Professional development

At Leeds Beckett, we understand the challenges and pressures staff face in schools and colleges, particularly in relation to guiding students through the university process. Therefore, we provide high quality, interactive and informative training sessions for school and college staff.

We understand that for many staff who support students through the UCAS process, progression and guidance is not – or has only recently become – a central part of their role in school or college. We want to use our expertise and resources to ensure you are confident in your role in the UCAS process (such as writing references) and in how to clearly communicate key messages to your students (such as student finance and how to write an exceptional personal statement).

We will demonstrate how we use your UCAS references so that you are able to write references that will stand out from the crowd. We can also provide insight into how to support students through the UCAS process and ensure your references and their personal statements complement each other.

The process of drafting, refining and submitting UCAS personal statements is often the most daunting part of the UCAS process for students and staff alike. Our team has particular expertise in communicating the ideal structure and content of personal statements so that they are clear and focused.

We provide Stretch and Challenge sessions not only for students, but also for subject teachers in schools and colleges so our approach to teaching and research can enhance their curriculum. Teachers will work with our academics, and will gain access to the latest research and practice in their subject area in the process.

These talks are offered in the majority of our subject areas. View our courses pages for a full list of our courses, and fill out the form below to enquire about the availability of our subject teachers’ CPD sessions in a subject area offered here at Leeds Beckett University.

Leeds Beckett University’s annual Teachers’ and Advisors’ Conference is the key CPD event for all professionals in schools and colleges who support young people in making confident decisions about their progression into higher education. 

The conference is usually held at the beginning of July and booking information will appear here when further details have been released.

Each year, the programme is designed to give delegates the opportunity to develop their practice by gaining insight into the contemporary higher education and graduate landscape, and by sharing best practice within the education sector. The event will therefore be of interest to all members of staff working with post-16 students but will be most relevant to staff with responsibilities related to progression such as post-16 leaders, careers and guidance staff, or progress coaches.

We really look forward to Leeds Beckett outreach staff coming into college, whether it’s to work with staff or students. Their no-nonsense approach to higher education and personal statement development has had a huge impact on the quality of our students’ applications to university and the way we as staff promote and take our students through their higher education choices and UCAS entry.

Kit Wright, UCAS Co-ordinator, Caedmon College Whitby UCAS Process and Personal Statements