The ‘Sheffield Policy Campus’ partnership was recognised at the recent Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) Awards for Excellence 2025, beating strong competition from universities across the country.
The Sheffield Policy Campus, a partnership between the Civil Service and the University, offers a range of career development opportunities for students to work on projects delivering real-world change. With the UK’s first major policy hub outside Whitehall based in the city and over a thousand civil servants from key departments including the Department for Education (DfE), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), students at the University are uniquely placed to connect directly with real-world policymaking.
The Sheffield Policy Campus is central to a bold new strategy to open up pathways into the Civil Service for a broader, more diverse range of individuals, with University of Sheffield students playing a key role.
The initiative is helping to embed long-term policy careers into the region, strengthening links between central government and local communities while creating a new generation of policy professionals based outside of London. Paid summer and year-long student placements within the Civil Service are a key feature of the partnership, alongside the opportunity to meet and network with colleagues from a range of backgrounds.
Sarah Hunter, University of Sheffield Employability Manager and Sheffield Policy Campus lead, said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised at the AGCAS Awards for Excellence 2025 for a unique partnership we’ve developed in close collaboration with the Civil Service for a number of years.
“Our Sheffield Policy Campus partnership creates transformative career development opportunities for students to work on projects delivering real-world change, and we’re very pleased it has been recognised by our peers.
“The partnership also serves as further proof of the University of Sheffield’s commitment to industry and government partnerships that deliver tangible benefits for students, wider society and the UK’s evolving policy landscape.”
A University of Sheffield Economics student, who undertook a ten-week placement with the DWP, explains how the experience made her re-evaluate her career plans: “At the start of the placement, I decided it would be good experience, and that was it - but by the end, I was convinced that the Civil Service was for me.
“I learnt so much about policy and had so many amazing experiences. I grew so much in confidence over the ten weeks that I didn’t feel like the same person by the end."
Russell Matthew, Deputy Director for Localism Strategy at the DWP, said: “We’ve built an excellent relationship with the University of Sheffield to deliver a range of outreach and engagement sessions with students, culminating in the summer internships and 12-month placements. This is central to our work to develop a future talent pipeline into the Civil Service across our northern hubs and is the flagship offer within the Sheffield Policy Campus.
“The quality of students has been consistently high, and they have brought energy, enthusiasm and fresh perspectives to key work areas in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education.
“It’s a pleasure to have the students with us during their internships, and are delighted to be seeing some former interns secure permanent roles in the civil service following their experience. and we look forward to continuing, and building on, this partnership in the future.”
