November 4, 2020, by Matthew Lumley

My Medicine and Health Sciences student journey on the Advantage Award

By Hollie Hyde, BSc Hons Nursing (Adult)

The Nottingham Advantage Award enhances your employability skills whilst gaining valuable experience outside your field of study. You can gain recognition for the extra work you do on top of your degree. Any modules that you do will be evidenced. You can pick a total of three modules throughout your degree.

They can be from any school or faculty and do not have to be related to your degree at all. This means you can expand upon your non-degree related interests and get recognition for them. 

Read on to find out how the Nottingham Advantage Award helped me. 

Making myself stand out

I started the Award in my second year after earning a role on a committee. I used my experience to complete the UoNSU Student Leaders module. Having over 300 students on my course and thousands of nursing students graduating each year across the country, it was hard to figure out a way to get my application to stand out.  

Having my Award experience evidenced will help me in future interviews for my ideal role. My modules were not necessarily directly related to my degree. Consequently, I have something outside of nursing to talk about. This is very desirable to employers. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed having the break and learning something that was not just about nursing. In addition, I learnt new skills that I do not get to practice on my course like public speaking. 

Developing through my modules

The Students as Change Agents project was an activity I did outside of my degree. One of the main selling points was it could be accredited through the Advantage Award module. The extra module work was not overwhelming when added to the work I was already doing for the project. Therefore, it fit in easily to my busy schedule.  

My project was focussed on something I was passionate about, which made the work for the module easier. I was assessed through a presentation about the project and written pieces on the skills I had developed whilst undertaking it. 

The UoNSU Student Leaders module mainly involved reflecting on my experience as a committee member within an association of the student union.  

I enhanced my leadership skills, learning which style of leadership best fit my student group. On top of this, I developed resilience and public speaking skills. I particularly enjoyed the element of choice. For the assignment you are asked to pick three of the topics you have covered and do a five-minute presentation. This included what you have learnt and how you will develop your leadership in the future. 

This module tied in perfectly to my nursing studies because it gave me a chance to develop my presentation skills, which are needed for assignments. Additionally, we study a leadership module within nursing, so I was able to bring my extra knowledge from my Award module into my degree work. This module will also be of use when it comes to interviewing for a career in nursing. It allows me to talk about my experiences in relation to the knowledge I have built on this module. 

Start your journey

With so many different modules to take part in for the Nottingham Advantage Award, there really is something for everyone.  

You can learn a new skill like a language or develop a pre-existing interest in a certain topic or skill. Having modules in the autumn and spring makes it easier to fit the work around a busy academic timetable. This is especially relevant to us within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.  

I found that the module convenors were very supportive. Therefore, if you have any issues whilst on your module get in touch with them.

Now it’s time to find the module that is right for you.  

Spring applications opened on 1 November so apply for modules now. 

Contact and Follow us

You can keep up-to-date on the Nottingham Advantage Award via social media, so please like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

Want to speak to one of the Award team then please contact us at nottingham-advantage-award@nottingham.ac.uk

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