Yes, it sounds impressive, but what does this statistic mean on a practical level? How have we managed to reach to the top 20 for graduates in employment? And what does this mean for you if you choose to become a CCCU student?

If you’re keen to find the answers to these questions, then you’ve landed on the right page! Let’s explore what our students have access to to enhance their employability.

Breaking down barriers with bursaries

Our Careers and Enterprise Hub offers two bursaries to help students access work-related experiences that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access due to a lack of funds.

The Careers Development Fund covers work-related opportunities such as attending conferences or events that help our students gain valuable experience in their chosen professions.

The Career Start Bursey covers extra expenses such as travel, childcare, and appropriate clothing (to name a few examples), that students have to cover in order for them to attend their work-related event.

Past cases of students using these bursaries include sending one of our Psychology students to Sicily for a conference and paying for a group of our Games Design students to attend a gaming expo here in the UK.

So, if you’re a student at CCCU and you find something that will help you gain invaluable experience in your chosen profession, then a lack of funds doesn’t have to be a barrier for you.

The Grad Force Programme

If you, like some, get to your final year or if you still feel like you need a little extra help with getting ready for employment, then the Grad Force Programme is here to help.

This programme, free to our students and recent alumni, is a crash course that’s covered in just eight weeks. It covers topics such as support with job applications, 1:1 guidance, and help with job matching if you’re still not quite sure where you want your career to head.

Not only can you access this course to ensure that you’re ready for employment, but we’ll continue to support you for a further three years after your graduate.

The Launch into Business Programme

Another programme that’s available to both students and alumni is the Launch Into Business Programme, which is a series of workshops that focus on successfully launching a business or side hustle.

Here at CCCU, we know that having a side hustle is great for a bit of extra money, or it’s the first step of starting your own business, and our Student Enterprise Team called LaunchPad are here to support you.

From workshops and funding to 1:1 mentoring, students and alumni have access to a wealth of knowledge and resources to help them launch their own business either alongside their degree or after they graduate.

Mentoring and volunteering

Another great opportunity available to our students is our mentoring programme. Here, professionals from external organisations become mentors to our students, giving them insight and experience in their profession.

With this, students can network within industry and have the opportunity to ask questions and really learn how to be successful in their chosen sectors.

Students can also volunteer for external companies, which is another fantastic way of networking and entering the profession. Through this, previous students have found their dissertation topics and gained part-time paid employment from these volunteering positions.

Future 360

Future 360 refers to our commitment to embed employability within the curriculum. This means that whether you’re studying Games Design or History, you’ll be able to gain credits of work-related experience.

Not only will you have access to industry-standard equipment in areas such as engineering and adult nursing (to name just a couple), but you’ll have multiple opportunities to network with your chosen professions during our many employability events and visits from industry speakers.

What’s more, you’ll be able to practise your transferable skills that are essential in the workforce, while gaining the self-awareness needed to reflect and improve.

Whatever your chosen course, your programme will equip you for life after graduation – so you don’t have to worry about not being work-ready.

Futures scholarships

Here at CCCU, we believe in education for all, regardless of your wider financial position. This is why we have the Futures Scholarship, which ensures that students who wouldn’t have been able to come to university at all, are able to become a part of CCCU.

Right now students are facing unprecedented financial pressures, and these soaring costs can be a real barrier to coming to university and completing their studies. Our Futures Scholarship programme directly supports our students through flagship awards of £5000 a year throughout their undergraduate degree.

The Futures Aspire Scholarships are for new students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This scholarship offers a significant contribution towards their cost of living, which will enable them to participate fully in university life.

The Futures Opportunity Scholarships are aimed at current students facing severe financial hardship, who are struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis and are in danger of dropping out. This scholarship helps with the cost of living, enabling them to complete their studies and achieve their future goals.

So, if you think that university isn’t an option for you, read about our Futures scholarships, and how we can help transforming the course of a student’s life forever.

There we have it. From this list of employability development opportunities, as a CCCU student, you have a lot available to you. That’s why so many of our students can find employment upon graduation.

We really do appreciate the importance of gaining that extra knowledge and experience alongside your degree so you can be fully prepared for whichever job you choose to enter after graduation.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our awesome team at the Careers and Enterprise Hub, check out this page.