Overall, the experience of working on the project has raised the profile of STEM Employability skills with staff and students and it is hoped that this will, in turn, help make schools more aware of their duties to prepare students for university and the world of work. The multi-partner, collaborative nature of the project has brought a multitude of benefits from the sharing of expertise and good practice.

Sustainability at the University of Exeter

At the University of Exeter, delivering the aims of the workshops will form an important element of the support provided to Student Ambassadors and staff will look to see how best to embed the workshops within the normal cycle of training and improvement. However, consideration is needed as how to do this in the most effective way and how the low numbers engaging in the second round of workshops might be addressed. Exploration is currently underway as to how the materials and activities might be incorporated more fully with other work being undertaken by the Employability and Graduate Development team so as to avoid duplication both for staff and for the students.

Apart from staff time the main resource is the time of the Student Ambassadors participating. Even within the three institutions participating in the project, there was a difference in practice about whether Ambassadors should be paid to undertake training. Where Ambassadors are not paid for training the project has a relatively low cost base which makes the likelihood of continuation greater. However, covering the costs of 3 hrs training for a large cohort of students obviously results in a substantial and recurrent cost for the institution.

Sustainability beyond the University of Exeter

The University of Bath is investigating possible opportunities to share the training with the Student Union trainers who run similar sessions so that they can be made available to a wider audience.

From the point of view of the non-HEI partners in the project (Devon Education Business Partnership and Graphic Science), they have valued the interaction with the staff at the HE institutions involved in the project as it has given them an insight into how future students might get involved in the student ambassador programmes while at university and also how the work they do with schools and STEM ambassadors might help prepare school students for university life. They anticipate that the resources produced could be used as part of the work preparation days that they offer schools and they will consider integrating them into their sessions in the future - particularly the employability skills card game.

Graphic Science will disseminate the training materials to all STEMNET contract holders highlighting the opportunity to deliver the training to undergrads who are STEMNET ambassadors. In the Bristol and Bath sub-region, as well as many other regions across the UK, those students taking part in the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme become STEM Ambassadors and might benefit from taking part in the employability skills training once they have finished their school placement. This would consolidate some of the skills they have gained whilst on placement in schools as well as provide support in how to evidence these skills when they apply for jobs.

The STEMNET contract holders feel that the use of STEMNET Ambassadors to enhance future training might add realism to the training as the undergraduates would then hear first hand from employers what they are looking for in new recruits.

If you would like further information about the project or its on-going legacy, please contact the University of Exeter as below: