NDA/CDA Guidance for Placement Providers
The School of Life Sciences recognises that some organisations that are providing placement opportunities for our students may be concerned over the sharing of confidential information with the student, or the University of Warwick during the course of a placement year. The information below is designed to support providers in understanding the School's placement requirements relating to confidential information.
NDAs between Placement Providers and the University
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), or similar, may be sought from the University only where confidential information is included in the placement work and needs to be shared with the University for the purposes of assessment.
Where an NDA is required between a placement provider and the University, the University of Warwick advises the use of our NDA templateLink opens in a new window. Non template NDAs will take longer to process due to the additional legal checks required to authorise these.
The School of Life Sciences does not anticipate that NDAs would be required for BSc Placement years, due to the nature of the assessment. It is more likely that they would be required for providers of MBio (Intergrated Master's) Industrial Placements.
You can find out more about the differences between the two courses and the assessment criteria below.
BSc Placement
Assessment Requirements: Students are required to submit a poster and reflective report at the end of the year. Neither need to include confidential data relating to the placement activity and focus more on the skills gained.
Visit Requirements: 1 site visit will be carried out. Personal tutors may wish to hear about the placement work and the students performance in the role. No confidential data is required to complete a site visit.
Supervision Requirements: Personal tutors will have regular monitoring points with the placement student throughout the year to check on progress and continuation in the role. No confidential information needs to be shared as part of these.
MBio in Industry Placement
Assessment Requirements: Students are required to complete an assessed project using data gathered during the placement work to form their Master's thesis. Confidential information may need to be shared as part of this.
Visit Requirements: 1 site visit will be carried out. Personal tutors may wish to hear about the placement work and the students performance in the role. No confidential data is required to complete a site visit.
Supervision Requirements: Academic supervisors will have regular contact throughout the year to check on placement support and academic project process. Confidential information may need to be shared as part of this.
NDAs between Placement Providers and students
Where NDAs (or similar) are required from the placement student, these should be arranged between the Placement Provider and student directly.
The University cannot accept responsibility for the student's use of confidential information, or provide legal support for student's who are directed to sign such documents.
The University will advise students to carefully read and ensure compliance with any NDAs they sign for the purposes of a placement year.