The Award Process
Your how-to guide to get involved and participate in the Edinburgh Award programme.
What to expect
We are aware that students are busy with their studies, part-time work, social and personal commitments, etc. The Edinburgh Award has been purposefully designed to wrap around activities that you are already involved in, such as working as a Resident Assistant or helping with a peer-assisted learning scheme (PALs). These are very positive developmental activities and the Edinburgh Award gives recognition from the University for student involvement by helping you get the most out of you time here, both now and for the future.
There will be some extra work involved in order to achieve the Award, but participants complete the majority of the requirements for most activities simply by taking part in standard sessions, such induction and review as a Resident Assistant or Peer Mentor. With a small amount of additional effort, you should get extra benefits for an activity you are involved in anyway.
When is the right time to do it?
It is up to you when you sign up for an Award, but remember it is never too early to start thinking about your personal development, and the skills you will learn will hopefully stay with you throughout your university career and beyond.
The supported process of personal development can be beneficial to any fully matriculated student, regardless of origin, level (UG/PG), fees status, or mode of study.
On-campus or online?
For many of the Awards running over the full academic year, you must be available to attend a certain number of workshops in person, as well as completing reflective self-assessments online.
Some versions of the Award have the option for students to complete the Award remotely if, for example, you are a distance learner. For more information, contact the staff leader for the Award you are interested in.
Find the version for you
Each version of the Award is different depending on the activity it is wrapped around. The Award is delivered locally by staff members from across the University who you should contact directly if you are interested in undertaking a version of the Award.
Please note that the Edinburgh Award cannot credit past experiences. For example, if you are doing a summer internship and want to obtain recognition for it, you need to register for the Edinburgh Award (Work Experience) before you start your internship.
Check out the list of activities currently recognised by the Award and contact information for the staff members associated with each version for more information
Here is a list of recognised activities.
Hesitating between two versions?
If you are involved in an activity that is covered by more than one Award (i.e. working part-time as a Student Ambassador), you can only complete one Award for this activity. We would advise you in this instance to undertake the Edinburgh Award (Student Ambassador), as it is more specific to the activity than the Edinburgh Award (Work Experience).
If you are an Office Bearer for more than one student society, you will only be able to get one Edinburgh Award (Office Bearers).
Ideas about a new Award?
The Award can be structured around an activity run by students, but there must be a staff member responsible for running the local version of the Award because it appears on students’ HEAR and is a formal recognition by the institution. For example, a new peer-assisted learning scheme run by students for students could be linked to the Award, but a member of staff would have to be responsible for running the Award itself.
Feel free to get in touch if you are interested in setting up a new Award.