June 7, 2019, by Matthew Lumley

Inspiring young people for 10 years with the Advantage Award

This year the Nottingham Advantage Award will be celebrating 10 years of boosting your employability. We rely heavily on the support of our module convenors. The majority of them voluntarily commit their time to help us and you.

As we celebrate this landmark we have invited Pete Bruce, convenor of the Inspiring Young People module, to tell you why – after 10 years supporting the Award – it is worth it for you.

How did we start?

For many years, our Widening Participation team has been working with local young people – particularly with those from backgrounds that are underrepresented in Higher Education.

So many of our outreach programmes rely on the support of committed University of Nottingham students. Therefore, it was a natural step to support a module towards the Nottingham Advantage Award – Inspiring Young People. This allowed us to both acknowledge and reward students for their support whilst also helping develop their skills and experiences.

Over the past 10 years as an Award module the number of new programmes and projects we support has grown. This means we have been able to expand the reach of the module and increase the number of places we can offer.

Why do we do it?

I have been the convenor of the Inspiring Young People module for the past three years. It is rewarding to play a part in showcasing your efforts in supporting and inspiring local young people.

Each year when I sign up a new set of students I am always amazed by their commitment. They consistently show their passion for sharing knowledge and a desire to inspire young people to see university as a future option – regardless of their background. The most rewarding aspect of being a module convenor is seeing students at the module assessments. We ask you to design a one-hour session that you could deliver to a group of young people about university life. You then deliver a 10-minute segment of this session to members of our team.

Seeing the creativity, fresh ideas and clear evidence of our students putting into practice what they have learned is often – inspiring.

Why is the Advantage Award important?

I would strongly encourage students to get involved with the Nottingham Advantage Award for a whole host of reasons.

Firstly, find out if there is a module that could accredit extra-curricular activities you are currently doing. You are already dedicating your time so might as well get this extra recognition.

Secondly, it can further support the development of the important employability skills that employers are looking for – communication, resilience, teamwork, problem solving, self-management and much more. This could give you the edge in future interview processes. Many students who have completed our module have then secured work or further study related to working with young people.

Finally, getting involved in a variety of activities outside of your studies will give you that bigger picture perspective. It will help you achieve a sense of balance as a student. Again, many students who have completed our module have spoken as much about the benefits to themselves as those to the young people they have supported.

So, do not hesitate, get involved and get the advantage!

How can you take part?

Our autumn and full-year modules will be reopening on 1 August.

You can find our module catalogue here.

Once you’ve found a module then apply to it via the instructions on the module page. That’s it – if you are accepted then welcome to the Advantage Award.

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