Changing your placement allocation

Guidance for changing placement allocation for pre-registration Nursing students.

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Prior to your placement allocation: If you have had, or anticipate any change to your circumstances which may affect your placement allocation please inform your cohort administrator immediately. This includes a change to your home address.

Placement locations and allocation of students are decided with our placement providers and are dependent on capacity, suitability and professional body requirements. You are informed at application and induction that you will be required to undertake varied practice experience and that placements will be located across a wide geographical area.

Exceptional circumstances

A placement change following allocation is not a regular occurrence and should be avoided unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional circumstances are problems that you have recently encountered which are beyond the normal difficulties experienced in life and that will affect your ability to attend your allocated placement.

Each application for placement change will be considered on an individual basis. Here is some guidance on what will and will not be considered as exceptional circumstances.

The following will be considered as exceptional:

  • A commute of more than 2 hours each way and having a valid reason why staying in accommodation is not possible
  • Having a relative in the clinical area (as a patient or staff member)
  • A recently identified disability where reasonable adjustment is required - with evidence from Disability Services/GP/specialist
  • When pregnancy related placement changes are required

The following are not regarded as exceptional circumstances:

  • Routine childcare concerns
  • Previous experience with the client group
  • Personal preferences
  • Particular interest (or not) in a specific client group
  • Concerns over public transport
  • Concerns over travel
  • Concerns over shift time
  • Disruptions to shared travel arrangements
  • Moving house
  • Paid work commitments or constraints arising from paid employment
  • Minor illnesses/conditions (for example hayfever) or planned health appointments
  • Disabilities for which reasonable adjustments have been made or where you have experience or time to manage the situation.
  • Not being entitled to SAAS, as this is clearly outlined at recruitment

How to request a placement change

All requests for placement change need to be submitted on the relevant form as soon as possible after the publication of the placement allocation. Placement change requests need to be submitted within five days of receiving an allocation or personal circumstances changing that will affect going to placement. 

Please complete the form fully as your request will be considered as submitted, you will not be asked for further details if insufficient information is included.

You need to discuss your situation with your Advisor of Studies for advice. The date of this discussion should be recorded on the request form. All requests need to then be made formally by completing the form below.

Placement change request form

How requests are considered

Formal requests to change placement allocation will be considered by a panel consisting of the Practice Learning Leads in the School of Health Sciences. Students cannot attend these meetings.

How you will be notified of the decision

You will receive an email to your University email account from HealthSciences-placements@dundee.ac.uk confirming the panel's decision.

What happens if your request is not agreed to?

An appeal against the decision will not be accepted as the panel will have considered the complex requirements of practice allocation and whether your situation is considered exceptional on the basis of the information supplied in your form. The decision of the panel is final.

Submit a further request with additional information if necessary.

If you still consider that you cannot attend the placement, you should speak to your Adviser of Studies about possible plans, which may include application for leave of absence until your circumstances have resolved such that you can meet the programme requirements.

If you are a carer for a vulnerable person (excluding childcare) then discuss this with your Advisor of Studies. Further support and information can be found on our Students with caring responsibilities page.