Events and opportunities

There are many different community events that you can attend here in the School of Government. Community events give you the opportunity to meet and make connections with others in your department, programme, and School – as well as a chance to develop your skills and experience while studying with us. Our community events include things like:

• Social and networking events, like our Welcome Back get togethers after the winter break and our School Spring Picnic after Easter!
• Undergraduate Dissertation Poster Conference – our final year Undergraduates have the chance to showcase their dissertation research in the form of a poster to other students and staff in the School.
• Field trips – in the School of Government we try and organise a variety of field trips to key locations across the UK, to give you the chance to experience something different from your everyday studies. In the past, these have included trips to Bath, Oxford, Cardiff, and London.

There are many more opportunities and events that students can join in. Check out the university calendar

The School of Government hosts regular guest lectures and seminars throughout term, so our students can meet and network with experts and highly influential figures across the political sphere. Some of our guest lecturers in the past have included:

• Current and former MPs such as Preet Kaur Gill (the UKs first female Sikh MP), Peter Kyle (Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland 2021-present), and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg
• UK Ambassadors and senior diplomats, such as Matthew Lodge, former UK Ambassador to UNESCO and current UK Ambassador to Greece, and His Excellency Guy Mayers, the High Commissioner for St Lucia

Get Ahead is an initiative for undergraduate students in the School of Government, specifically designed to help you build the skills, contacts, and confidence you need to succeed in the Civil Service. Get Ahead is aimed at students who feel they are underrepresented in the civil service, or who may not have yet had the opportunity to pick up skills or experiences ahead of graduation.

As part of the initiative, students meet and work with alumni who have studied with us and gone on to work in the civil service and adjacent bodies, while attending and taking part in key skills workshops, covering areas like:

• Public speaking and presentation
• Negotiation and teamwork
• Leadership and working under pressure
• Self-confidence and being your authentic self in the workplace