York Award. You probably feel like you’re seeing or hearing about this every way you turn. It’s true, but there’s a good reason why we bang on about it so much!

Most students from their first year at University do lots of things besides their academic studies and these can be useful opportunities to develop skills which employers value.  It’s these activities that can be used in a York Award application from.

Why bother?

• The York Award is an official University award
• It shows you’re a proactive individual, who’s up for a challenge
• You could win a place on the new York Futures scheme’s personal development day
• There’s a chance to apply for an Achieving Excellence Bursary of £2,100
• Employers are interested in the York Award and what it says about you
• You can help your college win the  York Award Trophy for the college with the most applicants

The simple application form asks you to give personal evidence of the following skills and qualities.

• Self-managements
• Team working
• Communication
• Contributing to the university community
• Employer engagement
• Problem solving

In the second part of the form you can choose two additional skills to demonstrate from your experience. These are:

• Resilience
• Information technology
• Planning
• Creativity and innovation
• Awareness of the world of work
• Social/cultural awareness and/or languages

Settling into a college community is the first thing most students do when they arrive and is an experience common to most first year undergraduates. You might not think there are any skills to draw upon in that setting, but living with others in a college or student house requires good communication skills, self-management and social/cultural awareness.

Many students get a part-time job or do voluntary work, which can be used to show engagement with an employer, but might also give you examples of problem solving or use of IT.

Activities you do for social or fun reasons are valuable too. Involvement in a student society or a particular hobby can show your creativity or your planning skills.

York Award is within everyone’s grasp, so get online and complete the form.

To help you further, we’re running ‘Get it done’ sessions, held in a PC lab. So, you can come along, fill out your form there and then, while having someone on hand to answer any questions. We draw the line at completing the form for you, though!

Sessions will run:

• Wednesday 26 April 13.00 – 19.00 on Campus East (Law building, LMB 030/031)
• Thursday 27 April 13.00 – 19.00 on Campus West (James Hall and G/169 IT room)

The deadline for application submissions is 5pm, Tuesday 2 May 2017.