Phoebe Rylatt, 20, from London, is a third-year undergraduate in mechanical engineering with an integrated masters and a year in industry. She has won the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award, partnered by Rolls-Royce. Her prize is an internship with Rolls-Royce, which will also sponsor Phoebe to complete a nano-degree programme – 12 weeks of coding lessons, plus an Apple Watch.

“Being a woman in engineering can be undermining. You always have people questioning your degree and career choices. It’s one of the reasons I applied for the award to prove the doubters wrong. Now, when people think I can’t, instead of undermining me it puts the wind at my back to spur me on.”

Phoebe is a STEM ambassador and peer mentor at the university, as well as a maths tutor for the charity Action Tutoring, volunteering at primary- and GCSE-level with the aim of closing the attainment gap in students. Last summer she undertook an internship with HS2 and delivered food parcels for those who were shielding in lockdown. Phoebe also enjoys paddle boarding, skiing and clay pigeon shooting.

Kathryn Moore, 20, and from Wolverhampton, studies Russian and history and is currently on her year abroad in Estonia. She won the First Generation Undergraduate of the Year Award, partnered by HSBC. Her prize is an eight-week internship with HSBC this summer and breakfast meeting with a senior manager in the company.

“It’s definitely been a big eye-opener. I know about 70% of people shortlisted for the award were economics or maths students with financial knowledge, so I wasn’t sure banking would be open to someone doing my degree. However, winning the award is recognition that degrees in a range of subjects can open doors to different industries. It’s often about having strong transferrable skills and having the confidence to push past your comfort zone.”

Kathryn is involved in a range of societies, such as the East Midlands Universities Air Squadron, and has worked at a local GP practice and mass vaccination site to aid with the Covid-19 vaccination programme, and regularly volunteers for Age UK. She also has been very involved in three of the University’s employability activities – the Nottingham Internships Scheme; the Digital Marketing Academy, and the Nottingham Advantage Award – undertaking many of the related modules, which have given Kathryn an unparalleled insight into working at SMEs, global corporations such as Boots and charitable firms; honed her foreign language and leadership skills as well as providing the opportunity to teach history and Russian in local primary schools.

Speaking about being the first person in her family to attend university, Kathryn added, “I know how hard my mum have worked and that’s passed down to me. I’ve learnt you’ve got to take every opportunity on offer and put yourself in situations that will allow you to make those connections in business that you perhaps wouldn’t otherwise have. The award shows that everything I have done at university, both as part of my course and extra-curricular, has really paid off now.”

Professor Sarah Speight, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at the University, said, “I am very proud of Phoebe and Kathryn. They are making a real difference to local communities through the choices they have made - in developing themselves, they are helping others. They are fantastic ambassadors for the student population in Nottingham, using their energy and skill to support educational attainment and Covid recovery. Congratulations to them both.”

For University of Nottingham students to win two out of in nine categories is a huge achievement, especially as there were over 90 finalists and more than 5,000 entries from 140 UK universities.

The awards are an excellent opportunity for universities to showcase the calibre of undergraduates at their institution, while giving their students the chance to practise the graduate recruitment process and secure positions with internationally recognised organisations.

With all entrants completing an application, an online assessment with situational, numerical and inductive reasoning tests devised by SHL and an assessment day, the employers also have a pipeline of excellent potential candidates for future placements and graduate vacancies.

Each award is partnered by a leading organisation: CIMA, Clifford Chance, National Student Pride, Attitude, myGwork, One Young World, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, HSBC, L’Oréal, Police Now and Rolls-Royce.

Story credits

For more information and to arrange interviews with the winners, please contact Emma Lowry, Media Relations Manager, University of Nottingham on 0115 0115 846 7156 or emma.lowry@nottingham.ac.uk

Emma Lowry - Media Relations Manager Engineering
Email: emma.lowry@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone: 0115 846 7156
Location: University Park