Edge Hill careers team light years ahead in a challenging job market

Edge Hill University's talented careers team has won a clutch of awards for outstanding performance in finding job opportunities for students in the middle of the economic downturn.

First the team excelled in the AGCAS Awards where they were one of just six organisations to receive a nomination for Higher Education Careers Website of the Year.

And in the International Award category the team shared top honours with the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University for their joint work on the International Students Mentoring Programme.

The project, funded by the Prime Minister's Initiative 2, in partnership with the National Association of Student Employment Services, aims to enhance the overall university experience and part-time job opportunities for overseas students by providing mentoring through employers or other more experienced, international students.

Earlier in the year a respected performance league table placed the Edge Hill team top in the North West for graduate employment. Figures compiled by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) showed that a staggering 95.3% of Edge Hill graduates found employment or went on to further study within six months of obtaining their degree, even at the height of the recession.

These outstanding achievements were further endorsed during a recent independent quality Matrix accreditation when the assessor described the careers team as "light years ahead" of other organisations she had assessed.

Jacqui Howe, Head of Careers, Edge Hill University, said:

"We have had an exceptional year. The team have worked incredibly hard in a very challenging jobs market to pioneer new initiatives and forge new partnerships that yield worthwhile career opportunities for our students and former students. These awards and accomplishments are testament to their dedicated efforts over the past few months and I applaud them."