The introduction of an Industrial Placement year as part of this new degree will provide Computer Science students with a strong academic record to transfer onto in readiness for the forthcoming academic year.

Students who are starting their degree at Swansea will gain meaningful industry related work experience as part of their studies as part of the three year programme.

Whilst the emphasis of securing a placement will rest with the student, staff within the college, are already in negotiation with a growing number of regional employers within the ICT sector, to secure 12 month industrial placement opportunities specifically for Swansea University students.

Matt Jones, Head of the College of Science at Swansea University, said, ‘It is clear the College already provides a number of these opportunities and that these credit bearing placement modules are growing in number across all our departments.’

According to the Welsh Government (Policy statement on Higher Education, June 2013), working with businesses to meet their needs will benefit graduates and businesses in Wales and place universities at the heart of economic growth.

He added, ‘It is envisaged that this approach will be replicated for a large number of existing 3 year programmes of study currently delivered across the five departments, which will provide new programmes of study across the college and will be available for the following academic year.   The introduction of this new degree programme and the subsequent roll out of the industrial placement programmes across the college will increase our business connectivity, and ensure that Swansea University continues to deliver for economic growth and the betterment of our students.’

The results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 show that Swansea University leads Wales in the field of Computer Science, and are in the UK top 20.