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Things to know this week - 2 October 2023: Fancy winning £1000?

Posted on 2 October 2023

Welcome to your postgraduate taught student news summary of key things happening this week.

UoY community update

York gets Gold award for our teaching
We have been awarded Gold through the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)! It’s the highest possible rating a university can achieve. Thank you to you, our students, who support and challenge us all the way. Find out why we have been awarded the top prize.

Thanks for using Check-In
We’ve had a great response to our new digital support tool, Check-In, which helps us identify more quickly if it looks like you may be experiencing difficulties. As it’s a new system, we may see initial problems so please don’t worry if you’re unable to check-in due to technical issues - you won’t be penalised in any way.

Your safety on campus
Your safety and security on campus matters. Campus Safety is always on hand - day or night - if you need help or advice. The team is your first response for any security or safety issues - all members of the team are trained in first aid and mental health first aid. It’s a good idea to download the SafeZone app for a quick response and report any incidents on campus directly to Campus Safety:

  • Call 999 for all emergencies 
  • Call 01904 32 3333 if it's urgent but not dangerous
  • Call 01904 32 4444 for general security and safety questions

1. Support for the cost of living

We know that the increased cost of living continues to affect students and our information on cost of living support for students has been updated for the new academic year. There is a range of support available, from free food events and food vouchers to laptop loans, free period products, and free work clothes. Our new Off-Campus Rent Grant opens today (2 October) to eligible continuing students or the Student Support Fund is available to all full time students, UK and international, undergraduate and postgraduate. If you find yourself struggling, please get in touch with the Student Hub.

Support for postgraduates with a disability
The Joan Samuels Scholarship offers one award of £2,000 to be paid as a living cost stipend for one postgraduate taught student or postgraduate researcher with a disability each academic year. Applications to the Joan Samuels Scholarship open today (2 October).

2. Making money as a student

If you’re looking to earn extra income whilst at university, take a look at Blackbullion’s Best tips for how to make money as a student. It lists part time and flexible work options and also has advice on how to balance work and study. We recommend that you don’t work for more than 20 hours per week and, if you’re an international student, there may be restrictions on your visa. Blackbullion offers specialised support to students in all areas of financial education - why not sign up for Blackbullion free of charge to access the range of resources available?

3. Fancy winning £1000? We’ve got 10 lots up for grabs!

Developed in partnership with Santander Universities exclusively for UoY students, the Brighter Futures Grants have been created to support our students through university. There are 10 grants each with a value of £1000. All students are eligible, including both undergraduate and postgraduate, part time and full time. Apply before 30 November for your chance to win £1000 with the Brighter Futures Grants.

4. Come to the Careers Fairs

Come to the forthcoming Careers Fairs to explore graduate schemes in a range of work areas and sectors:

  • 4 Oct: Law Fair
    Law firms and law schools offer training courses and sponsorship for non-law students. Did you know that around 50% of new recruits in many law firms come from a non-law background?

  • 10-11 Oct: Graduate Jobs and Placements Fair
    Come meet employers from sectors including finance and actuarial, engineering, consulting, property services, IT/Technology, healthcare comms and economics, biotech and the public sector.

You may also want to check out our Making the most of your Masters event on 5 October for our tips on getting the most out of academic opportunities as well as how the Careers and Placements team can support you to develop a range of employability skills whilst you study.

5. Seeing campus or IT disruption?

If key University IT services are ever not running as they should be, did you know you can check the IT status page? This page shows any University-wide IT disruption or scheduled maintenance. Meanwhile, on the physical campus, you can check campus disruption notices to keep up-to-date with current works so you can better plan your journey to, from and around campus.

Offers, competitions and paid opportunities

Log on to Handshake, our careers platform, for jobs and opportunities.

Student news

Things to know this week is produced and distributed by the University's Internal Communications Team. Please email any feedback to university-internal-comms@york.ac.uk.