School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering

BSc (Hons) Computing and Information Technology with Sandwich placement

BSc (Hons) Sandwich 4 years

Spend a guaranteed year working in industry — built into your degree, not bolted on — then finish your Computing and IT BSc with the workplace experience employers are looking for.

Spend a guaranteed year working in industry — built into your degree, not bolted on — then finish your Computing and IT BSc with the workplace experience employers are looking for.

Award
BSc (Hons)
Start date(s)
14 September 2026
UCAS Code
I104
Course specifications
Course length
Sandwich (4 years)
Campus location
University: City Campus
UCAS points calculator

Why choose this course?

89% of students were satisfied with academic support on this course (NSS, 2026)

A degree tells an employer you can learn computing. A year spent working in a real computing or IT role tells them you can do the job. This course gives you both. You'll study the same broad, practical Computing and Information Technology degree as our three-year course — covering programming, databases, networks, servers and the web — and then put it directly into practice on a guaranteed industrial placement of at least 48 weeks before you return to complete your final year.

The placement isn't something you have to find, negotiate and hope for on top of your studies: it's guaranteed to every student on this course, and it's built into the structure of the degree itself as an assessed part of your programme.

You'll also be taught by academics connected to the University's Digital Innovations and Solution Centre (DISC), so your degree stays current with research and industry practice — and by the time you graduate, you'll have a full year of real workplace experience to talk about in every interview.

What's unique about this course?

This route shares its academic core with our three-year degree, but the placement year changes what you get out of it. Here's what sets it apart — from the standard course and from other universities' sandwich degrees:

  • A genuinely substantial placement: a minimum of 48 weeks in industry — long enough to move beyond an internship-style introduction and take on real responsibility, not just observe.
  • Academically embedded, not a side activity: your placement is assessed as a 40-credit Industrial Placement module in its own right, with a member of academic staff visiting you during your placement and maintaining contact with you throughout — so you have university support even while you're off campus.
  • A final year shaped by real experience: you choose your Year 4 specialist options — from cybersecurity, cloud, AI, big data, networks and more — after a year actually working in the industry, not before it, so your choices are informed by what you've seen in practice.
  • Four years to build your network: an extra year on campus and in industry means more time to build the professional contacts, references and CV history that a three-year graduate is still starting to build.

What happens on the course?

Across four years, this course takes you from computing fundamentals through a full year in industry to a specialist, portfolio-ready final year. Here's how it's structured.

Years 1 and 2: The same strong foundation

Your first two years match our three-year Computing and IT degree, giving you a genuinely broad grounding before you head out on placement. You'll learn programming, logic and problem-solving fundamentals; build an interactive 3D application; deploy and secure virtual servers; build a database-backed website; configure real network equipment; and work in a team to build a full software product from scratch. By the end of Year 2, you'll choose your first specialist options — from Data Mining or Cybersecurity Architecture, and Network Security or Cloud Systems — giving you a head start on the direction you might want your placement, and later your career, to take.

Year 3: Your guaranteed industrial placement

This is what makes the course a sandwich degree. You'll spend a minimum of 48 weeks working in a real computing or IT role, applying everything you built in Years 1 and 2 to genuine business problems. The placement is assessed as its own 40-credit module, with a member of academic staff visiting you during the placement and staying in contact with you throughout the year, so you're never without university support while you're off campus.

  • Apply your programming, database, network and web development skills in a live business environment
  • Build professional references and industry contacts before you've even finished your degree
  • Test-drive a specialism — software development, cybersecurity, data, cloud, networking — with real stakes, before committing to your final-year options

Final year: Specialist skills, applied with real experience behind you

You return from placement into a final year built around your choices. You'll study advanced database and knowledge systems, then choose two specialist option modules — from Intelligent Systems (AI), Advanced Full Stack Development, Emerging Interactive Technologies, Big Data, Advanced Networks and Risk and Cybersecurity Management. Your final year culminates in a substantial 40-credit individual project, paired with a Professionalism module covering the ethical and legal responsibilities of working in computing — and this time, you're applying academic theory to a project informed by a full year of real workplace experience, not just lecture material.

Placements on the course

This is the section that matters most on this page — it's the reason to choose this course over the three-year route.

A minimum of 48 weeks. Your placement takes place between Year 2 and your final year and runs for at least 48 weeks — long enough to move well beyond an internship-style introduction and take on genuine responsibility within a real computing or IT team.

It's academically embedded. The placement is assessed as the Industrial Placement module in its own right, worth 40 credits — a formal, examined part of your degree, not an unassessed year out.

You're supported throughout. A member of academic staff visits you during your placement, and the University maintains continual contact with you across the full 48-week (minimum) period, so you're never without support while you're working off campus.

A placement year typically gives you the chance to:

  • Work on real projects for a real employer, applying the programming, database, network and web skills built in Years 1 and 2
  • Build professional references and a network of industry contacts before you graduate
  • Earn a salary while you gain experience — most placement roles are paid
  • Return to your final year with a much clearer sense of which specialist options — cybersecurity, cloud, AI, data, networks — are the right fit for your career

For full details on how placements are arranged and supported, see the University's dedicated placements information.

Employability on the course

Choosing the sandwich route is, in itself, an employability decision. Graduate recruiters consistently rate a full year of relevant work experience as one of the strongest predictors of graduate job success — and this course builds that experience into your degree as standard, rather than leaving it to chance.

