Edge Award
Get recognition for your passions and hobbies. Get the edge when it comes to employability.
What is the EDGE Award?
The EDGE (Engagement, Development, Graduate Employability) Award gives you formal recognition for a wide range of activities you take part in outside of your studies.
Do you volunteer with societies or charities? Are you on the committee of your sports club or completing a placement abroad? Do you dabble in entrepreneurship or have plans to be a course rep? All these activities can count towards the EDGE Award.
Develop your skills and build your confidence to become more competitive in applying for work experience and graduate opportunities.
3 reasons to complete the EDGE Award.
- It will make you more employable. Careers of the future will require you to be adaptable, flexible, willing to up-skill and motivated to adjust to change. This award highlights to potential employers how you embody these skills.
- You will get official recognition for your passions and hobbies. With today’s increasingly competitive job market it is important to show you have developed skills and qualities beyond your degree. Many of the activities which contribute towards the award you are probably already doing, so make sure to make them count.
- You can develop new skills. Do you struggle with confidence or want experience in giving presentations? With bespoke courses available to complete as part of EDGE you can develop lots of skills, many for free which will help you beyond your career.
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There are 2 levels of the Award
- EDGE Award – complete 4 activities
- EDGE Excel Award – complete 6 activities
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How to complete the EDGE Award
1. Register
Register online for your EDGE Award account.
2. Choose your activities
Once you register online we will contact you to offer advice on the most suitable activities for your subject area and personal career goals. You can also call into the Employability & Careers Hub for more info.
We recommend you get started on your first activity in first year so you have enough time to complete the award throughout the duration of your degree. This includes year long placement, volunteering and other extracurricular activities you might get involved in every year.
Getting activities accredited retrospectively is not permitted, any activity must be finished and signed off by the activity coordinator (listed on the individual activity pages) within the academic year you started it.
3. Complete and record your activities
Once you have completed an activity check that it has been recorded. Successful activities will appear on your EDGE online record shortly after completion.
If you have a query then please get in touch with the co-ordinator for your activity or Employability & Careers.
4. Apply for the Award
Before graduation you will complete a short reflection and application in your final Semester.
This will be available in Blackboard Learn in the early part of Semester 2.
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Choose your activities
Depending on whether you are completing the Ulster EDGE Award or the Ulster EDGE Excel Award you will need to complete 4 or 6 activities from the categories listed below. You can choose whichever activities you want, they don’t have to be from different categories.
You don't need to decide all of the activities you are going to do when you register, simply focus on the first or next one. Employability & Careers can help you with a plan - pay a visit or use the online chat to ask any questions you might have.
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Access your HEAR
HEAR is the official Ulster University document which provides a record of achievements, both academic and non-academic, gained while studying at Ulster. It is an electronic document available to students on full-time undergraduate degree courses, or integrated Master’s degrees, on the Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown or Magee campuses. Find out more and access your HEAR via this link.