DegreePlus is an employability award that allows you to gain formal recognition and a certificate for the extracurricular experience you gain during your time at Queen’s.
Added to your CV, it signals to employers that you’ve worked hard to develop the skills you need to succeed in the workplace.
We call it DegreePlus because it gives you the opportunity to receive a certificate at graduation, on top of your degree. The award enables you to articulate your skills and experience, with your achievement verified on your QSIS Student Record.
We have over 100 verified activities or the more flexible option of the Combined Experience, (see below), for you to choose from.
These include extracurricular work experiences, community and voluntary work, global opportunities to work or study abroad, as well as early professional development activities.
Where you complete one of the Verified activities, you will automatically be accredited with DegreePlus by the activity provider. You don’t need to do anything else to get the accreditation. This is the most straightforward option known as Verified Activity.
We appreciate that it can be hard to fit extracurricular activities around studying, so we offer you the opportunity to achieve DegreePlus by completing a combination of activities.
You can choose from over 60 combined activities. The activity menu provides examples of some activities but is not definitive. Other activities can include part time work and volunteering outside of Queen's. This is known as Combined Experience and requires completion of an application form to be submitted before graduation. The deadline for application forms is November 1st (for those graduating in winter) or April 1st (for summer graduates).
“DegreePlus is a great scheme and can help you to stand out. Employers aren't only looking for good academic qualifications. They also want an all-rounder which means they are more likely to hire applicants that are actively involved in extra-curricular activities. Being involved in DegreePlus is a great way to demonstrate everything else you learned or achieved while at Queen’s.” Carmen Chen Chinq Lih
LLB Law
From trips to China and the USA to employer-led challenges, there are so many fun and rewarding activities for you to get involved in on campus that we don’t want to limit you to just one.
You can complete your activity (or more than one activity), at any time, fitting them in alongside your studies and tracking your Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR) progress via QSIS.
If you take part in an extracurricular activity that is not currently listed on the Combined Expereince menu, it can still count towards your DegreePlus award, provided you can show how it improves one of the key employability skills.
Taking part in DegreePlus is free of charge, (although some Verified Activities might have costs involved – check with your activity provider), and allows you to add valuable skills and experience to your CV all while having fun, making new friends or travelling abroad.
Please note, DegreePlus is about using your initiative and going above and beyond what is required, so compulsary placements or work experience as part of your course do not count towards DegreePlus.
Contact the DegreePlus Team directly at degreeplus@qub.ac.uk
Postgraduate Research students who are interested in ResearcherPlus should contact The Graduate School.
Missed our Virtual Introduction to Degree Plus session? Watch again HERE
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For more information please read our Equality and Diversity Policy.
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