The University’s Employability Points Scheme has rewarded its top performing students at its annual Rewards Evening, which took place on Tuesday 4 June in Woolf College on the Canterbury campus.
Successful students were joined by more than 200 guests, including the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, the Deputy Mayor of Medway, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education, Professor April McMahon and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, Professor Philippe de Wilde.
The EP Scheme, now in its ninth year, rewards students for active engagement in activities outside their degree programme. This helps encourage students to stand out to prospective employers through the development of soft skills that are valued in the competitive graduate job market.
The highest scoring students were provided with Amazon vouchers, courtesy of 17 external organisation sponsors that included Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Kreston Reeves, Southeastern, BAE Systems and Medway and Canterbury Councils.
The award for the highest scoring student from the Canterbury campus went to Aleksandar Angelov, School of Arts, who achieved a record 4,165 points.
Developed by Kent Innovation and Enterprise, the University’s business and innovation gateway, the Employability Points Scheme has now involved thousands of students in campus events, student mentoring, organising student society events, presenting at international conferences, volunteering, part-time employment, work placements, international study, and completion of a world language module.
The Employability Points Scheme allocates points for the completion of these activities throughout the year. At the end of the second term, qualifying students have the opportunity to redeem their points for the chance to apply for rewards offered by the external business community.
They range from paid internships and project placements to unpaid work experience, training sessions, and mock assessment centres.
Other organisations that sponsored awards were: Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, Canterbury Cathedral, Reflect Digital, Nucleus Arts, Caliper, Yoyo Design, IONA, Study Plus, K Sports, Civil Service Fast Stream and Santander Universities.