Nottingham Advantage Award
The Nottingham Advantage Award is a great way to gain recognition and extra credits for extra-curricular activities that you do at the University of Nottingham.
Each module that you complete through the Award will feature on your degree transcript when you graduate and you will also be able to put your Award activities on your CV. Employers will greatly value your involvement in extra-curricular projects and the fact that you took your employability seriously.
School of CLAS modules may include
CLAS Peer Mentoring module (NAA 10 credits)
CLAS runs a peer mentoring scheme which invites second year students to mentor the new first year in small groups to help them to settle into university and demystify some of the less familiar university traditions.
Mentors receive training before they begin to mentor and can contact their departmental senior tutor for support should they need it. This is a great opportunity to “give back” and provide bespoke advice and guidance to CLAS newest recruits!
The mentoring scheme is linked to Nottingham Advantage Award and requires second years to meet with their mentees on a regular basis and write a reflective diary reviewing the meetings, including the planning and evaluation of these. However, many students undertake the mentoring without the NAA and find the experience rewarding and worthwhile.
To express your interest in being a second year mentor, please email: ar-clas-ese@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk
CLAS Year Abroad Work Placement module (NAA 10 or 20 credits)
The CLAS Year Abroad Work Placement module is an optional module which forms part of the Nottingham Advantage Award Scheme (NAA). Students undertaking a placement for 5 months or more will be awarded 20 credits, and students undertaking a 3 month placement will be awarded 10 credits. In order to obtain the award participating students will be expected to submit a reflective portfolio showing evidence of the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the placement, and, once the student has returned from their year abroad, they will also be required to attend a compulsory consolidation session to help prepare for job applications.
CLAS Work Placement module (NAA 20 credits - Autumn semester)
The 20 credit CLAS Work Placement module will be introduced in the Autumn semester with work placements commencing in the Spring. The module is available to registered, full time, University of Nottingham undergraduate students as part of the Nottingham Advantage Award Scheme (NAA). This module aims to support students’ personal development and engender confidence and ease for the job market. Moreover, it should make students reflect on, and become aware of, what they need in order to achieve their career goals.
CLAS Career Skills for Linguists (NAA 20 credits - Autumn semester)
The Careers Skills for Linguists module (10 credits) takes place in the Autumn term and is only available to registered full time undergraduate students in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies as part of the Nottingham Advantage Award scheme (NAA). This module helps students prepare for, and think actively about, using their language skills in their future careers. This would also be a useful introduction to the (NAA) Work Placement Module.
The Careers Skills for Linguists module is a 10 credit module, and can be taken either on its own, or in conjunction with the CLAS Work Placement module. Combining the two modules is advantageous because they complement each other, and the additional module brings the added benefit of 20 Nottingham Advantage Award credits.
University wide modules
There are a large number of University-wide modules to choose from.
Examples of popular modules include:
- Experience Heritage
- Experian Leadership Programme
- Internships and Placements
- PR Project Management
- Language Classes
- Student Ambassador
- Insight into Education
What do our students say?
I originally decided to participate in the ‘Experience Heritage’ module as part of the Nottingham Advantage Award to gain experience in the heritage sector, which is a popular route for students on my degree programme. However, I soon realised that this was also an excellent opportunity to hone the transferable skills that I had developed through the degree itself, and to also apply these in a professional environment. Throughout the autumn semester I experienced a role within both outreach and digitisation as part of my placement. One of the highlights of the placement was the opportunity to create a display for the reading room which utilized the range of artefacts being stored at Manuscripts and Special Collections. This enabled me to craft a display that was directly related to my degree, with the topic being related to surviving photographs from the Crimean War of 1853-56, alongside being able to use my analytical and organisational skills in preparing the display. Although I am still currently deciding my future career plans, the Nottingham Advantage Award and its highly relevant module ‘Experience Heritage’ offered me a great opportunity to improve my skillset and gain valuable experience in a possible future sector.
Read more about Bron's experience
Bron Bury, BA (Hons) American Studies and History (2015-2018)
Further information
Find out more about the Nottingham Advantage Award, why it can benefit you and how to get involved. Visit the Nottingham Advantage Award website
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university's control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.