Student Successes

Many of our students achieve successes above and beyond their degree courses. This is where we give them the credit they deserve.

Students on to a winner

Four of our HNC Construction students took third place in a prestigious national competition.

The group of second-year students represented the West Midlands in the national Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Student Challenge 2009. The students were set a task by McCarthy & Stone, builders of retirement homes, to present a proposal relating to the ageing population.

Daniel Lam (23) and Marc Bailey (22), both from Birmingham; Christopher Clements (28), from Solihull; and Andrew Pountney (26), from Worcester battled it out against 10 other student teams from across the country, earning themselves a trophy and £50 cheque each.

Andrew says: "It was a great competition to be involved in. It was a very challenging day, which required organised team work. I'm very pleased. This has opened a few doors for potential networking and future career prospects."

Richard Jordan, Director of Marketing and Recruitment at the School, adds: "This is an excellent example of the way in which we work in partnership with professional bodies to enhance the learning experience of our students within a vocational environment."

Celebrating student excellence

A phenomenal 19 students from the School of Property, Construction and Planning (PCP) have been recognised for excellence.

The ceremony, entitled the Student Excellence Awards, celebrated the partnership between a team of PCP students and Birmingham City Council's Urban Design.

The awards were presented in acknowledgement of the excellent standard of work achieved by students across projects, dissertations and technical application – categories included the Best Use of Computer Assisted Measurement Software, Best Legal Assignment, Best Student Prize at Higher National Certificate Level and Project Team Awards.

The partnership focuses on sharing knowledge, experience and best practice, identifying the need to link academia to industry and to develop individuals through training and creating job opportunities.

The Awards were presented by Councillor Neville Summerfield, Cabinet Member for Regeneration.

Richard Jordan, Director of Marketing and Recruitment at PCP, says: "The Urban Design Collaborative Partnership is an excellent example of the way in which PCP works in partnership with industry in order to create a range of exciting awards to bring out the best in our students, whether undergraduate or postgraduate."

Steve Vickers, General Manager of Urban Design at the Council, adds: "We are very excited at the developments in this partnership and are keen to see the positive impact that the fresh new talent will have coupled with the experience and expertise of our team. This is great news for the city."