Wrexham Glyndŵr University’s careers team celebrate national award win

A summer careers programme boosting the employability of students from Wrexham Glyndŵr University has won a national industry award.

The team’s Make Summer Work for You programme beat entrants from across the UK To win the Supporting Student/ Graduate Employability category for this year’s AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Service) Awards for Excellence.

The awards, which took place earlier this month, recognised the hard work of careers professionals from universities across the UK – including Glyndŵr’s winning team.

Make Summer Work for You – an extracurricular programme which strengthens students’ employment prospects over several months by providing flexible careers related support and guidance – was commended by judges for its innovation, engagement and impact.

The programme was built after the careers team ran consultations with students – and found that working to boost their confidence, resilience and wellbeing would help them secure the career they were looking for.

Wrexham Glyndwr Work Experience Officer Lucy Jones, who was one of two members of the team who picked up the award on the night, said: “Make Summer Work for you was designed by listening to students, and by listening to those who took part, we already knew it had been a success – so it’s great to have the leading professional body in our industry agree.

“Having the work you do recognised with an award from a national organisation like AGCAS is absolutely brilliant.”

The AGCAS Final Judging Panel said: “Wrexham Glyndwr’s careers service took a holistic, innovative approach identifying through research what the issues were.

“There was clear engagement with students and an innovative use of feedback. There was clear impact and a focus on the whole person. Staff were willing to up-skill and step out of their comfort zone”

The team at Wrexham Glyndŵr University have worked with hundreds of undergraduates to ensure their studies lead to employment. A graduate destinations survey showed that 93.5% of Glyndŵr’s UK undergraduates were in work or further study six months after completion of their studies.

Careers and Employability Adviser Neil Pritchard, who was the second team member to pick up the award this week, added: “The whole team here at Glyndŵr are dedicated to helping students boost their career prospects.

“That means designing a series of programmes like Make Summer Work for You, which has just completed its second successful year.

“This award recognises that achievement, and we are all thrilled to have won. The whole team are delighted, and we’ll continue working with students here at the university to ensure they’re ready for their chosen career.”

Find out more about Wrexham Glyndŵr University’s Careers Service here.