The 2011 Awards

At RateMyPlacement, we feel that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises have a huge amount to offer to undergraduates in terms of work experience whilst at the same time benefiting from the enthusiasm, ideas and input that a student can bring. This Award recognises the Small & Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) that has received the highest rated student review/s and was open to nominations by both students and employers, and entries from the companies themselves. The winning company was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted together with the reviews held on RateMyPlacement.

Winner – Ash Gaming

Of the 38 staff members currently working at Ash Gaming, 11 are or have been placement students within the Company. Ash Gaming's two original placement students are now senior managers and lead designers in this games agency which prides itself on delivering world class games to players through leading multi-national casino websites. Their investment in student talent is fantastic and shapes the whole company.

Find out more about Ash Gaming…

Finalists

• Champions Life Academy
• ProspectSoft
• We Brand It

Despite the recession, there are many organisations that are coming round to the idea of recruiting undergraduates into work placement or internship positions. RateMyPlacement.co.uk feels that every business, irrespective of size, would benefit from offering work experience to students. This is an Award to promote the introduction of work experience opportunities, or a formalised placement and internship scheme for students within a company. The winning employer was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted plus any student written reviews held on RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

Winner – The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

July 2010 saw the launch of their first official internship programme, with a cohort of 27 individuals. The judging panel were extremely impressed by the level of investment, management restructuring and potential through the submission, which outlined the clearest evidence of success and commitment to sustaining and growing their internship programme.

Finalists

• Cooper Industries
• John Lewis
• Zurich UK

This is an Award to promote inclusion and diversity in work experience for all students within a company. The company may have a diverse attitude to staff whilst on their placement, they may run recruitment initiatives aimed at increasing the diversity of their intern and placement students or they may just be a highly diverse place to get work experience. This Award was open for nominations and entries from any organisation that felt they achieved the above and the winning employer was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted plus any student written reviews held on RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

Winner – Barclays Capital

Of the 376 Interns in 2010, Barclays Capital had representation from 99 different universities and 45 different nationalities. Winning the Award two years in a row, Barclays Capital offer a wonderful scheme for all students and their unanimously supported nomination, submitted by their agency Stafford Long & Partners, outlined initiatives specifically designed for the Diversity recruitment of their interns.

Finalists

• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Financial Services Authority
• Pearson
• Transport For London

This is a new Award for 2011 which recognises the company that has received consistently high scores on reviews written by students who attended a Short-term Insight Scheme during the 2009/2010 academic year. The Insight Scheme can be either from the Christmas (2009), Easter (2010) or Summer (2010) Insight period, or a mixture of all three. Insight schemes are short term, and aimed at 1st year students.

Winner – Nabarro

Nabarro offer a three week summer vacation scheme for Law and non-law students. The judging panel cited an 'extra sparkle' with Nabarro due to their innovative and creative three week scheme which included a balanced mix providing real responsibility, social events and networking for their intake.

Highly Commended – PwC

PwC's extensive investment in bringing talent in earlier and earlier alone is highly commendable, however the time and resource invested in the one-to-one feedback and coaching was particularly impressive, clearly demonstrating their overall belief and dedication to students.

Highly Commended – Pinsent Masons

Pinsent Masons offer a fantastic scheme which is highly evident across their 92 reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk. 70% of their trainee solicitors have undertaken a placement at Pinsent Masons and of those, 85% are retained after their training contract ends.

Finalists

• Financial Services Authority
• Morgan Stanley

This is an Award to recognise and reward those employers who have gone that little bit further than the standard attendance at Careers Fairs and online advert! We are looking for entries from employers who reach out to students in unique ways and like to do things a bit differently when it comes to on-campus student marketing. Whether it was an event, a campaign at particular universities or something targeted to increase the diversity and inclusivity of your scheme/s, we want to hear about it! Joint entries are welcome and encouraged from employers and recruitment advertising agencies.

Winner – PwC

PwC's undergraduate recruitment campaign was the first to launch the new PwC brand in the UK. In association with their agency ThirtyThree, they were looking to move away from traditional careers events and focused on creating more of an experience for students through an extensive range of fun, engaging and innovative activities and achieved this with resounding success.

Highly Commended – Microsoft

After listening to focus groups, Microsoft's 'It's Time to Play' concept, in association with their agency Alexander Mann Solutions, was a highly engaging and effective one designed to bring a true reflection of life at Microsoft to reality.

Finalists

• Ernst & Young
• Linklaters
• PwC

This Award celebrates the tireless and invaluable contributions made by University Placement and Careers Services in helping students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities. This Award was open to nominations by both students & employers and entries from the universities themselves. The winning University was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted.

Winner - University of Huddersfield, School of Computing & Engineering

The School of Computing & Engineering, within The University of Huddersfield, showed what the judges described as an outstanding example of localised best practice. The range and flexibility of support for their students is exceptional and this was shown in the extensive student recommendations that supported the submission.

Finalists

• Birmingham City University
• Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
• Lancaster University Management School

This Award celebrates the initiatives and innovations carried out by UK universities and departments in promoting the value of work based learning to students and employers. The Award was open to nominations by both students & employers and entries from the universities themselves. The winning University was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted.

Winner - Brunel

Brunel University's contemporary approach to work-based learning was described by the judges as 'amazing'. They go miles beyond the call of duty and offer an integrated service providing a one stop shop for all students. Their extensive use of social media also demonstrates a real understanding of the student audience.

Finalists

• Aston University
• University of Bath
• Nottingham Trent University
• University of Reading

New for 2011, this Award celebrates the tireless and invaluable contributions made by a particular individual in the University Placement and Careers Office in helping students apply and maximise their work experience opportunities. The Award was open to nominations by both students & employers and entries from the individuals themselves. The winning Personality was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted.

