Placement wellbeing review maps pressures and gaps in the evidence

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Updated, 7 September 2026: We checked accessible publisher methods, findings and limitations. This is a review of selected passages, not a complete full-text assessment.

What the review covers

Xuan Luu, Campbell Tickner, Rhianne Hoffman and Natalie A. Johnson searched five databases in March 2024. They identified 4,348 records and included 40 peer-reviewed studies of mandatory placements in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Thirty-eight studies were Australian; nearly all concerned health professions, with one in teacher education.

The synthesis identifies rural placement settings and workplace violence alongside psychosocial, financial and gendered dimensions of wellbeing. These themes map reported experiences, rather than estimating their prevalence or a pooled causal effect.

No review protocol was registered and included studies were not critically appraised. The English-language, peer-reviewed scope excluded grey literature. The findings should not be presented as a current UK estimate, a comparison of every placement format or proof that a particular support intervention works.

Questions for placement teams

Our suggestion is to review how students can report concerns while a placement is underway. Separate routine evaluation from urgent support or incident-reporting routes, and explain who receives each type of information.

If comments inform service planning, retain distinctions between travel, costs, supervision and safety instead of assuming one action will address all concerns. Agree how sensitive disclosures will be handled before collecting them. Our governance checklist provides questions for that process.

These are proposals for local review. The paper does not test Student Voice Analytics, establish earlier detection of harm or show improved retention through comment analysis.

Reference

Luu, X., Tickner, C., Hoffman, R. and Johnson, N. A. (2026). The impact of mandatory work-integrated learning placements on university student wellbeing in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: a scoping review. Studies in Higher Education. Paper.