The Bath Award: Information for staff

An annual programme that encourages students to develop their employability, support the university and their community, and become climate advocates.

What is the Bath Award

The Bath Award is the University of Bath's annual programme, recognising students who are developing their employability, supporting the university, contributing to their community or climate advocacy alongside their studies.

Four students hold their Bath Award certificates

The award supports students in identifying, developing, and articulating the key skills that employers value, giving them a competitive edge when they enter the graduate job market.

The award encourages students to get involved in extra-curricular activities. Part 1 of the award is to complete 50 hours of activity that cover at least one of these four key areas:

Developing employability. This could be an internship, part-time employment, or working on campus as a Student Ambassador or other casual paid role
Supporting the university. This includes acting as a Student Leader, Academic Rep, or any other role that contributes to the university community)
Contributing to their community. This can be volunteering in any capacity at any organisation that they don’t already work for
Climate advocacy. This includes any activity that supports sustainability, such as participating in sustainability initiatives, campaigning, or working with organisations focused on climate action

Part 2 of the award asks students to demonstrate professional development through attending Bath Award-endorsed workshops and completing some online learning. The award is based on the Capabilities Framework, so in addition to 50 hours of extra-curricular activity, students pick four of the following seven capabilities to focus on for their professional development:

Adaptability
Collaboration
Communication
Leadership
Professionalism
Resilience
Sustainability

As a member of staff, you play a vital role in making the Bath Award a success. By running workshops, or simply sharing information with your students, your involvement helps us reach as many students as possible and ensures the award continues to grow and develop.

Why students should complete the Bath Award

The Bath Award gives students a structured framework to reflect on their experiences and build evidence of their skills for employers through a structure, purpose, and formal recognition that they can share with employers. Students who complete the award:

develop and articulate key employability skills across four chosen capabilities

gain formal recognition for their commitment to developing their employability, supporting the university or local community, or building their climate advocacy

build confidence in talking about their experiences to employers in interviews and applications

receive a certificate signed by a senior university leader and the SU President upon successful completion

How you can encourage students to register

Registrations for 2026-27 are open from 3 Sept until 12 Feb. You can:

Mention it early - the sooner students register, the more time they have to complete it. If you have early-year contact with students, this is the perfect time to introduce the award.
Share in communications - a module announcement, newsletter, or email can go a long way. We have standard slides and you can email us for bespoke resources.
Talk about it informally - a conversation in office hours or after a seminar is an effective way to encourage students to take the first step.
Signpost to the student webpage - it has everything they need, including FAQs and how to register.
Invite us to speak - we are happy to talk to students directly. Email us with details of your session dates and times.

Three students holding their Bath Award certificates

Supporting students to complete the award

Many students who register do not go on to complete the award. Often this comes down to time pressures, uncertainty about what counts, or simply losing momentum. Here is how you can help.

Acknowledge their extra-curricular activities

If a student mentions they are volunteering, working part-time, or taking on a student leadership role, remind them that these hours can count towards their Bath Award.

Encourage reflection

The award asks students to reflect on their experiences and articulate what they have learned. If you are already supporting students with personal statements, CVs, or interview preparation, the Bath Award reflection process fits naturally alongside this.

Signpost drop-in sessions

We run regular drop-ins throughout the year where students can check their progress and ask questions. Letting students know these exist can make a real difference.

Endorse your workshops

If you are running workshops or activities for students, consider submitting them for Bath Award endorsement. This means students can count their attendance towards the award.

The value of endorsing your workshops

In 2025-26, Bath Award-endorsed workshops were twice as well attended as non-endorsed workshops

Attendance, non-endorsed events - 31%
Attendance, endorsed events - 59%

2025-26 attendance at Bath Award-endorsed events

Events delivered between 1 Oct 2025 - 30 Apr 2026 by Careers, the Digital and Academic Skills team, and the SU. Excludes cancelled events, careers fairs, employer-led activity, employer advertising, drop-ins, careers clinics.

If you are running workshops for students, you can submit them for Bath Award endorsement. Students attending your activity will be able to count it towards towards the requirement of attending four Bath Award endorsed workshops.

To be eligible for endorsement, your workshop must:

be open to all students at the university
run at least twice in the academic year 2026-27 (at least once online)
be delivered by a member of university staff (it cannot be run by students or an external person)
last for at least 30 minutes
include active learning OR pre-work
be available to book through Unihub (either in MyFuture or MySkills)

In addition to the workshop requirement, your team needs to:

ensure your workshops are shared with the MyEmployability workgroup (if you don’t know how to do this, please ask)
complete the Endorsement Request Form for each workshop you want to be endorsed. (Only members of the Bath Award team can assign an endorsement)
have all your workshops for Semester 1 available for students to book onto by 1 October 2026, with all Semester 2 workshops available before the end of Semester 1
ensure all attendance is marked in Unihub within 24 hours of the event taking place. Attendees at in-person events must be marked as ‘Attended’ and all no-shows for all events must be marked as ‘Absent’. No attendance can be left as ‘Unspecified’
commit to delivering a workshop once students have booked a place, regardless of the total number of bookings. Bath Award-endorsed workshops cannot be cancelled even if the bookings are below the minimum threshold, so we encourage you to think carefully about how you will promote your endorsed events and ensure you reach a viable number of bookings

‘After a couple of assessments that didn’t go my way in semester 1, the resilience module helped me to pick myself up, get back on track and maintain a positive mindset. I have substantially improved my grade in semester 2, so it must be good advice.’

— First year student, BSc(Hons) Comp Sci & AI Successfully completed the Bath Award in 2025-26