 A thick sandwich degree is either a four-year undergraduate course as part of a bachelor's degree, or a five-year postgraduate course as part of a master's degree, and involves a placement year or internship in industry, normally after the second year at university.A thin sandwich degree involves multiple shorter placement or internship periods rather than an unbroken year.The concept was first articulated in a 1945 report by the Ministry of Education which advocated those attending courses at technical colleges would receive a new kind of education in which theoretical studies and industrial training would be interwoven.