Students – upReach

If you’re currently in Year 13, you can quickly register for our support by applying here and following the instructions at the top of the page. We will then contact you the month before you start university so you can complete your application. While upReach only support students from when they start at university, there is plenty you can do in the meantime. Talk to your Careers Adviser at school and do your own research online about careers that might interest you. Many firms in sectors such as law or accountancy offer work experience programmes for 16 to 18 year olds that you can apply for. Visit aspire to download upReach's free 36 page guide providing information on exciting careers.

A good degree is not enough on it’s own to secure a good graduate job. It is never too early to explore your career options, boost your CV and gain valuable work experience. Doing so before going to university gives you a headstart over others. When you get to university, many firms offer “Spring Week” work experience programmes for 1st years, often leading to “Internships” for 2nd years - these are much easier to get if you’ve had some work experience before and got involved in extra-curricular activities such as sport or societies (and taken leadership roles). Trying to get a graduate job without a Spring Week or Internship is much harder, so it’s important to start thinking about careers and improving your CV from your first term at university.

Are you an eligible undergraduate? We provide a free, comprehensive professional development programme, tailored to your needs. This personalised support is delivered by a dedicated Programme Coordinator in partnership with top employers who offer exclusive opportunities. Through our support activities, we help students (called upReach Associates) into full time graduate employment. In 2016/17, the average salary of an Associate with a graduate job was £27,425, over £4,000 more than the average graduate. So far our Associates have secured internships or graduate jobs at 48 ‘Times Top 100’ firms.

upReach deliver a comprehensive professional development programme to students from less-advantaged backgrounds.

Working with our partners, upReach help broaden career horizons, raise aspirations and enable our Associates to better understand different career pathways. Our professional development programme helps Associates develop the social and cultural capital necessary for success in the graduate labour market. From skills workshops on campus to daily live video forums and dedicated ongoing 1-to-1 support from a designated Programme Coordinator, upReach offer a personalised programme of support tailored to the needs of each Associate.

Associates gain professional exposure, through Insight Days and work experience programmes with our partner employers and access to an experienced mentor. Associates applying to our partner employers receive extensive support at every stage of the process to maximise their chances of success.

Our expertise is supporting upReach Associates to access top jobs in:

Banking & Finance

Charity & Social Impact

Consulting

Public Sector

Law

Professional Services

Retail & Consumer Goods

Technology

Rise is a three year programme of intensive support that aims to help students explore their career options and develop their employability skills throughout their time at university. It is available to students at our partner universities, or who participate in one of our sponsored programmes with Allen & Overy, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Slaughter and May or John Lyon’s Charity.

Aim, is a targeted professional support programme, available to all undergraduates looking to make applications to our partner employers.

On both programmes, Associates are matched with a dedicated Programme Coordinator who supports them through their Career Springboard. They are on hand to offer 1-to-1 support including CV reviews, application support, mock interviews and assessment centre preparation. All Associates have access to exclusive employer events, workshops and video forums, plus extensive online resources including career courses and practice online tests, and the opportunity to get a professional mentor.

Rise Associates benefit from extra support, including workshops on campus and in London, application support for any employer, access to a network of peers, and priority access to exclusive upReach employer events.

Don’t worry if you don’t know which programme you’re eligible for, we’ll work that out!

upReach’s unique Career Springboards are the foundation of our programmes and comprise of eight key steps that aim to equip upReach Associates with the skills, experience and knowledge that will help them achieve their career goals and to thrive in the world of work. They have been developed in conjunction with top employers and based on our extensive experience supporting over 1000 students in five years. We expect every student joining upReach to complete a Springboard in at least one career sector within three months of joining. We personally recommend those Associates who complete a Springboard on LinkedIn and to our partner employers. These comprehensive, specialised learning programmes have been developed with the support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

upReach have created a Springboard in each of ten career sectors. Students can choose their preferred sector when they apply, with the option to change once an Associate.

In order to be an upReach Associate, you must

Have a household income below £42,620
Have attended UK state schools only (or since age 14 if you were educated abroad before then)
Have achieved (or have a REALrating* equivalent to) at least BBB in your top 3 A-Levels or an equivalent qualification (including Access to Higher Education courses)
Have achieved at least a C in GCSE Maths and English
Be over 18
Currently be an undergraduate that is in full-time study at a UK university.**
Not be studying social work, nursing, dentistry or medicine.

*Your REALrating gives you a better indication of your academic capabilities, taking into account factors such as schooling that can affect grades. To find out more, please visit realrating.co.uk

**If you have completed your undergraduate course of study, or have graduated as of July 2018, then you are not eligible to apply

REALrating enables students to find out how their academic potential compares to their peers. It gives employers a fairer measure of your academic achievements than A-Levels alone.

When universities assess academic potential using A-Level grades, many take into account socio-economic background, making lower offers where it has affected attainment. There is evidence that shows such students go on to outperform students from private schools with higher grades. Increasingly, employers are flexing (or even waiving) their fixed minimum A-Level requirements, to ensure high potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t miss out. We have created the REALrating to enable employers that use A-Level grades as a filter to ensure they don't miss out on top talent.

For more information, visit www.realrating.co.uk

Pre-University

University

Alfie, now a Senior Associate at KPMG

Kim, now a Tax Associate at Deloitte

Emily, now an Analyst at Accenture

Former Associate

Former Associate, now an Analyst

Former Associate, now a Consultant

What We Do

EXCLUSIVE EMPLOYER OPPORTUNITIES

APPLICATION SUPPORT

WORKSHOPS

ASSOCIATE COMMUNITY

Programmes

Career Springboard

upReach Springboard

Career Sectors

The next steps are:

Who We Support

We currently support students from over 66 different universities.

Not at University yet? Please register your interest in the Programme here and we'll be in touch after results day!

getEmployable

REALrating - Contextualise your grades!