Winner - Emily Timson

New for 2011, the University Personality of the Year Award is designed to showcase the outstanding contributions to the university. Emily shows fantastic dedication and commitment to her students, the phrase 'going the extra mile' has never been more applicable.

Special Commendation - Mohamed Rahman

Mo received a Special Commendation for the tireless effort and enthusiasm for what he does. The amount of nominations, kind words and thoroughly appreciative student comments meant Mo was highly worthy of a Special Commendation.

Special Commendation - Kathryn Foot

Kath received a Special Commendation from the RateMyPlacement.co.uk team due to the support, enthusiasm and almost tireless enjoyment she shows in her role. Another highly deserving Special Commendation.

Finalists

• Lydia Robinson
• Carolyn Keenan

This Award celebrates the amazing contribution that students make to businesses across the UK and abroad. The Award was open to nominations from employers and universities as well as entries from the students themselves. The winning student was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted and will take home a cheque for £250!

Winner – David Liptrot, University of Bath

Described by his placement tutor as the "most scientifically successful placement student I have seen during my 20 years at Bath", David was a standout winner for the Best Placement Student Award. David's incredible drive and determination led him to run 660 experiments in the year, twice those of his peers and he wrote and published 4 papers in top rated chemistry journals.

Finalists

• Tom Digby
• Chris Jones
• Craig Wallace

New for 2011, this Award celebrates intern students who have exceeded expectations and genuinely made a significant impact to their team, department or the business as a whole. The Award was open to nominations from employers and universities as well as entries from the students themselves. The winning student was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted and will take home a cheque for £250!

Winner – Kimberley Low, University of Oxford

Kim managed to exceed all expectations during her 4 weeks at Linklaters and her knowledge, manner and quality of work was likened to that of an Associate rather than a Vacation Scheme student. Standing out in a programme full of good people makes her achievements even more fantastic, a worthy winner of the Best Intern Award.

Highly Commended - Scarlett Bland, University of Birmingham

This goes to Scarlett Bland for her achievement in a particularly difficult environment. The adversity she overcame and independent attitude was described as exceptional.

Finalists

• Emmi Matsunaga
• Scarlett Bland
• Simon White

This Award celebrates the university society who has promoted and encouraged their members to undertake some form of work experience. This Award was open to nominations from employers and universities, and entries from the societies themselves. The winning society was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted and will take home a cheque for £1,000!

Winner – PsyCardiff, Cardiff University

The uniqueness, fantastic objectives and early success of PsyCardiff were all cited by the judges as 'outstanding'. Their innovative initiatives to promote work experience in a sector where currently only 20% of students do placements is beginning to move the dial towards increased work experience opportunities. The inclusion from disciplines throughout the university is also highly inclusive and worthy of Best University Society.

Highly Commended – Warwick Finance Societies, University of Warwick

The membership growth speaks for itself and the range of corporate partners from different industries showed fantastic entrepreneurialism in becoming the first student run society in the UK to be sponsored by both investment banks and magic circle law firms. Running 31 events in 2010/2011 and inviting other universities further outlines the fantastic dedication of Warwick Finance Societies.

Highly Commended – Bristol Social Enterprise Society, Bristol University

Bristol Social Enterprise Society recognises the importance of work experience within the local area in smaller companies and through a significant range of different initiatives. The underlying message of learning and developing your own skills whilst contributing to tackling a social or environmental need is highly commendable.

Finalists

• Cambridge University Chemical Engineering Society
• UCLU Economics & Finance Society

New for 2011, this Award recognises the student who has exceeded expectations and genuinely made a significant impact to the small business as a whole. The Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Enterprise Award is designed to reward a student who has interned at a company with under 250 employees for any length of time. This Award was open to nominations from employers and universities, and entries from the students themselves. The winning student was selected by our judging panel based on the case studies submitted and will take home a cheque for £250!

Winner - Vicki Watmough, Oxford Brookes University

Vicki achieved a monumental range of tasks at ProspectSoft, the variety of skills she demonstrated and the value added to the company shows true enjoyment, dedication and willingness to learn. Vicki was involved in Sales, Marketing, HR and just about everything else from training, to devising a channel strategy. Her proactive approach and enthusiasm showed true devotion for the company as a whole, a tremendous example and worthy Winner of the Best Student Contribution to a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise Award.

Highly Commended - James Green, University of Reading

James' achievements at Champions Life Academy have recalibrated the benchmarks for all students following in his footsteps. He is the first person to achieve the 'Diamond' level of achievement in the company's history and his commitment to his team was not only outstanding, but his personal performance was exceptional. James was 'Top Manager' 5 out of 10 weeks and his performance was 337% better than the average sales person.

Finalists

• Kathleen Warren
• Zlatin Tersiev Yonkov

This Award celebrates the outstanding achievements of our 32 Brand Managers who have made a significant impact to the RateMyPlacement team, the business as a whole and our clients as a RateMyPlacement Brand Manager. From the distribution of flyers, email targeting, assisting events and running campaigns on campus, our Brand Managers have all been fantastic in spreading awareness of RateMyPlacement and our clients at universities across the UK. The winning student was selected by the RateMyPlacement team based on their efforts and contributions during the 2010-2011 campaign and will take home a cheque for £250!

Winner - Devon Parker, Aston University

Devon completed all tasks throughout the year with outstanding commitment, dedication and a high level of results. Working on average 4 hours each week promoting RateMyPlacement and our clients at Aston University, Devon was a standout winner and we wish her well on her placement next year abroad with Deutsche Bank!

Finalists

• Sian Clift
• Grace Gimson
• Oliver Sample