Swansea University offers a total of eight awards that can be achieved by any student.
For more information on how to take part in and apply to these awards, please click the on the relevant tab below.
Discovery Award
Egypt Award
Career Development Course Award
Enterprise Award
Military Award
Student Ambassador Award
Students' Union Award
Sustainability Award
Would you like to enrich the lives of people who face discrimination and disadvantage?
Do you want to play a more active role in your community?
How about increasing equality through student run projects?
Travel along 'pathways' through Discovery to gain three different types of awards - Volunteer, Project Coordinator and Trustee. The award you receive depends on your levels of commitment and involvement.
The opportunities for you vary for each level from attending a project, to taking a lead role in projects and the structure of Discovery. As a volunteer, you also have the opportunity to visit Zambia for one month in the summer to gain an International Siavonga award in exchange for supporting the Swansea Siavonga partnership!
Do you fancy carrying out a mummification using a 'dummy mummy', writing your name in hieroglyphs, or playing an ancient Egyptian game beloved of Tutankhamen? If so volunteering at the Egypt Centre may be for you!
The Egypt Centre, Wales' only museum of Egyptian antiquities, has won several awards for its innovative volunteer programmes. Now our student volunteers can also achieve awards as part of the HEAR programme.
We have three levels: bronze, silver and gold, depending on levels of achievement. Volunteers can assist the museum staff in educational roles and act as gallery assistants helping general visitors to the galleries.
The Centre is well known for its work in the community, for its hands-on approach to museum education and for its inclusive volunteering programme.
Career Development Course has 16 units covering a variety of topics that can help you with your career planning and is available 24/7. Access the information you need, right when you need it!
Each unit covers an individual topic and will include information, along with activities, which are set to develop your understanding of that specific area. To pass the unit, you’ll need to take a multiple-choice quiz, scoring at least 8 out of 10. All units are available in English and Welsh.
Complete 5 units of your choice to achieve the Career Development Course, or 10 or more units to achieve the Advanced Career Development Course. Both are formally recognised in your Higher Education Achievement Report (HERA) and will gain you a digital badge which can be shared with employers on your LinkedIn profile.
Higher Education Achievement Reports (HEAR): “Certificate in Enterprise” Award
The Enterprise Award (EA) is given to undergraduate and postgraduate students who have explored and demonstrated their ability to think and behave in an enterprising way, whether in a business, social enterprise, technology innovation, or company context; or within the university to benefit other students.
There are five pathways to achieving a bronze, silver or gold award:
1. Leading new venture creation – the setting up of a commercial start-up business
2. Leading social and cultural entrepreneurship – delivering a solution to meet a social or community need or demand
3. Leading technology innovation – transferring novel ideas into new product concepts
4. Leading organisational innovation – making a difference within an organisation through intrapreneurial thinking and action
5. Leading the development of enterprise opportunities for the benefit of other university students
The award is set up as a three-stage process:
THE AWARD IS SET UP AS A THREE-STAGE PROCESS:
Bronze “Mind-set” Award
The Bronze “Mind-set” Award requires students to explore the opportunities available for developing an entrepreneurial mind-set in their chosen pathway. This would include how they have found an idea or need, developed an opportunity or solution, and planned how to exploit it.
Requirements/Content:
- Evidence of understanding of the requirements to generate and execute new ideas
- Evidence of self-understanding and personal development
- Evidence of planning how to execute an idea/opportunity
Suitable evidence would include any one of the following types of document:
- Application of an entrepreneurial self-assessment tool and use of a blog to demonstrate personal development options
- Interview with an entrepreneurial role model to explore the entrepreneurial mind-set
- Completion of an online template to demonstrate need identification and opportunity analysis skills
- Outline plan for delivery of a proposed solution or transfer of an idea into a product concept
- Submitting a business or social enterprise idea to an enterprise Challenge or competition
Silver “Action” Award
The Silver “Action” Award is available for students who have demonstrated the ability to execute a plan in their chosen pathway. This would include those students who have created a new enterprise (social or commercial), delivered a new solution to meet a social or community need, developed a new product or process to meet a user need, supported in-company innovation, or delivered opportunities for university students.
