Global Professional Award

As a student at the University of Huddersfield, you will study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your undergraduate degree* so that you gain valuable skills and attributes that we know employers are looking for.

  • Employability & Enterprise: helping you to understand what employers want in graduates and leaders, and giving you the opportunity to develop these skills and capabilities.
  • Wellbeing: providing you with the opportunity to develop tools that will contribute to your physical and mental health at university and as a graduate.
  • Global and Social Awareness: helping you to understand and navigate the key social and political issues that will impact you as students and graduates.

Completing the Award will support you to transform into a highly employable graduate who is:

  • Self-motivated
  • Enterprising
  • Resilient
  • Able to collaborate with others
  • A confident leader
  • Globally and socially aware

By completing the Global Professional Award, you will also receive a Level 5 Award in Leadership & Management from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). This means you’ll graduate from the University of Huddersfield with a recognised management qualification in addition to your degree which may help to set you apart from other graduates.

Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021.

How do I get the Award?

We make it as simple as possible. You’ll complete the Award through online sessions and activities. This will take approximately 1 hour per week, so you’ll still have plenty of time to focus on your degree and your social life.

As part of the Award, you’ll connect with lots of other students and new experiences, which will help you develop personally and professionally. You’ll be supported to complete the Award by staff who are specialists in the three areas of Employability & Enterprise, Wellbeing and Global & Social Awareness.

*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.

Sam Townsend

Sam Townsend is a 1st Year student studying Physical Geography BSC(Hons).

"what makes the GPA program an invaluable experience, is that it encourages you to consider your employment opportunities from the beginning of your degree. As a first year student, I feel more confident about my graduate employment prospects and having a clearer picture of what the future might hold."

Read more
Blog Student story

What is the global professional award?

Watch this short video to learn more about the award, including how you complete it, and how it help you as a student and, eventually, as a graduate.

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