Explainer: Unifrog's Placements tool FAQs (International schools)

The Unifrog Placements tool makes it easy to administer work experience, Virtual Work Experience (VWEX), work shadowing, internships - any time when a student has sustained direct contact with an employer. In this guide, we answer your most commonly asked questions about the tool.

Our Placements tool is the industry leader, used and loved by more than 2,500 schools and colleges; 500,000+ work experience placements have been administered from start to finish using the tool.

If you want to start using the Placements tool and you are already a Unifrog partner, please contact your Area Manager. If you don’t work with us already, please request a demo here (we'll then set up a meeting with you), or email Alyssa at alyssa@unifrog.org. 
 

“The system is quite literally life-changing – thank you!”
Eugénie Pasco, Kingswood School

Here are your most frequently asked questions about the Placements tool, answered:

What is the Placements tool exactly?
 

• A series of forms
  
  At a basic level the Placements tool is a series of forms which need to be completed by specific people at specific times; when one person finishes their form, the system automatically messages the next person in the chain. The forms collect information about each placement, as well as each person's permissions
   
• A dashboard
  
  The tool gives teachers an at-a-glance view of the progress of each placement across multiple students, and makes it easy to chase when a placement is stuck at a particular stage.
   
• A database
  
  When an employer is asked to host a student using the Placements tool, we invite them to join our Placements contacts database. If they say yes, teachers can ask them if they are up for hosting further students.

What does the tool help with?
 

The tool makes it easy:

• For students to get the ball rolling, then reflect on the placement afterwards;
• For the employer to plan a brilliant placement (we give them a little library of expert guides);
• For the employer to also follow and confirm that they follow best practices in:
  • Insurance;
  • Health and safety;
  • Risk Assessment;
  • Safeguarding;
  • Data protection (GDPR);
• For the parent/caregiver to agree to the placement and stay informed of what’s happening;
• For the school coordinators to have an overview of the whole process, across multiple students;
• For the school to build up a database of employers who have previously hosted placements, showing things like student ratings, the sector, and whether the employer is up for hosting virtual or in person placements. 

How does the tool help employers?

Employers who have hosted a placement before via Unifrog all the information about themselves and their organisation auto-filled (they can still edit this information if they want). 

Employers who are Unifrog partner organisations have more information auto-filled, including documents like their ELI certificate, and they also have the option to auto-fill placement-specific information (eg the start and end dates and the placement overview).

How does the Placements contacts database work?

The Placements contacts database is a Unifrog-wide database of people who are interested in hosting students for:

• In person work placements
• In person work placements lasting 20 days or more
• Virtual placements
• Apprenticeships
• Other opportunities (like speaking in assemblies or mentoring)

There are already thousands of people in the database, with more joining every day. Teachers (but not students) see the contacts that are in their country, and can search the database and ask the people in it if they are up for hosting work experience for their students. 

Access to the database is included as part of the Placements tool. If you have a teacher login, you can read more about it here.

Does the system really work for a placement in any country?

Yes, the confirmations and agreements between parties are binding regardless of the country where they are made.

We’ve been careful to make things work seamlessly for any country, for example in the tool the employer commits to complying with local data protection law and local covid guidelines, and we’ve built in various handy things like asking the employer what languages are spoken in the workplace.

How much does the Placements tool cost?

The tool is an add-on for schools to the normal Unifrog package. For international schools the normal price is £200 (ex VAT). As usual with Unifrog, you don't pay any extra for training and support.
 

Has the tool been properly put to the test?

Yes. More than 2,500 schools/colleges now use it, with more starting every day. Over 500,000 work placements have been successfully administered through it.

Do people like it?

The really important thing is that it's popular with everyone involved: students, employers, parents/caregivers, and placement coordinators at schools/colleges.

It saves everyone time, and it helps students and employers to have more successful placements.

“It is a complete game changer. Thank you Unifrog!” Judith Crimes, Birchwood High School

“The whole process is so easy and hassle-free” Sweta Thakrar, Dr Challoner's School
 
 

Does Unifrog do Health & Safety checks for you?

No, Unifrog does not do Health & Safety checks for you. By asking questions of the student, the employer and the parent/caregiver, and in particular taking into account the characteristics of the student and of the workplace, the tool:

• Can decide if the employer needs to answer further questions, and needs to provide more documentation (eg uploading a Risk Assessment)
• Can flag to school staff if a placement is higher risk - so possibly in need of further checks
• Provides you with the centralised space where you can record documents and notes.
   

How can I see it in action? And how can I ask questions about it?

If you're already a Unifrog partner, please contact your Area Manager. If you want to get yourself clued up in advance, check out this guide on the tool (you'll need to login).

If you don’t work with us already, please request a demo here (we'll then set up a meeting with you), or email Alyssa at alyssa@unifrog.org. We would love to hear more about your school and the type of support you need.

Is it compliant with the GDPR?

Yes - we have built the tool with data protection law firmly in mind. For example, you'll see that our Privacy Policy fully deals with this new tool.

What about Take Your Child to Work days?

We do not have a separate version of the Placements tool for Take Your Child to Work days, because the paperwork required for a parent to host their own child for work experience is exactly the same as for when a parent is not the employer.

The school retains a legal duty of care over the student during school hours, even if at the workplace the parent's child will be sitting right next to the parent.

On Unifrog's Placements tool, if the parent is also the employer:

• When the employer/parent is completing the Employer initial form, they can put their own email address as the Parent/Guardian email address;
• After completing the Employer initial form they will get a notification to complete the Parent / guardian agreement.

Can we use the Placements tool for Virtual Work Experience (VWEX)?

Yes the Placements tool is for both in person and virtual placements. However, whether in person or virtual, the key question is whether the student has sustained, direct interaction with the employer. If they don't, the experience should be recorded in the Activities tool, and not the Placements tool.

Here are our criteria for what we consider a placement:

• The student needs to be in direct contact with the employer;
• The student will normally do a bit of work shadowing and some of their own project work that relates to what the employer does;
• The student should have more of an educational aspect to them than a normal job, but they can be doing real work for the employer;
• The student can be paid or unpaid, though if the student is doing a significant amount of ‘real’ work for the employer, then they should be paid.

If a student does not have direct contact with the employer – e.g. the employer is putting on a course or event for lots of students and there’s not much direct interaction between the student and the employer – then we consider it a course/event/webinar, and not a placement. In this case, the student should record on Unifrog in the Activities tool that they have done it, but it’s not appropriate to use the Placements tool for this.
 

How is the administration process on the Placements tool different for virtual placements?

In the case of virtual placements, the process on the Placements tool is more simple than it is for in person ones, for example there is no parent agreement form, and no school permission form. 

There are also some different safeguarding questions, for example the employer has to confirm they will comply with safety online best practice.