Requirements/Content:
(NB a Silver Award requires the Bronze Award to have been completed)
- Evidence of setting up a new enterprise
- Evidence of delivering a project or initiative to meet a social / community / business need
- Evidence of developing a new product concept from a novel idea
- Evidence of an in-company (intrapreneurial) project or placement
- Evidence of managing and delivering entrepreneurship support for the benefit of other university students
Suitable evidence would include any two of the following types of document to be submitted:
A proposal for funding for a new business idea or activity
- Patent or other IP registration
- Company registration – or other type of organisation
- Trading receipts or invoices from a new enterprise
- Support or investment acquired to develop the activity
- Market endorsement (pre-sales endorsement) from a potential customer/user
- In-company project report with user feedback
- Report of the results from managing a student entrepreneurship society
Gold “Impact” Award
The Gold “Impact” Award is provided to students on a discretionary basis where there is clear evidence of the student’s actions having delivered tangible impact on others. This could be regards the impact they have made on their new business or enterprise, a local community, within an organisation or a market sector, or across Swansea University.
Requirements/Content:
Evidence of tangible impact resulting from the actions taken:
- Within their own enterprise or business
- Within another organisation of any type
- Within a market or other sector
- Within a community or location
- Evidence of acting in an ambassadorial role within the institution
Suitable evidence from a self-nominated case provided by a Silver Award student would include any evidence that supports their case and clearly demonstrates the impact of their actions:
A completed self-reflection online case template, plus relevant examples such as:
- Client/customer testimonials
- Reports
- Evaluations
- Inputs delivered to students
- Affects within their subject discipline
- Other contributions to the University’s entrepreneurship vision
What next?
Simply complete and upload your proposal using the online template. State your selected pathway, your intended actions, timelines and outcomes - as well as standard student information.
The Enterprise Award Administrator will verify student information received through the online form.
Wales University Royal Naval Unit (WURNU) is a training establishment that trains a range of undergraduates from universities in South Wales in leadership, seamanship and navigation, without any call-up liability or obligation to join the Royal Navy.
The aim of WURNU is to educate a wide spectrum of high calibre undergraduates, who show potential as society’s future leaders and opinion formers, in the role and the need for the Royal Navy.
The unit is based at HMS Cambria in Sully, South Glamorgan and its own ship, HMS Express, based at Penarth Marina near Cardiff. Members of the unit participate in a variety of training and social activities, the focus of which is training at sea aboard HMS Express. Opportunities exist to gain Royal Yachting Association theory and practical seamanship qualifications.
The unit has a strong team ethos, with a work hard, play hard attitude that helps to make members' times with the unit some of the best of their university lives. Students leaves the URNU equipped with the skills and confidence that give them a leading edge in whatever path they choose to follow.
The Student Ambassador Award recognises students who contribute to the Student Ambassador Scheme and who assist the Student Recruitment Office with numerous promotional recruitment activities including open days, visit days, campus tours, school visits to the University and outreach visits to schools.
The SU Award captures the range of roles, responsibilities and skills attained by all committee members through their work.
Do you have a committee role within a sports team or society? If the answer is yes, then would you like your hard work to be acknowledged?
The SU Award captures the range of roles, responsibilities and skills attained by all committee members through their work.
Attending committee meetings, helping out on the Freshers Fayre stall, competing in matches or running projects within a society are all elements you'll receive recognition for.
Once you've produced a reflective account of your experience as a committee member, highlighting your own individual contribution, you will be eligible for this award.
Are you a subject or college rep?
Attending training, assisting with #StudyAid, helping out with module feedback and attending forums are some of the things that will result in your receiving a Bronze, Silver or Gold award.
Do you care about the impact that Swansea University has on the environment? Would you like to minimize it? How about the opportunity to be a part of one of the UK's most rapidly growing career paths?
The Sustainability Team engages as many staff and students as possible to help them minimize the effect the University has on our environment.
The Sustainability Award recognises your individual contribution to sustainable development and an improved environment both on and off campus.
This award helps you to develop the specific knowledge, skills and values that will be required in the green and low carbon job sectors – one of the most rapidly growing career paths in the UK and locally.
To gain this award, you will take part in a wide range of voluntary activities and events that will increase your transferable skills and give you great experience of working in a team.
The activities are across three themed areas: Sustainability, Economy and Practical Sustainability.