  • A 1 year placement: every student completes a minimum 48-week industrial placement, assessed as part of your degree — not an optional extra you have to source alone
  • A head start on the graduate job market: you'll apply for graduate roles with a full year of paid, relevant experience already on your CV, alongside references from a real employer
  • Continued university support during placement: academic staff visit you during your placement and maintain contact throughout, so you're supported even while working off campus
  • Industry-informed teaching: course content stays current through the School's industry links and staff's own research and professional work
  • A specialism chosen with evidence: you pick your final-year options after testing your interests in a real workplace, not on a guess made at 19

Graduates leave equipped for roles including software developer, full stack developer, cybersecurity analyst, network engineer, database administrator, cloud engineer and data analyst — typically with a genuine advantage over three-year graduates: proven, referenced experience of actually doing the job.

Course Modules

Potential Career Paths

       

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

  • A research-active School: taught by academics connected to the University's Digital Innovations and Solution Centre (DISC), keeping your course connected to current research and industry developments
  • City Campus location: study at the University's main City Campus, with direct access to the West Midlands' tech ecosystem — valued at over £15 billion and among the fastest-growing regional tech economies in the UK
  • Strong student satisfaction: 89% of students were satisfied with academic support on this course (National Student Survey, 2026)
  • Support that doesn't stop when you leave campus: a Personal Tutor every year, plus academic staff who stay in contact with you throughout your placement, not just while you're in lectures

Graduates leave the University of Wolverhampton with a thorough, current understanding of computing, a full year of real industry experience, and the professional network and references to move straight into a graduate career.

Alongside every technical and professional outcome of our three-year degree, this route adds a further layer: skills you can only build by actually doing the job. By graduation, you'll be able to:

  • Apply computing theory to real, live problems: not simulated coursework scenarios, but genuine business challenges encountered during a 48-week placement
  • Operate as a professional in a real workplace: managing deadlines, client or stakeholder expectations, and team dynamics outside an academic setting
  • Demonstrate specialist and general computing knowledge: from software development and systems analysis to your chosen final-year specialisms, tested against real workplace demands
  • Communicate confidently to technical and non-technical audiences: sharpened by a full year of reporting to colleagues, managers and clients rather than only tutors and peers
  • Apply professional, legal and ethical standards: understood academically and then practised in a live employment context, in line with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, guidance

These outcomes map across every module on the course, including the Industrial Placement itself — so your placement counts toward your degree classification, not just your CV.

Location Mode Sep intake Fee Year
Home Sandwich £9790 per year 2026-27
International Sandwich £17600 per year 2026-27

The University is committed to a transparent fee structure, with no hidden costs, to help you make an informed decision. This includes information on what is included in the fee and how fees are calculated and reviewed.


If a tuition fee is not showing, we may not offer this intake for this course. Please check the start date information on the course finder for start dates.

  • 96 UCAS points
  • A Levels - grades CCC / BCD
  • BTEC L3 Extended Diploma or OCR Cambridge L3 Technical Extended Diploma - grade MMM
  • Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (96 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at merit)
  • T Levels with an overall grade of Pass and a minimum grade of C in Core.

 

Use the UCAS Tariff calculator to check your qualifications and points

Students must usually have studied for a minimum of two years post GCSE level. However, we will consider applications from mature students who do not have two years of post-16 study, where they have relevant work experience. Please see http://wlv.ac.uk/mature for further information.

If you've got other qualifications or relevant experience, please contact The Gateway for further advice before applying.

International entry requirements and application guidance can be found at http://www.wlv.ac.uk/international/apply

English language requirements also apply

Tuition Fees Loan (Home Fee Status):

Most students will be able to apply for a loans to pay for these subject to eligibility. To find out more information please refer to the government Student Finance website.

Changes for EU students:

The UK government has confirmed that EU students starting courses from 1 August 2021 will normally be classified as having Overseas Fee status. More information about the change is available at UKCISA:

EU citizens living in the UK with 'settled' status, and Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland, will still be classified as Home students, providing they meet the usual residency requirements, for more information about EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)


Self-funding:

If you don’t want to take out a loan to pay your fees or if you aren’t eligible to receive a loan, you might want to take advantage of the University’s scheme to pay by instalments: See How to pay.

For more information please contact the Gateway.


Your employer, embassy or organisation can pay for your Tuition fees:

If your employer, embassy or organisation agrees to pay all or part of your tuition fees; the University will refer to them as your sponsor and will invoice them for the appropriate amount.

We must receive notification of sponsorship in writing as soon as possible, and before enrolment, confirming that the sponsor will pay your tuition fees.


Financial Hardship:

Students can apply to the Dennis Turner Opportunity Fund.

for help with course related costs however this cannot be used for fees or to cover general living costs.


Bursaries and Scholarships:

In addition the University also offers a range of Bursaries and Scholarships packages

You can find more information on the University’s Funding, cost, fee and support pages.

Telephone

01902 32 22 22

Email

enquiries@wlv.ac.uk

Online

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How we compare

Find out how our course is rated on Discover Uni, the official website for comparing UK higher education courses.

Find out how our course is rated on Discover Uni, the official website for comparing UK higher education courses.

Sandwich Course