About Us
What is the 'Equal Opportunities in Careers' offer?
Did you know over half of undergraduate students were part of the 'Equal Opportunities in Careers' offer last year?
Equal Opportunities in Careers is an opt-in service for home undergraduate students that meet one or more of the under-represented student background criteria (listed below). The programme was established 3 years ago by the university's Careers & Employability Service, to offer funding and targeted employability guidance, for students who have overcome barriers in order to access university.
It can be daunting knowing where to start when it comes to planning your future after graduation. It's an even greater challenge when it feels like circumstances out of your control are stopping you from accessing future employability opportunities.
The 'Equal Opportunities in Careers' offer is our way of levelling the playing field, by granting yearly funding for activities that improve employability, as well as delivering a wealth of exclusive employability workshops and events.
We work collaboratively with lots of other programmes across the university that support students from under-represented backgrounds, with the goal that we can signpost to help outside of our employability reach such as academic, financial and wellbeing support.
We operate as a confidential, no-questions-asked, opt-in service. If you have any questions, or are unsure of your eligibility, contact our email at:
careers-equalopportunities@sheffield.ac.uk
Check out our blog page to read more on what Equal Opportunities is!
Eligibility criteria
Home undergraduates only | You must meet at least one of the criteria listed below:
Are you in receipt of a University of Sheffield bursary?
Are you from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background?
Are you in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance?
Are you a mature entrant to university, meaning you were aged 21 or over at the start of your course?
Have you been in care as a looked-after child for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14?
Are you the first person in your immediate family to go to university (other than siblings)?
Are you from a military background, either yourself or your immediate family?
Are you an estranged student?
Do you come from one of the more deprived areas of the country as defined by the government's Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) database? If your postcode IMD value is 16,250 or less, you meet this criteria. You can check your postcode ranking using the IMD website. Please note this criteria only applies to students who live in England.
Do you come from an area where it is not usual for people to go to university? This is defined by the government's classification called POLAR. To meet this criteria your address must fall into quintile 1 or 2 of POLAR3 or POLAR4. Please note this information only covers the UK. You can check your eligibility for this criteria using the government's POLAR database.
If you identify with the above criteria, and would like to opt-in, please fill out this form.
If you are a home undergraduate student and identify with another characteristic, background or group that is under-represented in higher education, or have any other queries about eligibility, we welcome you to contact us at: careers-equalopportunities@sheffield.ac.uk.
Feeling unsure about your eligibility? You can check here with our short quiz!
The Team
Olivia Slater
Employability Project Assistant (Placement Student)
Hi, I'm Liv! I'm a Business Management student, currently on my placement year with the Careers & Employability Service. During my studies, I was a part of the Equal Opportunities in Careers cohort and enjoyed attending events such as the Summer Networking Event.
My role includes organising and hosting all the community-building activities such as the employability workshops. I also send out all the marketing communications and run this blog.
I'm looking forward to putting on lots of exciting employability events and increasing our community!
Orla Foster
Senior Administrator (Work Experience)
Hi, I’m Orla! I’m the Senior Administrator for work experience in the Placements & Employability Programmes team within the Careers & Employability Service.
My role involves coordinating the SME Summer Internship Programme which opens for applications in Semester 2, and the Equal Opportunities Fund, which will launch later this autumn. Our team is here to support you in your search for internships and activities to enhance your employability.
We’ll keep you posted about when these opportunities go live, but in the meantime please get in touch with us via our email, or head over to the next drop-in session, if there’s anything you’d like to know more about!