The team has successfully achieved Membership Quality Standard from the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) professional body for the second time following a rigorous assessment process.
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The AGCAS Membership Quality Standard accreditation serves as a benchmark for excellence in UK higher education careers services, ensuring that institutions uphold the highest standards of professional delivery and conduct.
Careers & Enterprise excellence
As well as achieving AGCAS' Membership Quality Standard, the team was also commended for excellence in several areas, including:
- A strong sense of purpose and direction, with priorities centred around career confidence, skill acquisition, and career readiness.
- A commitment to learning and development, fostering a community of practice with effective knowledge-sharing across the team.
- Extensive evidence of data capture, reporting, and accountability, ensuring measurable impact.
- Strong collaboration with national employers, reinforcing our reputation as a top university for talent acquisition.
In addition, the team was highly praised for gathering insights into the needs and perspectives of students and graduates to inform service development. AGCAS assessors noted: "This was an area of best practice. There was a clear commitment to capturing student and graduate feedback and, more importantly, using this to implement change. The breadth and depth of change showed that the mechanisms they have in place were clearly working."
This accreditation builds on a series of national and international awards the team has achieved over the last five years. This includes 'Highly Commended' titles for the Enterprise arm of the team for the National Enterprise Awards over three consecutive years from 2021 – 2023. The team also plays a valuable supporting role, and has assisted Enactus Durham to become National Champions in 2023 and 2024, and World Cup Semi-Finalists in 2024. The Enactus 'founders' they have supported have gone on to win numerous awards, including five being named in Forbes 30 Under 30 lists.
I am delighted that as a team, we have been recognised for the excellent work we do. We have again achieved our professional body quality assurance, which reflects the student focused dedicated team that we are. This is a true accolade for professional skill development and opportunity creation that we are so passionate about providing for our students
About the accreditation
AGCAS Membership Quality Standard accreditation evaluates careers services against nine pillars of professionalism, structured around three key themes:
- Effective leadership and management
- Meaningful stakeholder collaboration
- Professional expertise
The accreditation process is carried out every three years. To achieve it, the team submitted a self-evaluation document, showing demonstrable evidence of the three themes alongside identification of strengths and opportunities for development. They also completed a development plan including recommendations for service enhancements. The team then participated in a peer review discussion.
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