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Warwick Skills Certificate Award Ceremony - Preparing Students for Life After University

Students gain WSC
Students gain WSC
Originally Published 20 July 2004

On Monday 21 June the Vice-Chancellor, David VandeLinde, attended the Warwick Skills Certificate Annual Awards Ceremony to present certificates to those students who have completed the full certificate this year. The Warwick Skills Certificate (WSC) programme offers students the opportunity to develop competence, confidence and credibility in a range of essential graduate level skills. Sixty-seven students successfully completed the 30 credits worth of modules required in order to receive the full award this year.

Wing Hong Raymond Chan and Ronald Keng Hung Chan - received special prizes to acknowledge that they have clocked up an impressive 65 and 60 credits respectively on the WSC to date.

Yewande Akinola, is a first year full-time engineering student from Nigeria. She spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about the transformative influence of the programme. She conceded that she originally joined up to fulfil a promise to her mother, but quickly found she wanted to carry on taking modules for herself. She explained how gaining skills and making friends have not only made her into a more effective student, but given her increased self confidence and focus for her plans after graduation.

Alan Brough is a second year, part-time history student, who came back to study after retiring from the fire brigade. Alan initially enrolled on the skills certificate course for functional reasons, seeking to brush up rusty skills in academic writing and IT. However, he then discovered the creative writing module and found that the course helped him unlock hidden talents.

The Vice-Chancellor’s presence at the ceremony is a mark of the University’s dedication to skills development. He described the programme as the first step towards continuous professional development and identification and development of transferable skills that give Warwick students a competitive edge in the job market. He pointed out that the programme extends beyond the academic curriculum and gives students the opportunity to learn new skills not otherwise available as part of their chosen degree route.

Full details of the modules available are on the Skills Certificate website, www.warwick.ac.uk/skills, the range covers skills as diverse as team working, communication, time management, entrepreneurship, creative drawing, drama, information technology, assertiveness, project management, presentational statistics and research skills to name but a few!