Parliamentary placements: the benefits and challenges

Norton, Philip

Abstract

I have been running placement schemes at the House of Commons now for two decades. One entails spending the third year of a four year degree (in British Politics and Legislative Studies, BPLS) on placement with an MP. Another, a more recent scheme, entails students on three year single honours degrees spending one semester - the penultimate semester of the final year - at Westminster. With the former, the placement year is an integral part of the degree programme; with the latter, candidates are selected by interview in the second year. Both my experience and a C-SAP-funded survey in 2004-5 of our students and placement providers reinforce the findings of previous studies as to the benefits of experience-based learning. Experience also demonstrates the challenges posed to any organisation providing opportunities for placements.

Citation

Norton, P. (2008). Parliamentary placements: the benefits and challenges. Enhancing Learning in the Social Sciences, 1(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11120/elss.2008.01010004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 30, 2008
• Online Publication Date: Dec 15, 2015
• Publication Date: 2008-04
• Print ISSN: 1756-848X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.11120/elss.2008.01010004
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/405504
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.11120/elss.2008.01010004