Graduate Futures Awards
News
ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Careers & Employability shortlisted for four awards
Tuesday, 7 July, 2026The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Careers & Employability team were shortlisted for four awards at the Graduate Futures Awards 2026.
The awards, which took place on 2 July at the Graduate Futures Annual Conference in Nottingham and are organised by the Graduate Futures Institute. They are the sector's flagship awards recognizing individuals, teams, and partnerships that are transforming careers and employability in higher education.
Speaking with Tim Beale, Career Service Manager at BSU, regarding the awards shortlisting:
“It’s a real honour to see our work shortlisted at a national level. Much of what we do operates behind the scenes, enabling and supporting others, so this recognition shines a welcome light on the impact of that work. These achievements are only possible through collaboration, and our students have been central partners throughout, and the support of colleagues across the University has been instrumental in making this happen.”
Tim’s team were nominated for three awards, including the Enabling Excellence Award, the Innovation in Careers and Employability Award, and the Student Partnership Award. Each shortlisting was for the university-wide initiative ‘Careers Without Barriers: Building an Accessible, Scalable Digital Learning Framework’, the ‘I AM BSU initiative’ and the ‘Student Careers Champions initiative’ respectively.
Jamie Bradbury, Placements & Work-Based Learning Manager at BSU, said:
“Over the last few years, we've strived to improve accessibility to placements through innovative and sector-leading practise. The introduction of a tiered bursary to support students on a Professional Placement Year has eased financial burdens on costs such as workwear, travel, accommodation and sustenance.
This year we have developed a new 'Skills in Action' Open Module which recognises skills from a range of experiences and teaches how to articulate them to employers, enabling students to enter the graduate market with confidence. We're extremely proud of these achievements and to have them recognised nationally at the awards is a credit to everyone involved and an inspiration to make the service the best it can be.”
Jamie’s team were shortlisted for the Excellence in Work-Based Learning and Placements Award, for its inclusive design and accessibility, innovation and curriculum embedding, Quality, consistency and employer engagement, and co-creation and continuous improvement.
Congratulations to all those shortlisted!