Self-led career discovery tools that free your advisors for strategic work

The Assess tools and resources within Access Careers Centre for Higher Ed help students discover their capabilities, clarify their values, and identify career possibilities independently, gaining clarity before they need support. Your advisors can focus on strategic coaching and meaningful conversations.

Scale your impact and enable self-discovery for every student

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Strengthen graduate employment outcomes, boost TEF performance, and meet OfS requirements.

The challenge of scaling foundational support

Productive coaching requires students to arrive with self-awareness—understanding their interests, capabilities, and potential directions. Without this foundation, appointments become information sessions rather than strategic conversations. But delivering individual discovery sessions to every student isn't feasible, leaving many without the foundational support they need before they're ready for strategic guidance.

Without accessible self-discovery tools, students who aren't ready for formal guidance often delay engagement entirely—many waiting until final year, missing the early career thinking that builds over time.

How to transform self-discovery into advisor time

Assess takes foundational discovery work off your advisors' shoulders, freeing them for high-impact conversations. Students complete comprehensive assessments independently, building clarity and ownership of their career thinking. Real-time dashboards show which students are engaging, helping you identify those who need early intervention.

Integrated Career Journey

Assessment results aren't isolated—they inform students' progression through workplace readiness training (Grow) and job search preparation (Find) within Access Careers Centre, creating a coherent narrative throughout their development.

CPD-Accredited Content

All learning resources supporting self-discovery are CPD-accredited, ensuring quality and credibility that generic online assessments cannot provide.

Advisor Dashboards Included

Unlike student-only assessment tools, Assess provides career teams with real-time visibility into engagement patterns, enabling targeted intervention rather than waiting for students to self-refer.

Make career support more efficient with Access Careers Centre

Reach more students, make greater impact and meet TEF and OfS requirements with your existing team

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Career assessment tools

In-depth assessments reveal students' natural abilities, core values, career motivations, and work style preferences. Students discover what they're looking for in a role and build a clear picture of their potential paths, receiving tailored guidance based on their profile.

Labour market information

Equip students with real employment data, not speculation. Students access current graduate salaries, employment rates, and skills demand across sectors, arriving at appointments better informed and ready for meaningful conversations.

Career Pathways

Authentic professional stories give students realistic insights into career progression and day-to-day work, reducing dependency on one-to-one career introductions.

Career Pulse

Students get a clear picture of their employability — what they're already strong at and where they need to grow. Their personalised reports point them to the learning that will make the biggest difference. Career advisors track progress for individuals and groups over time, making it easier to show clear, meaningful learning gain.

Learning resources to support career exploration

Help your students build career clarity with 1,300+ CPD-accredited eLearning modules covering self-understanding, commercial awareness, decision-making, and career direction. Available in diverse engaging formats and refreshed regularly, these resources support independent exploration and help students develop genuine self-knowledge.

Save your advisors hours every week with self-led career discovery tools

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Outcomes that start with self-discovery

The Assess tools within Access Careers Centre build career clarity for students, free advisor capacity for strategic work, and deliver the engagement data institutions need.

For your students

Career clarity through structured self-discovery and comprehensive assessments
Increased confidence in career conversations (students arrive prepared, not uncertain)
24/7 access to career exploration tools (no waiting for advisor appointments)
Support for all students, not just the most proactive ones

For your career team

Shift from discovery work to strategic support in one-to-one conversations
One-to-one conversations become more productive and focused (students arrive with self-knowledge)
Your team's capacity increases without hiring more people
Time freed for the work you were trained for—not repeating early-stage conversations

For your institution

Higher engagement rates across your entire student population
Earlier, more intentional career planning supporting improved graduate outcomes
Better preparation for graduate outcome tracking and OfS compliance
Reduced support bottlenecks that delay student progression
Stronger institutional reputation through demonstrable career support

Trusted by leading UK universities

"Freed up a great deal of time for our careers team, enabling us to focus on supporting students with more niche support needs. Students come to us with clarity about their direction, which makes our conversations so much more productive."

Career Services Director

"The self-discovery component has been transformative. Students engage with career planning earlier because it feels personal and non-judgmental. We're seeing 16% learning gains within just 8 months."

