Prizes and other Awards
Some questions you might have about Prizes and other Awards…
- My son or daughter has been told they have got a “prize”…what does that mean?
- Final year prizes…
- My son or daughter has won The Sheffield Graduate Award…what does that mean?
- My son or daughter has been told they will receive a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR)… what does that mean?
My son or daughter has been told they have got a “prize”…what does that mean?
As well as getting their exam results online, your son or daughter might also have been given the exciting news that they have won a prize.
Undergraduate prizes would usually be decided at the same meeting at which examination results are discussed in June of each year – the Departmental Examination Board meeting. Some prizes are administered by the departments themselves – everything for these prizes is handled by the department so enquiries on these should go there. However, TPO look after centrally administered prizes.
Your son or daughter will not have put themselves forward to receive a prize; each department decides who will receive its prizes based on set criteria, so sometimes it comes as a nice surprise to have won one!
| TIP: A Prize Award statement is a great addition to any student's Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) - useful if they have a portfolio of achievements to show future employers or sponsors. |
If your son or daughter has won a prize, but doesn’t really know why, a good place to look is the Calendar of Prize Regulations. This will give you some idea of what they had to achieve to get the prize – it might be getting the best score in a certain exam, the best performance overall in their year or even doing the most volunteering during the year!
Many prize-winners get money, book tokens, medals or other benefits for being awarded a prize. Your son or daughter will receive a Prize Award statement showing which prize(s) they have won. If they have won money, your son or daughter needs to make sure that their bank details are correct on MUSE (My University of Sheffield Environment – this system is a portal which enables students to access University of Sheffield information from any computer, anywhere) so that we can pay them via a BACS transfer.
If your son or daughter has won a prize in the form of book tokens or medals, they will be posted out from the University so your son or daughter should make sure their home address on MUSE is kept up to date.
Final year prizes…
Prizes won during the final year of a student’s programme of study are called out during the degree ceremony as the student crosses over the stage, and a list of prizes and prize winners is also printed in the Degree Congregation Programme. Additionally, some departments choose to present the prizes won by finalist students at presentations in the department on the day of the degree congregations.
My son or daughter has won The Sheffield Graduate Award…what does that mean?
It means they did more than their academic studies whilst at university. The Sheffield Graduate Award is different to the usual University of Sheffield prizes. Sheffield Graduate Awards are given to students who have completed a wide range of extra activities which illustrate qualities and attributes that a prospective employer might value, in addition to their academic achievements.
Any student can apply to work towards a Sheffield Graduate Award at any point during their degree programme. These awards are administered by the University’s Careers Service, so our role in TPO is to record the achievement on the student’s record to ensure it will be called out at the Degree Ceremony and appear in the Degree Congregation Programme.
There is no monetary award for gaining the Sheffield Graduate Award; however it shows that your son or daughter has gone above and beyond what is expected of them – an excellent reference for prospective employers to see.
My son or daughter has been told they will receive a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR)… what does that mean?
The Higher Education Achievement Report or ’HEAR’ is a new kind of undergraduate degree transcript that provides a comprehensive record of students’ university achievements. This includes extra-curricular activities and awards as well as more information about students’ academic learning and programme of study. The HEAR has been developed over the past four years through a national project involving other universities, employers and students. It has been endorsed by the government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) as a document that will enhance students’ employability, by helping them to identify and articulate their individual skills and experiences, and provide evidence of these when presenting themselves to others.