CareerHub's Christian Jara (left) presented the ACGAS Award for Student Engagement to Jocelyn Owen (centre) and Tim Bradshaw from the Careers and Employability Centre at Sussex.

The University of Sussex has won its second award in a year for its work on improving social mobility.

The latest award recognises the efforts of the University of Sussex and its careers staff to boost job prospects for students from low-income backgrounds and those who are the first in their family to go to university.

The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (ACGAS) Award for Student Engagement was based on a range of cross-university projects, resulting in statistics showing that the first graduates from Sussex’s First-Generation Scholars (FGS) scheme outperformed their peers in the jobs market.

Latest figures show that 90 per cent of the first graduates from the scheme are now in graduate‑level employment or further study, compared to 88 per cent across the University as a whole.

Andrea Wall, Employer Engagement Manager in the Careers and Employability Centre (CEC), said: “This award recognises the University’s commitment to engage with students and enhance their employability and outcomes beyond Sussex.

“Critical to this success has been our students’ willingness to participate in activities which have included hundreds of opportunities to work and study in the UK and abroad, many as far afield as South-East Asia and China.

“Co-ordinated by the Careers and Employability Centre, the project involves inputs from multiple departments including Widening Participation, Development and Alumni Relations, Doctoral School, academic departments and the International Summer School and Study Abroad Offices.

“It’s fantastic to gain national recognition, highlighting the teamwork and collaboration of all involved at Sussex, whether students or staff.”

The plaudit comes hot on the heels of another award earlier in the year for the FGS scheme, which offers both financial support and a range of work placements to develop students’ skills and confidence.

The initiative has received positive feedback from both students and employers – with one company commenting, “We found the programme a fantastic opportunity … to bring in someone with new skills who had some different insights, and this provided a new sense of momentum in our small team. They delivered some really useful work for us.”

Data released last week (6 September) by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) showed that the University of Sussex was one of the most committed higher education providers to social mobility in the UK.

The University was ranked fifth in the UK, and second in the South-East, for the percentage of additional fee income it has committed to spend on improving access for under-represented social demographic groups in 2017/18.