Certificates
Body
What is the Professional Development Certificate?
The Professional Development Certificate recognises attendance at Student Development Office (SDO) skills development workshops but requires a shorter time commitment than the Edinburgh Awards.
By attending SDO workshops over the year you are demonstrating an ongoing commitment to your skills development and learning, having a certificate outlining this commitment is an excellent addition to your CV.
This opportunity is exclusive to School of Social and Political Science (SPS) students only.
All SPS students are welcome to enrol on the certificate, and you may start the Professional Development Certificate at any time during the academic year.
Certificate Levels
Three levels of Certificate are available, based on the amount of time you are able to commit to attending workshops
Bronze
Complete 12 hours of skills workshops
Silver
Complete 16 hours of skills workshops
Gold
Complete 20 hours of skills workshops
- What do I need to do?
Please first register your interest here, you will then be notified once the Initial Survey goes live.
- Review the Skills for Success Framework
- Complete the Professional Development Certificate Initial Survey.
You might find these prompts helpful when assessing your skillset.
- Attend workshops between October and March
Receiving your Certificate
At the end of Semester 2, the Student Development Office will send you details of the final reflective submission.
This requires you to complete a 500-word reflective summary of your skills development over the course of the Certificate. Once submitted and reviewed, you will receive confirmation of your Certificate.
- Additional Useful Information
How do I track my hours?
Use a spreadsheet, notebook or document to create a list of the workshops you attended, when they took place and how long the workshop was. You might also find it helpful to list the skills each workshop covered, for your own reflections.
The SDO track them as well, so we can check the number of hours we have recorded.How do I cancel my place on a workshop?
Please cancel your place via the online booking system or email the SDO to let us know that you aren't able to attend. By cancelling your place, you will allow another student to benefit from the training.
If you continually fail to attend sessions without cancellation, you may not be allowed to register for future workshops.
What happens if I don’t attend enough sessions?
If you are unable to attend enough skills training sessions, you will be withdrawn from the Certificate. Don't worry if this happens you and the SDO Administration team are the only people who know, it will not show on your transcript that you did not complete. You can still include those workshops you did attend on any list of additional learning.