Edinburgh Award in Community Building

The Edinburgh Award is a structured and supportive process that runs alongside your involvement in co- and extra-curricular activities.​ It supports you to plan, grow, reflect, and create impact, it allows the University to provide recognition of their engagement in those activities. ​By completing the Edinburgh Award, students should be able to:​

• Actively engage with their own personal and professional development to strive for excellence​

• Identify skills gaps and proactively plan how to improve their skills​

• Demonstrate real-world examples of where they have put specific skills into practice​

• Develop reflective practice​s

• Identify how to create an impact on others​

The Edinburgh Award for Community Building represents a great opportunity to start thinking about your own development in a supportive and relaxed environment, feel part of the School of Maths community, and meet new people in your year. 

The Award is wrapped around a variety of activities and skills sessions, which means that you get to tailor your Award journey to your own development needs. These activities and sessions are:

• 3 reflection tasks
• Group coaching sessions
• Masterclasses on topics such as: Teamwork & Collaboration, Resilience, Leadership, Time management, Feedback
• Access to peer support networks

Select 3 skills you want to work on

The first reflection task you will complete is to choose three areas, based on the graduate attributes, where you would like to make a positive behavioural change. Provide a self-rating of your ability in each area at three points during the year.

Attend Edinburgh Award sessions

Throughout the year, the Student Development Team will deliver a range of workshops tailored to a pre-honours audience. You will get the chance to experience the effect of coaching culture as you are offered the opportunity to feel connected to like-minded peers.

Complete 28 hours of impact activities in a supportive and relaxed environment

Actively engage in at least 24 hours of designing and running an event which allows you to apply and practise the skills you have chosen. This includes attending Academic Cohort Lead events to support ACLs.  You are also expected to attend 4 hours of event organisation and delivery by other Edinburgh Award participants.

Reflect on your journey

Reflection is a process of exploring and examining yourself, your perspectives, attributes, experiences, and actions. It is a key element of the Award, and you are asked to write two short pieces to reflect on what you have learnt by working to achieve the Award, focussing in particular on the 3 skills you chose to develop at the beginning of the Award.

The Award recognises students’ development while taking part in non-academic activities while studying.​ There are multiple benefits to completing the Edinburgh Award for Community Building.

Skills development​

Employers will want to know what you can bring to the role and your experience from participating in the Awards can help to demonstrate your broader skills, showing what you have learned in addition to your academic knowledge. These transferable skills can also impact on the rest of your life by helping your studies, your personal growth and how you engage with the wider world. Students who have previously completed the Edinburgh Award have commented on how they really enjoyed the skills development aspect of the Award. 

Career Readiness

The job market is tough, but the good news is that the activities you do outside of your degree do count for potential employers. They are looking for applicants who can show they have a commitment to personal development and can articulate their skills and abilities. Employers want university graduates who are ready for work - they’ll be investing in you and they want to know they’ll get a return on that investment. Employers look for graduates who:

• are self-aware
• capitalise on their strengths
• will have impact wherever they work
• are committed to personal development and life-long learning
• can confidently provide evidence for these claims

The Edinburgh Award in Community building can help you to stand out from the crowd, adding something extra to your CV.

Official Recognition from the University

The Award will appear on your Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) alongside their degree.​ Students will also receive a certificate of recognition from the University of Edinburgh for every version of the Award completed.​

The opportunity to contribute to the School of Maths community

In completing the Edinburgh Award in Community Building, you have the chance to have a direct, positive impact on your very own academic community.