QHT Awards 21/22

This will create exciting new opportunities for students to interact with external organisations during the ‘virtual’ phase of a business hub development. Activities will focus on shorter work-based learning opportunities with external organisations, in key sectors.
A new alumni speaker series will boost students’ understanding of the breadth of careers accessible to Westminster graduates. Recent graduates, particularly those from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, will participate in the series, providing role models for current students.
The recently established Social Enterprise Hub will be extended to provide new forms of engagement with employers. Students and recent graduates who wish to become social entrepreneurs will work with social enterprises through a Social Enterprise accelerator, helping them to translate business ideas into viable entities.
The Westminster Employability Award, a key conduit for employer partnerships at Westminster, will be aligned more closely with the future skills needs of employers through 2 new employer endorsed pathways. The award will additionally be tailored for Postgraduate students.
A funding pot will support smaller, innovative, local pilot project from UWSU, academic Schools and Professional Services Departments. This will enable colleagues and students to test new approaches to ‘bringing the outside in”. Projects will prioritise underrepresented and disadvantaged student groups and involve students as co-creators.

This new programme will help graduates from 2021 and 2022 to develop a professional portfolio that empowers them to transition into high skilled employment. Graduates will have access to a continuing programme of support, with a focus on key skills required to succeed, including resilience, digital literacy, interpreting data, and working and networking online. The programme will include workshops and short courses for alumni; a digital assessment centre; community building activities; and tailored communications.
A new set of bespoke activities for current Postgraduate taught (PGT) students will be developed, including: a pre-arrival, industry-informed, careers and employability course; a Westminster Employability Award PGT pathway geared towards the development of research skills; and mentoring and networking opportunities.

This will bring together current students and staff in small co-created research projects which run from design to dissemination and impact assessment. This strand will ensure that students from those demographic groups who have not traditionally pursued research degrees and careers are enabled to do so; and that all student participants have an opportunity to publish their work.

This will help students develop and become active two-way communicators of knowledge by engaging with multiple external audiences in the design, development and practice of university research and by ensuring our continued successes in impact beyond the purely academic.

Building on the current successful engagement with The Marylebone Project, students will participate in the co-creation of new knowledge exchange activity. Teams of students will work with academics to design and create programmes of activity to train, upskill or advise members of local community organisations, focussing on supporting disadvantaged groups in the local community. The projects will enable students to understand a community’s needs, show compassion by designing solutions to meet those needs and deliver positively to effect change in other people’s lives.

This extends the £50,000 fund granted for this year for small innovative projects instigated by staff, and developed in collaboration with students, which are delivered within the academic year. The University provided a very satisfactory initial report on the current activity which has been very successful, a range projects having been undertaken which relate to the strategic development areas.

QHT funding of field trips has been a productive area of activity over several years and this builds on that established tradition. During the covid pandemic some field trip activity had to be curtailed but a very successful programme of virtual field trips was developed. This funding will continue the best aspects of the virtual field trips and reintroduce physical trips as possible.

This is extending funding that was initially granted in 2015. This provides funding for financially disadvantaged students who would otherwise be unable to maintain their studies. This has proved to be very effective, and the work can now be continued.

This is to extend the current project working with the Grit external provision to establish great academic achievement in Foundation year students. This will enable the project to achieve its completion during this academic year.

This is funding, initially granted under the Covid emergency funds, which enables the University to support more part-time work for students. This is necessary due to the reduction in the availability of part-time work due to the pandemic and has proved to be very effective.