Inspired by the idea of ‘learning for a complex world’, our contributions to student development explore the full range of dispositions and capabilities required of learners throughout their working life. Our concern is also to enable these forms of learning and development to be recognised and valued by the university. Our initiatives include:

• CoLab our not for profit student organisation providing services to students, the university, business and the local community, through which University of Surrey students can develop their personal and professional skills and qualities.
• Cultural Academy – a series of paired workshops and collaborative activities that enable students to share their own cultural experiences and enrich the lives of other students on campus through the culturally-rich experiences they create.
• Creative Academy – a workshop experience to help students think more creatively.
• Enterprise Academy – a series of paired workshops and collaborative activities that enable students to develop their enterprise skills either to create a small business or contribute to a local social enterprise.
• FLUX : a national competition in which teams of six students compete for a £3000 prize for creating and pitching a business.
• Lifting the Lid on… - a series of 6 sessions that are each focused on a different career area. These provide an overview of the sorts of career opportunities and placement activities that are available within that sector.

Recognising and Valuing Student Development

Story telling competitions – encourages students to reflect on and reveal, through a personal account, the development they gain through rich experiences and win prizes in the process

Our Learning through Experience Certificate can be used to facilitate recording, reflection and evaluation of learning in any significant experience. Specific contexts in which we are supporting learner development include: Part-Time Work; Volunteering and Immersive Cultural / Travel.

SCEPTrE offers two annual awards to recognise and value students’ commitment to developing their professional capability ‘Student of the Year Award’ and making their own education more complete ‘Life-wide Learning Award’.

Surrey Award Feasibility Study : SCEPTrE is leading the development of a scheme which if adopted by the University will give formal recognition of what students do to make their own education more complete in addition to their Honours degree programme.