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.
The Award has three areas of focus:
- Careers and Employability: 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
- Enterprise: nurturing entrepreneurial spirits and developing the skills necessary to forge your own career paths
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
The Award is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (Level 5) meaning 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 Careers & Employability, Wellbeing and Enterprise.
*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.
A testimonial by Dr Robert Allan
In this video Dr Robert Allan, from the School of Applied Sciences, shares his experience of the Global Professional Award. His students took part in the award last year and have reported that they "feel much more confident about what employers need".