Psychology Undergraduate Placement Year

Babcock International; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering company in Plymouth is offering a Psychology Undergraduate Placement Year. You will support the Safety, Health, and Environment team in promoting a positive safety culture. Ideal candidates are entering their final year of a psychology degree and must achieve security clearance. This placement provides valuable experience and potential pathways into graduate programs.

Qualifications

• Entering final year of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in psychology or related discipline.
• Ability to achieve BPSS and SC clearance.

Responsibilities

• Support Safety Culture Lead in promoting a positive safety culture.
• Carry out assessments and workshops to evaluate safety culture.
• Collaborate with Learning from Experience team to analyse incidents.

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Psychology or related discipline

Job description

Psychology Undergraduate Placement Year

Programme title: Psychology Undergraduate Placement Year

Location: Devonport, Plymouth

Application closing date: 16 October 2025

Start date: September 2026

Role ID: 66882

What you’ll be doing

Join us at Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth – the largest naval base in Western Europe – for your placement year, where you’ll be part of our Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) team.

During your time with us, you’ll support the Safety Culture Lead in delivering our cultural strategy to promote a positive safety culture across the site. You’ll carry out assessments, surveys, workshops, and interviews to evaluate safety culture and measure the impact of our interventions.

Applying your Psychology background, you’ll help identify and propose improvements to safety practices and cultural initiatives. You’ll also collaborate with our Learning from Experience team to analyse incidents and near misses, contributing to ongoing safety performance improvements.

This placement offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into a complex industrial environment and work alongside a diverse, experienced team committed to making a meaningful impact.

What you’ll get out of it

Our placements are about more than work experience – they’re an opportunity to immerse yourself in life at Babcock, form meaningful connections, and develop skills that will set you up for your future career. You’ll work alongside supportive colleagues and gain guidance from experienced professionals every step of the way.

We value the fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that placement students bring to our team. We believe you have the potential to shape the future of our business. But we also understand that this placement is as much about you assessing what’s right for you as it is about us getting to know you. Perform well, and you could be considered for a position on our graduate programme – your journey with Babcock could just be getting started.

What you’ll need

• You must be entering your final year of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Psychology or a related behavioural science/behaviour change discipline.
• Many of our graduate programmes are subject to Security Clearance and Trade Control restrictions which mean that your place of birth, nationality, citizenship, or residency you hold or have held may impact which programmes you are eligible for. For this programme, you must be able to achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and Security Check (SC) clearance. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK.

Application process and closing dates

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the programme may close early if we receive a high volume of interest. To give yourself the best chance of being considered, we strongly recommend submitting your application and completing any required online assessments as soon as possible.