Graphite Core Project Team Placement Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed most parts of my placement. The work was challenging and there was enough of it so I was kept busy, and there were lots of opportunities for travelling to Edinburgh and Glasgow and Hinkley Point to visit the nuclear power stations there, which reduced the monotony of working in an office. In addition, the company is very keen for its employees to get involved in the wider community so I was able to take part in a range of volunteering opportunities, which further developed my communication skills and confidence.

The majority of the team I was working for was incredibly welcoming and keen to make me feel like I was contributing to the team, which helped to motivate me as well as settle down quickly. In addition to this, the team was also very supportive - when I made a complaint about the behaviour of a member of the team towards me, the matter was dealt with very quickly and efficiently.

A lot of the support I received was from other students completing internships with the company, which I found really helpful because the company is so large that there were a lot of placement students who were always available to help me with, my work, personal development, and preparing for university. The company has a scheme called 'Learning for All' where your team pays £150 towards a course of your choice for your own personal development. Everyone was very friendly and ready to answer all of my questions, but they were also happy to let me get on and make my own decisions when I felt ready to.

Reasonably busy. I was given a lot of projects so I had a lot on the go at once, but the timescales for each piece of work were very generous, so it really depended on whether the work was needed for an upcoming meeting or presentation or if it was emergent work. Everyone was very understanding of the fact that I was lacking in a lot of knowledge and so often needed extended timescales for work, and they were always happy to allow extra time for my own research for work and extending the time instead of just pointing me straight towards the answers.

Very little, but I don't think this affected the quality of my work, or reduced my motivation. Because nuclear safety is so important, each piece of work I did was checked by a lot of people with various qualifications, meaning that it was extremely difficult for me to make mistakes that wouldn't be immediately corrected by someone else.

Hugely - the most noticeable difference is an approach to problem solving, and how the company emphasis on ALARP means I am now much more prepared to accept solutions to problems that are fit for purpose, instead of being perfect and wasting time. I was also exposed to a lot of the parts of a power station, and learnt a lot about how they all worked and fit together, which is helpful with the technical side of my degree and helps me to see the importance of certain parts of our course.

Good! The entire office is open plan and people were always up for a chat when they were walking by, so it never felt too dark and serious. The way the meeting rooms are spread out meant that people were always coming and going so there was never a flat atmosphere.

I had a personal development plan and during my first week my manager showed me the plan she had made for my placement, and highlighted any opportunities I would have for working with other teams and for travelling. On top of this, she was also very keen for me to develop this plan myself so I could work in a direction that I found interesting, so the placement was well structured but open for adapting if that was what the student wanted.

A reasonable amount, but I was able to have a say in which projects I worked on, so I was able to direct a lot of my own development - for example, I was able to work on more on the project management of one particular project. The Learning for All scheme also meant I was able to complete a maths course and it was completely funded for by EDF. EDF has a training courses that you are allowed to sign up for if you get approval from your manager, so you can develop technical knowledge this way.

Reasonably appealing - this completely depends on the nuclear industry in the UK, and how the funding of the Hinkley Point C power station continues, as well as the development of other nuclear programs, such as Hitachi Horizon. One advantage is that my placement meant I was in contact with a lot of people on the graduate scheme, so I was able to get a good idea of how it works and how I would start off in the company if I entered employment with them, so I feel like when the time comes I will be able to make a less risky and more informed decision, which is very appealing.

The size of the company meant that there were plenty of placement students, which really enhanced my experience with the company. We were able to meet up out of work which meant I made friends in the local area and my entire life didn't revolve around work, and the other placement students and I all got very involved in the volunteering opportunities within the company, so we all ran workshops at the Cheltenham Science Festival and worked with the Smallpeice Trust for a Low Carbon residential at Exeter University, as well as visiting local schools to work on energy projects, all of which was fantastic personal development.

Because there are so many placement students at EDF, I was able to live with three of them, and this meant I was paying reasonably low rent, which was very beneficial. The other living costs were extremely standard of living in the south west. I walked to work as the house we were renting was only half an hour away, as did most other placement students, which helped us all save money.

Not shocking, but I come from London so I'm used to a huge range when it comes to nightlife. I wouldn't say Gloucester is a particularly safe atmosphere for females, but we went out in Cheltenham a few times - Cheltenham is a more expensive town than Gloucester but also much more pleasant, so we all had a good time. The range of clubs is extremely limited but you get used to it.

Because other companies and institutions were aware that EDF takes on a lot of placement students, we were often contacted by people asking whether we wanted to take part in activities out of work, such as the Cheltenham Science Festival, the Big Bang Science Fair, and the Low Carbon Residential at Exeter University. I was also part of the netball team, which was half made up of EDF employees, and we played weekly matches as well as training together once a week.