UCFB students thrive in 2024-25 thanks to Employability and Career Planning Team 

UCFB students got the chance to enjoy another wide range of extra-curricular activities across 2024-25 thanks to our dedicated Employability and Career Planning (ECP) Team.

Throughout the academic year, UCFB’s ECP team have put together events, organised industry-focused visits and linked students to exciting work placement opportunities, and much more.

76 ECP Events

Throughout 2024-25, the ECP Team put together 76 events for our students, allowing them to meet with sports industry professionals, network and learn much more about their potential future career paths.

These included 13 Premier Events, held at both UCFB Wembley and UCFB Manchester, and were attended by no fewer than 2,200 UCFB students.

Each of these events focused on a specific area of the sports industry, including coaching, business and media, bringing students together with UCFB graduates, academics and our incredible keynote speakers.

In addition to the Premier Events, other fantastic sports industry-dedicated events held included our Women in Sport Networking Event and Sports Enterprise Exchange Event. 

The academic year was rounded off with an incredible final event day at The Home of England, St George’s Park, for our annual Future Leaders Conference.

At the conference, students listened to an incredible panel of guest speakers, met with industry professionals from The Football Association and St George’s Park, and were taken on a tour of the state-of-the-art facility.

A key part of the events over the last year includes the fantastic guest speakers brought in by our ECP Team.

From the world of football, these guest speakers have included guests from FIFA, UEFA, as well as clubs from The Premier League and Football League.

With guests also coming in to highlight their work and the industries of other global sports, we’ve had speakers from F1, The NFL, England & Wales Cricket Board, British Horse Racing and many more elite sporting organisations.

8 Industry Insight Visits

Away from our campus facilities in London and Manchester, the ECP Team has taken our students on some incredible industry insight visits across the country.

Trips to elite sporting venues such as Lord’s Cricket Ground and Silverstone have allowed students to learn about career opportunities across a wide range of sports.

These have also included industry insight visits to clubs including Huddersfield Town, meeting UCFB graduates working across the club’s many different departments, speaking to current students about transitioning from studying to working within the industry.

736 Work Placements

A highlight of our ECP Team is finding work placement opportunities for our students to gain valuable industry experience alongside their studies. 

Many students gain roles while studying their degree courses in non-league, in media and coaching roles at National League clubs. Connor Booth applied to UCFB through Clearing, and is now on the media staff at Dulwich Hamlet and Arsenal.

UCFB students have also earned placement roles at elite sporting organisations such as Sky, as well as positions in different sports, such as the UCFB media students covering Manchester Storm Ice Hockey.

Simon Fitzjohn, UCFB’s senior employability and career planning manager, said: “Our events schedule once again provided our students with incredible access to the sports industry and the people that work in it. 

“From student conferences to networking events, high-profile guest speakers to visits to iconic sporting locations, our UCFB students go behind-the-scenes of the industry and really find out what it takes to succeed in the global world of sport.”

You can find out more about UCFB’s unique sports industry-focused degree courses and student life by viewing a prospectus.