We are getting a little nostalgic as we draw closer to the end of the PLUS Award’s 10th anniversary year (just under 6 weeks to go!) We are so proud of all the achievers, past and present.
The PLUS Award has certainly grown and evolved in the past decade; In its pilot year, 165 students achieved the PLUS Award, since then over 5,000 students have achieved it. Another 800 have finished so far this year, persevering to bag their Award despite changing circumstances!
The Award has been featured in the Guardian, nominated for a University Award for Enhancing the Student Learning Experience, grown a LinkedIn Alumni community of over 1300 members and introduced myopportunities and the Bristol Futures Open Online Courses to help you develop your interests, enhance your skills and apply your learning.
One thing that has not changed in a decade is that achieving the Award demonstrates students are really dedicated in going above and beyond. In 2008/09 less than 1% of the student population achieved the Award. While this statistic has now grown to 4% it is still an elite club, remaining a really great way to stand out to employers
Naif Amin was one of the first students to ever complete the award back in 2009 and went on to achieve the Outstanding Award in the same year. Naif studied Civil Engineering and, after graduating in 2010, secured a place working on the Atkins London 2012 Olympics Engineering Project; 10 years on, he is still working at Atkins, one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies.
( Pictured: Naif collecting his PLUS Award certificate in 2010 )
On reflection of the PLUS Award experience, Naif told us “The activities involved in achieving the Bristol PLUS Award improved my confidence when talking to prospective employers. The Award was very useful for interviews and job applications after I left university (I frequently quoted having achieved it). I also improved communication skills from the different Careers Service workshops that were available, this helps you distinguish yourself after university”
Wherever you hope to be in ten years’ time, completing the PLUS Award is an excellent way to hone and develop employability skills to help you get there, as well as build your confidence, make friends and have fun!
We’ll let one of this years’ PLUS completers wrap up for us:
“The PLUS Award has been a challenging experience. The Award helped me meet new people, help out the community, gain transferable skills and most importantly have fun while doing so.”
Don’t forget the PLUS completion deadline for the 19/20 academic year is the 12th June!
If you are interested in achieving the PLUS Award next academic year, visit our web pages