Developing skills via work placements in accounting: Student and employer views

This paper evaluates the development of skills during a work placement year within a Scottish accounting degree. It discusses the history of placements within higher education, the advantages and disadvantages of placements from student and employer perspectives, and work placement as a vehicle for developing personal transferable skills. Students and employers involved in work placements agreed that they were effective in developing a range of skills. Their views were then compared with those of students at a similar university without a placement degree. Degrees including a work placement were found to be a useful complement to more traditionally structured degrees.