Student-Led, Individually-Created Courses

Get your summer recognised

An overview of two ways to get recognition for your summer activities.

As the summer approaches, it's time to look into making the most of it.  You might want to develop new skills, bolster your learning, and boost your CV.  The two options below can help you make the most of any experiences you wish to undertake.  If you don't have anything lined up yet for the summer, scroll to the bottom of this page - we've pulled together some resources to support you with this.

Both options provide recognition from the University for involvement in activities over the summer.  The Edinburgh Award recognises students doing specific activities and staff support them through the Award process whereas SLICCs can recognise any student activity and is a much more self-directed process.  We've outlined some general information including the main differences between the two opportunities.  

 

PLEASE NOTE:  You cannot do an Edinburgh Award and a SLICC at the same time for the same experience.

 

Programme: Edinburgh Award SLICCs
Overview:

The Edinburgh Award is a programme that you can undertake alongside a particular activity, aiming to help you get the most out of your experiences and gain recognition for your involvement. Staff will provide students with a framework, guiding them towards completion.

Read a student's experience of doing an Edinburgh Award

Student-Led Individually-Created Courses (SLICCs) offer you the opportunity to earn 20 academic credits for involvement in experiential learning.  For example, this could be a professional development, internship, work experience, volunteering or research project experience.

Summer SLICCs run during the summer vacation and provide freedom to choose your own experience.  This is gives you the fantastic opportunity to self-tailor your own academic course, tied to the experience you wish to undertake, mapping out your own structure. 

Read a student's experience of doing a SLICC

Hear from students about their experience [60 seconds mini introduction]

Structure:
  • The Edinburgh Award wraps around a pre-defined list of activities.
  • You'll choose three skills to work on developing and will consider the positive impact you can have on others.
  • You'll submit several pieces of reflective writing throughout the programme and will submit a formative midway report.
  • You will submit a final reflection for review.
  • Ongoing reflection, adapting, and learning by doing are essential.  Therefore you cannot base your Edinburgh Award on a past activity.
  • Preparatory work involves writing a Proposal, mapping out a schedule for your experience and how you aim to address the 5 learning outcomes of the course.
  • You'll collect evidence and maintain a reflective blog for the duration of your SLICC and will submit an Interim Reflective Report for formative feedback.
  • You'll then submit a Final Reflective Report for assessment.
  • Ongoing reflection, adapting, and learning by doing are essential.  Therefore you cannot base your SLICC on a past experience.
Recognition:
  • The Edinburgh Award appears on your HEAR in the 'additional activities' section.
  • You'll receive a certificate of recognition.
  • SLICCs is an elective academic course that will grant you 20 credits upon successful completion.
  • Your SLICC will appear on your HEAR, alongside your other course grades.
Focus:

The Edinburgh Award is focussed on your personal development and your impact on others through your summer activity.

You'll select three skills that you want to work on developing during your Edinburgh Award as well as actively trying to increase the positive impact you have on others.

SLICCs are focussed on exploring a particular topic through one or more experiences you're undertaking.  SLICCs require you to consider how you are personally developing throughout the experience, and what this means for your future.

In some SLICCs, staff have defined what topic and/or experience you will be focused on.

In Summer SLICCs, you have free choice of topic and experience.  You'll identify a particular topic that you're interested in and want to explore through your summer experience(s).

Eligibility: Open to all students.

Summer SLICCs are open to first and second year undergraduate students. Places are limited and are first come, first served. This course runs over summer therefore applications will not open until Semester 2. 

Other SLICCs will have different eligibility criteria, and may be restricted to students who are part of a particular school, experience, or level of study.

Next steps:

Select the link below to find out more about the Edinburgh Award. 

Edinburgh Award

Select the link below for more information about SLICCs

SLICCs

Applications for Summer SLICCs 2024 are open. Select the link below to apply. 

Apply for Summer SLICCs

If you have questions about taking part in Summer SLICCs, then please contact the SLICCs team at SLICCs@ed.ac.uk.

 

 

Not got your summer planned yet?

We know some of you will be trying to identify what to do this summer but might not have found the right opportunity for you yet.  We can help with that.  Read the section on making plans for the summer for some ideas to get you started.

Making plans for the summer