UEL wins award for innovative careers-first approach

Published

09 December 2022

The University of East London has won an HE Innovate Award for the ground-breaking way it prepares students for their future careers.

The awards recognise "innovative approaches to teaching, learning and student support in higher education".

Judges picked the University's Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness programme as a leader in the field winning the category "most innovate approach to developing employability skills".

The panel was seeking evidence of how the University was responding to a global recession and a shortage of skills in the marketplace.

In its submission, the University had told judges how the Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness programme was embedded into every degree.

The modules prepare students for the jobs of the future, teaching skills such as emotional and cognitive intelligence, digital proficiency, and enterprise and entrepreneurship. These are the kind of skills that employers have said will be essential in jobs of the future.

The submission said, "Placing careers at the heart of each one of our degrees supports the levelling up agenda and helps prepare our students from the first day of their studies to achieve their career aspirations."

Cherise Basslian, director of Careers and Student Enterprise, said, "We are delighted that the University's sector-leading work has been recognised by the HE Innovate Award judges.

"The Mental Wealth programme was created to ensure equality of opportunity for all students and is truly a cross institutional initiative, designed and delivered by academics, careers professionals and industry. Congratulations to colleagues across the university who contribute towards to making it a success.

"This programme evidences our commitment to supporting students' career journey from day one. We are committed to continuously innovating the programme, giving our students an edge in the job market."

This is a second success this year for the University's innovative approach to a careers first education. The HE Innovate Award comes just a few months after the University won top prize for Best University Employability Strategy at the Target Jobs Awards.

The awards came a day after a think tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute, issued the results of a nationwide survey which showed that the majority of students thought "all university courses should be designed mainly with future employment in mind".