Introducing the 2020 Undergraduate of the Year winners

Now in its 11th year, the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards brought together prominent employers and talented undergraduates for a prestigious awards ceremony presented by Rachel Riley virtually on Friday 4 September 2020.

The 13 awards were partnered by leading employers and professional bodies: ACCA, Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, National Student Pride, Attitude, One Young World, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, HSBC, Laing O'Rourke, L’Oréal, P&G, Police Now, Rolls-Royce and Skyscanner. There were fantastic prizes up for grabs for the students involved, including paid internships, trips abroad, meetings with senior executives and a graduate job!

Reaching the final is a huge achievement for the 120 or so student finalists, with over 4,500 entries from 140 different universities across the UK. The awards are an excellent opportunity for universities to showcase the calibre of undergraduates at their institution, while giving their students the chance to practise the graduate recruitment process and secure positions with internationally recognised organisations.

With all entrants completing an application, an online assessment with situational, numerical and inductive reasoning tests devised by SHL and an assessment day, the employers also have a pipeline of excellent potential candidates for future placements and graduate vacancies.

Both the finalists and the winners showcased an impressive range of skills, experiences and achievements, but what makes an Undergraduate of the Year? A sample of the incredible attributes of the winners include: a society president, a synchronised swimmer, the founder of a student-led charity, a Tedx speaker, a legal blogger, an RAF air cadet and the chief editor of a magazine for disabled students. While some have studied, worked and volunteered all over the world, others have set up their own organisations or become ambassadors for important causes.