Employability Manager

"We've seen a fundamental shift in how our team works. Advisors now focus on barrier removal and strategic career coaching instead of basic discovery conversations. It's genuinely changed what's possible with our current staffing."

Head of Student Employability

01 04

Career services leaders

Challenge: Team stretched across discovery conversations, limited capacity for meaningful support.

How Assess helps: Automates foundational career guidance so advisors focus on strategic work.

Outcome: Support more students with existing staff, improved advisor satisfaction and retention.

02 04

Front-line career advisors

Challenge: Every student needs basic career thinking support before real coaching can begin.

How Assess helps: Students come to appointments with self-clarity already developed.

Outcome: Deeper, more productive conversations; less repetitive guidance; time for genuinely strategic work.

03 04

Students (early career stage)

Challenge: Uncertain about direction, intimidated by one-to-one appointments, not ready for intensive guidance.

How Assess helps: Safe, private space to explore themselves and options at their own pace.

Outcome: Clarity and confidence before talking to advisors; reduced anxiety about career planning.

04 04

Students (final year/accelerated timeline)

Challenge: Running out of time, need focused direction quickly.

How Assess helps: Rapid self-discovery combined with targeted pathway recommendations.

Outcome: Faster clarity, informed job search strategy, confident applications.

Part of your complete Access Careers Centre platform

Assess is the career discovery foundation of Access Careers Centre for Higher Ed. Students complete self-discovery through Assess and then progress to explore Grow (workplace readiness training) and Find (job search support) features as they advance in their career journey.

Assess capabilities

Single sign-on: Students access career assessments and self-discovery resources using their existing university credentials
Real-time engagement tracking: See which students have completed assessments and who may need encouragement
Mobile-first experience: Students complete assessments on any device, at their own pace

See it in action

Ready to transform career services together?

Access Careers Centre helps every student shape their future with confidence, while making your life easier. 

What you'll get: 

Offer 24/7 access to career resources
Automate initial support processes
Integrate career development into your curriculum
Demonstrate measurable improvements in student employability

See how we can help your students own their future, and help you deliver the outcomes that matter. 

FAQs

What is Assess?

Assess is the self-discovery set of tools and resources within Access Careers Centre for Higher Ed, providing students with career assessment tools, labour market information, and personalised employability insights. It enables students to explore their capabilities, values, interests, and career possibilities independently, building clarity before meeting with career advisors.

How does Assess differ from generic online career guidance?

Assess is specifically built for UK graduate career pathways rather than generic audiences. We CPD-accredit all content, psychometrically validate assessments, and integrate results with students' broader career development journey. Unlike standalone career tests, Assess aligns to workplace readiness training and job search support within the wider Access Careers Centre platform.

How long does it take students to complete the assessments?

Assessment completion time varies depending on which tools students use and how deeply they wish to explore. Students can complete assessments at their own pace to fit around their schedules.

Can career advisors see student assessment results?

Student assessments remain student-owned. Personal assessment results are never shared with advisors unless the student chooses to share them, ensuring privacy and encouraging honest self-exploration.

What is Career Pulse?

Career Pulse is a personalised employability assessment that shows students their current career readiness across multiple dimensions. Students receive a detailed report identifying their strengths and specific development areas, with recommendations for relevant learning resources. Career advisors can track learning gain over time, demonstrating measurable improvements in student employability for institutional reporting.

How does Assess connect to the rest of Access Careers Centre?

Assess is the first pillar of the three-stage Access Careers Centre journey. Students complete self-discovery through Assess, they can also access Grow (workplace readiness training with AI feedback) and Find (job search tools including CV builders and interview practice). All features are available through the same platform with single sign-on.

Do students need to complete Assess before using other features?

No. Students can access any Access Careers Centre features in any order. However, the self-knowledge developed through Assess tools and resources enhances their experience with other features—for example, CV building becomes more effective when students understand their strengths and target roles clearly.

What labour market information is included?

Students access current UK graduate employment data including sector-specific salary information, employment rates by degree subject, skills demand trends, and career progression pathways. This information helps students make informed decisions about career directions based on real market data rather than assumptions.

Can we customise assessments for our institution?

Yes. Whilst the core psychometric assessments remain standardised to ensure validity, you can customise the platform branding, add institution-specific resources, and configure which tools are prioritised for your student population. Your implementation manager will work with you on appropriate customisation during setup.