Develop career-ready graduates employers want to hire

The Grow tools and resources within Access Careers Centre for Higher Ed combine structured eLearning with AI-coached practice scenarios, developing the workplace skills and professional confidence that make graduates attractive to employers. Through repeated practice and detailed feedback, students build genuine workplace readiness—starting their first jobs better prepared, more skilled, and ready to succeed.

Prepare every student for professional success from day one

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

Why practice matters: closing the readiness gap

Skills England highlights an important gap. Occupational skills are the technical abilities graduates leave university with, while core skills are the transferable behaviours employers rely on every day. Most students know the theory, but many still struggle to show these core skills confidently when it counts.

Career services can’t provide one-to-one coaching at the scale students need, and traditional eLearning rarely goes beyond knowledge transfer. Without a safe space to rehearse professional conversations, navigate difficult discussions or practise presenting with confidence, students only discover how they come across in real situations, at the point where the stakes are highest and the cost of missteps is greatest.

From learning to doing: practice that builds real confidence

This is where students bridge the gap between knowing and doing—working through professional scenarios at their own pace in a safe, judgement-free environment. The approach combines two complementary elements: structured eLearning content builds foundational knowledge across professional skills, while AI-coached practice scenarios let students apply that learning in realistic workplace situations. After each session, students receive specific feedback on their communication, tone, and presence, then reflect on their own performance to build lasting self-awareness.

Practice-based learning, not passive content consumption

Unlike traditional eLearning that stops at knowledge transfer, Grow requires students to actively apply skills in realistic scenarios—bridging the gap between understanding concepts and demonstrating competence in professional situations.

AI feedback that reveals blind spots

Generic eLearning provides no performance feedback. Grow's AI analysis shows students exactly how they come across to others, addressing communication habits they would otherwise only discover through real-world mistakes.

Integrated career journey

Practice results inform students' progression through Access Careers Centre, connecting skills development to their self-discovery work (Assess) and job applications (Find) within one coherent platform.

Measurable skill development

Unlike completion-based eLearning metrics, Grow tracks genuine capability improvement over time, giving career teams evidence of learning gain for institutional reporting and Office for Students (OfS) requirements.

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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Real world practice

From giving peer feedback and working in teams to handling career conversations and everyday workplace interactions, students role-play key professional scenarios in a private space. No pressure, no judgement—just a safe way to build confidence through repetition before starting their careers.

Personalised AI feedback

Following each practice session, students receive detailed, personalised feedback from an AI coach analysing communication style, emotional tone, and delivery. This helps them understand how they come across to others—revealing blind spots they'd otherwise only discover in real-world situations.

Track and measure progress

Every practice session is recorded, allowing students to revisit and reflect on their development over time. Progress tracking helps them see patterns, set goals, and take ownership of their growth—while giving career services teams visibility into student engagement and skill development.

Learning resources to support career readiness

Students develop workplace readiness through 1,300+ continuing professional development (CPD) accredited eLearning resources exploring professional communication, leadership, feedback, negotiation, and emotional intelligence. Refreshed regularly in multiple engaging formats, these materials work alongside the practice environment to build genuine capability and confidence.

Improve graduate outcomes with stronger workplace readiness

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Outcomes that start with practice

The Grow tools within Access Careers Centre build workplace confidence for students, free advisor capacity for strategic work, and deliver the engagement data institutions need.

Research from Universities UK found that it's not graduates' skillsets that prevent them from entering graduate roles—it's their confidence in those skillsets.

For your students

Genuine workplace confidence through safe, repeated practice (not theory alone)
Faster skill development compared to passive eLearning
Realistic feedback on communication and presence—insights they'd otherwise only discover through real-world mistakes
Flexible, self-paced learning that fits around their schedule

For your career team

Shift from foundational coaching to strategic guidance in one-to-one conversations
Students arrive already developing baseline skills (conversations become more productive)
Scalable skills support without proportional team expansion
Time freed for the work you were trained for—not repetitive confidence-building exercises

For your institution

Improved graduate readiness in professional workplace situations
Higher student satisfaction with career support
Stronger employer feedback on graduate workplace confidence
Better preparation for graduate outcome tracking and OfS compliance
Demonstrable learning gain through measurable skills progression

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: Student demand for confidence development in professional conversations often exceeds team capacity for one-to-one coaching.

