85% of our graduates are in employment or further study within six months of completing their courses.
Employability statement
At the University of Brighton we work to ensure that all our students develop the range of professional and personal skills required to succeed in their chosen careers through:
- Professional involvement in our course design and teaching
- Professionally accredited courses
- Integrated work placements
- Career planning agreements
- Comprehensive careers support and advice
- Career events
- Volunteering opportunities
- Mentoring opportunities
- Support for budding entrepreneurs
- Life-long career support for alumni
- Brighton and Sussex Universities Service Units
Professional involvement in course design and teaching
Our course development teams include current practitioners and professionals who work with us from the earliest stages of course design to ensure that our syllabuses meet the current and future needs of employers.
Many of Brighton staff combine teaching with work in their professional field. Staff, advisers and our former students mentor current students, provide seminars and lectures and arrange or supervise work placements.
Professionally accredited courses
The majority of students at the University of Brighton are on courses accredited by professional and statutory bodies. Successful completion of a professionally accredited course indicates that you have reached the occupational standard required to practice that profession.
Many courses are professional and applied, accredited by professional bodies, so that students are work-ready when they graduate. These professional bodies include the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Health Professions Council, the British Computer Society, the institutions of civil, electrical, mechanical and structural engineers, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Integrated work placements
Over 90% of our courses provide work placement or other professional work-based opportunities. To complement academic study most courses offer a placement or 'sandwich' year, permitting valuable work experience. A placement can offer you a taste of what life is really like in your chosen field, provide useful work experience and give you a chance to impress potential employers. Each faculty has a placement officer who will help you find a suitable placement and support you throughout your time in the workplace.
Find out more about work placements.
Career planning agreements
All undergraduate courses at the University of Brighton commit themselves to the career planning agreement which is a partnership with the university's Careers Service. This arrangement with the careers service ensures that career planning and employability is integrated within all courses. Most students also have a personal development plan which allows them to record and reflect upon their academic and career development.
Find out more about the career planning agreements.
Comprehensive careers support and advice
Our careers service can help you plan and prepare for your career and find employment while you are here and after you graduate. We have careers information centres with helpful careers counsellors on each of the main campuses to provide services including drop-in CV clinics and help with career planning and job applications. The careers website provides up-to-date information on occupations, employers, further study and training opportunities as well as event and part-time and graduate job opportunities.
For more information visit the Careers Service
Career events
Complementing the skills development within the curriculum is an all-year programme of events arranged by the Careers Service, very often with employers.
Last year 2,500 students attended careers fairs, seminars, and employability skills programmes, all of which give students transferable skills and up-to-date information on the graduate labour market.
See our forthcoming events.
Volunteering opportunities
Voluntary work can play a key role in your personal and professional development. The university’s award-winning ActiveStudent scheme offers a wealth of opportunities to make a contribution to the local community. Active Student has enabled hundreds of students to undertake volunteering work with a whole range of community, voluntary and public sector organisations around Sussex and provided them with evidence for their CVs, which employers value.
For more information visit ActiveStudent.
Mentoring opportunities
Our employer mentoring scheme, Momentum, enables students to receive a whole academic year of mentoring from a major employer. Such support has given many students the confidence to liaise with employers and get opportunities to do workplace visits and work experience.
For more information visit Momentum.
Support for budding entrepreneurs
We also help students and graduates get their own business ideas off to the best possible start through a range of support services, including workshops, mentoring, awards schemes, and funding. The university's specialist network, beepurple, supports students and staff who wish to further entrepreneurial ideas. Entrepreneurship is being integrated into the curriculum through the career planning agreement and the development of specialist modules.
Find out more on the beepurple website.
Life-long careers support for alumni
As students approach their final year and think about leaving, those who are still unsure about what to do can receive guidance from the Careers Service. Now in partnership with the university's Development and Alumni Office this one-to-one support continues after graduation. This symbolises the importance we attach to supporting the career development and success of our students and graduates.
Find out more about services for alumni and friends.
Brighton and Sussex Universities Service Units
Getting involved with Brighton and Sussex Universities Service Units gives you the opportunity to develop and demonstrate, through extracurricular activities, some of the key employability skills employers demand; team working, problem solving, communication and negotiation skills and more. It’s a chance to step outside the typical student environment and get some unique experience under your belt.
Find out more about Brighton and Sussex Universities Service Units.
