sustainability practices whilst on placement.
- Placement Student of the Year Award: a student who has made considerable contributions to their host organisations while demonstrating significant personal and professional growth.
Students were also able to be nominated by their employers for:
- Creativity and Innovation Award: a student who has made a significant impact on an organisation through new initiatives and creativity, or who has helped innovate through the use of technology/problem-solving.
In the employer category, students were able to nominate employers for the Placement Provider of the Year Award, which recognises managers, mentors, or work colleagues, who have gone above and beyond to provide students with exceptional support and skill development opportunities.
The ceremony
The Placement Year Awards Ceremony featured two keynotes from Professor David Forrest, Deputy Vice-President for Education (Student Experience), and Helen Smith, Associate Director of Student & Academic Services (Careers & Employability), who spoke about the importance of preparing for new career pathways in an ever-evolving world. They also recognised the extraordinary contributions students have made through their placement years, and discussed how the Sheffield Graduate Attributes developed by students both in the curriculum and through their placement year experiences align with the global skills employers are looking for.
For our guest alumni speaker segment, we welcomed Sarah Davidson, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (formerly Department of Chemistry) alumna and current Technology Development Lead at Croda, who completed a placement year with Crown Packaging. She spoke about her placement year experience, her next steps of joining Croda as a graduate, the impact of her university experiences on her employability, and translating the insights and skills gained during her degree into her current career.
The winners
A university-wide panel of Careers and Employability Service staff and faculty employability staff selected the winners in each category from 193 nominations.
Celebrating Resilience Award
Highly Commended: Iris Kirkland (Management School)
Highly Commended: Aimee Norman (School of Biosciences)
Winner: Mia Welch (School of Biosciences)
They demonstrated a high level of self-awareness and reflection, and a mature approach to asking for help and an openness to adapt to new ways of working whilst facing significant personal challenges.
Feedback from the judging panel
Sustainability Award
Highly Commended: Ranim AbouElAdab (School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering)
Highly Commended: Eloise Hieatt (School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering)
Winner: Thea Johonnett (School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences)
They involved themselves in a range of sustainability initiatives during their placement. They have spoken clearly about what they achieved in a thoughtful submission, clearly reflecting on their own personal development.
Feedback from the judging panel
Creativity and Innovation Award (Employers’ Choice)
Highly Commended: Adam Awdhali (School of Psychology)
Highly Commended: Joshua Hammerton (School of Economics)
Winner: Lily Mantle-Osborne (School of Geography and Planning)
They demonstrated exceptional talent and problem-solving skills by developing an innovative Power BI tool that streamlined access to species data, enhanced operational efficiency, and delivered a new technological solution that continues to positively impact the Environment Agency’s biodiversity and nature recovery work.
Feedback from the judging panel
Placement Student of the Year Award - Faculties of Social Science and Arts & Humanities
Highly Commended: Ethan Gell (Management School)
Highly Commended: Natalie Heasman Tree (School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities)
Highly Commended: Ellie Slee-Lamb (School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations)
Winner: Mel Driver (BSc Politics, Philosophy & Economics)
They are winning the award because we felt they had made an outstanding contribution to an important area of work across government, evidenced by both manager and peer feedback.
Feedback from the judging panel
Placement Student of the Year Award - Faculty of Engineering
Highly Commended: Anish Partab (School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering)
Highly Commended: Ranim AbouElAdab (School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering)
Winner: Kris Kothari (School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering)
Their impact went far beyond their initial job description, showcasing strong initiative, enterprising skills and leadership. They implemented modern software automation which drove significant organisational improvement. In addition they championed public engagement such as leading the organisation's project at the Cheltenham Science festival.
Feedback from the judging panel
Placement Student of the Year Award - Faculty of Science
Highly Commended: Isabel Gradwell (School of Psychology)
Highly Commended: Tom Horobin (School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences)
Winner: Joe Higham (School of Biosciences)
They successfully led a project that established a new distribution agreement for medical devices, launched a global marketing campaign for a product, and trained doctors in the proper surgical techniques to use the device, bringing the technology to clinics.
Feedback from the judging panel
Placement Provider of the Year Award
Highly Commended: Elicia McGregor (NHS Southampton CAMHS)
Highly Commended: Darren Beckwith (Jefferies International Ltd)
Winner: Grace Rutherford (British Airways)
Photographed: Helen Smith (left) presenting the Placement Provider of the Year Award, and Thomas Pringle (right), Management School student and award nominator, receiving the award on behalf of their employer, Grace Rutherford (British Airways).
Grace’s profound dedication to the student’s growth at British Airways has been instrumental in their development and is definitely deserving of the Placement Provider of the Year Award.
Feedback from the judging panel
We are grateful to all those students and employers who have taken the time to submit their nominations and all those who attended the Placement Year Awards Ceremony to join us in celebrating our winners and nominees. We are also thankful for our employer partners for participating in the awards, and the incredible support from employability staff across the university in helping us select the winners from a high number of excellent nominations.
Thinking about doing a placement year?
Find out more about where to start and the support available to you.