How Grow helps: Enables students to develop foundational skills independently, with AI feedback replacing repetitive advisor input on basics.

Outcome: Career services resources shift toward complex guidance that genuinely requires human expertise, while students arrive at appointments with baseline confidence already established.

02 04

Front-line career advisors

Challenge: Limited appointment availability makes foundational skills coaching difficult to deliver at scale.

How Grow helps: Gives students space to practise independently and receive feedback without consuming advisor time.

Outcome: Advisors work with students who have already developed baseline professional skills, making sessions more productive and personally rewarding.

03 04

Student services leaders

Challenge: Graduate feedback frequently reveals confidence gaps in professional environments that affect early career success.

How Grow helps: Provides structured, measurable skills development that addresses these gaps before graduation.

Outcome: Students practise workplace scenarios in a safe environment before facing real consequences, and progress tracking demonstrates genuine capability development.

04 04

Students (building professional skills)

Challenge: Uncertain about how they come across in professional situations, anxious about interviews and workplace conversations.

How Grow helps: Safe, private space to practise professional scenarios repeatedly without judgement, with AI feedback revealing blind spots.

Outcome: Genuine confidence built through practice, not theory—arriving at interviews and first jobs prepared rather than anxious.

Part of your complete Access Careers Centre platform

Grow is the skills development pillar of Access Careers Centre. Students can access Grow alongside self-discovery tools (Assess) and job search support (Find), using any features in any order as they progress through their career journey.

Grow capabilities

Single sign-on: Students access practice scenarios using their existing university credentials
Flexible access: Students practise on any device, at their own pace
Student-owned recordings: Practice recordings remain private unless students explicitly choose to share them

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 Grow?

Grow is the skills development pillar of Access Careers Centre for Higher Ed, combining eLearning content with AI-coached practice scenarios. Students develop workplace confidence through realistic practice and receive detailed feedback on their communication and presence.

How does Grow differ from traditional eLearning?

Traditional eLearning stops at knowledge transfer. Grow requires students to actively apply skills in realistic scenarios, receiving AI feedback on their actual performance rather than simply completing modules. This practice-based approach builds genuine confidence that passive learning cannot achieve.

What skills can students practise?

Grow covers nine professional skills areas:

Sales
Leadership
Customer service
Giving feedback
Receiving feedback
Career conversations
Wellbeing conversations
Professional interactions
Assertiveness
Teamwork

Students choose which skills to develop based on their career goals and development needs.

How does the AI feedback work?

After each practice session, AI analyses the student's performance across three dimensions: communication quality (speech rate, clarity, filler words), emotional tone and presence (confidence, stress, empathy), and technical delivery (camera, audio). Students receive specific, actionable feedback they can apply immediately.

Can career advisors see student practice sessions?

Students own their practice recordings. Recordings are never shared with advisors unless students explicitly choose to share them. This privacy encourages honest practice without fear of judgement.

How does Grow connect to other Access Careers Centre features?

Grow is the second pillar of the Assess→ Grow → Find journey. Students typically complete self-discovery through Assess before developing skills in Grow, then progress to job search preparation in Find but all tools and resources can be accessed at any point. All features are available through the same platform with single sign-on.

Is the elearning content accredited?

Yes. Grow includes over 1,300 CPD-accredited eLearning resources covering professional skills. Content is refreshed regularly and available in multiple engaging formats to suit different learning preferences.

How quickly can students see progress?

Progress is recorded session by session, so students can track their development from their first practice. The platform shows improvement over time, helping students focus on specific areas and see genuine capability growth throughout their studies.