HECSU membershipAn agency of Universities UK and Guild HE, HECSU is a registered charity that has been at the heart of the higher education sector for more than 40 years. As a member of HECSU, your college has access to a range of unique benefi ts to aid career planning and enhance the employability of your students and graduates.

HECSU membership covers your whole institution, with benefits including:Access to £50,000 special careers-related research fund A fund of £50,000 is available exclusively for projects led by staff at HECSU member institutions with up to £5,000 available for each individual project. The research fund has been designed to support careers practitioner research projects, help disseminate findings and improve practice. Projects funded to date include studies into graduate transition to employment; student perception and use of video interviewing techniques; and reasons for deferred career decision-making.

Access to £30,000 special initiative bursary for professional training and development An annual bursary fund of £30,000 is available to help fund any recognised CPD course (one module per academic year) for careers professionals within HECSU member institutions. Members can apply for a grant from the bursary fund to aid training which may not be achievable through their institution’s training budget. Since introducing this member benefit in 2014 more than 100 bursaries have been awarded ranging from £500-£2,000.

Priority invites to all Luminate events Luminate events are held throughout the year and feature an array of industry and sector experts discussing the latest issues and trends surrounding employability and recruitment. As a HECSU member you receive priority notification of all events. Luminate is the new sector practitioner digital platform from Prospects featuring research, LMI, news and features. It replaces Graduate Market Trends and the LMI area of the HECSU website.

Tailored labour market guidance Our labour market specialist Charlie Ball is available to provide talks to careers services, students and academics tailored to each institution’s needs. For general queries, our labour market team will be happy to help via phone or email.

Prospects publications on request Our printed publications are still in high demand. Copies of the Student Career Guide and Postgraduate Study Guide will be sent directly to your careers service to help students with their career and further study planning.

Dual-branded web cards and Prospects materials Ideal for picking up on campus and at events, our dual-branded web cards are a popular and effective mass marketing material. Two thousand cards are delivered to you at the beginning of the academic year with your branding, key messages and web link featured. We also send you a consignment of Prospects pens, posters, bags and flyers for your students.

Careers fair listing on Prospects.ac.uk Raise the profile of your careers fair event with a free listing on the events page of Prospects.ac.uk, the UK’s official graduate careers website which attracts more than two million unique browsers a month.

What do graduates do? Published annually in collaboration with AGCAS, this sector-standard report uses data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency to explore graduate destinations six months after graduation. Hard copies will be sent to you as part of your membership.

Your membership

The bigger pictureAs well as the membership benefits, your subscription contributes to the improvement of our services and supports a wide range of key sector initiatives including:Prospects.ac.uk – providing two million monthly browsers and colleagues at UK careers services with access to the latest employment and further study opportunities as well as unique careers content written by AGCAS and industry professionals.

Planner – developed in collaboration with colleagues at UK careers services and used widely within career guidance interviews at UK institutions, Planner analyses a student’s skills, motivations and desires and suggests occupations or job roles most suited to them for application. We recommend that this tool is completed with the guidance of a careers professional.

Job Match – as a complementary service to Planner we have developed Job Match, a tool users can complete in a short amount of time to encourage them to look into potential career paths.

Luminate.prospects.ac.uk – as well as being an indispensable LMI resource, Luminate provides views and insights from our own LMI experts as well as industry and sector guests. Luminate events are also held throughout the year on the latest graduate recruitment topics.

It all adds upAs a registered charity HECSU receives income via its commercial arm Graduate Prospects Ltd. Each year HECSU gifts Prospects’ profits back to the sector in the form research projects, events and careers content.

£197,000 was invested back into the sector in 2017/18

· £95,000 Research fund and bursaries for staff at UK HEIs

· £89,000 Careers content written by AGCAS professionals on Prospects.ac.uk

· £13,000 AGCAS events

Working in partnership with government, HE professional bodies, funding councils, employers and student bodies, our role is to support all students and graduates into, through and out of HE and into employment by supporting the work of all careers and employability professionals and their institutions.

We undertake and commission research into all aspects of graduate employability, provide graduate labour market information, and fund practitioner research.

Contact us:HECSU Membershipmembership@hecsu.ac.uk 0161 277 5324 www.hecsu.ac.ukluminate.prospects.ac.uk