What drives career service engagement? 

Students know their career centre exists. Awareness campaigns, induction sessions, and email reminders make sure of that. But knowing a service exists and actually using it are different things — and engagement with career services remains patchy across most institutions. 

What shapes whether students engage comes down to whether they feel able to use support, have time to access it, and see career planning as something they can face right now. UK research points to some clear factors worth understanding. 

Careers fairs, drop-in sessions, and email campaigns all rely on students self-selecting into engagement. This assumes students know they need help, feel able to seek it, and have the time to attend — which becomes difficult when students are managing financial stress, mental health challenges, competing commitments, and (for some) navigating higher education without family knowledge or support networks to lean on. 

It's particularly challenging for students experiencing anxiety about career planning itself. Without a supportive framework for managing that anxiety, many students avoid engagement rather than face it. 

Address wellbeing alongside career planning 

Mental health challenges are widespread among students. Rather than treating career anxiety as something students should manage alone, consider building space for discussing worry and uncertainty into career conversations. 

This doesn't require career teams to become mental health specialists. It means acknowledging that many students experience stress and uncertainty — normalising this as part of the student experience rather than treating it as an individual failing. 

Learn how to create supportive learning environments that encourage students to engage with development. 

Integrate career support into existing relationships 

Rather than treating career development as something that happens in a separate office, embed it into students' existing academic relationships. Faculty conversations, personal tutor engagement, and academic adviser involvement make career development feel integral to being a student, not optional extra provision. 

Advance HE's research suggests that whole-institution approaches — where career development is woven through teaching, advising, and student experience — reach significantly more students. When faculty and advisers are equipped and encouraged to discuss career development, students encounter it naturally as part of their academic journey. 

This is where a centralised career development platform can help. Access Careers Centre includes eLearning content that faculty can access and integrate into their existing touchpoints with students, without requiring specialist careers training. 

Reach students facing financial and time pressures 

UK students increasingly work part-time and manage financial stress. Career services should acknowledge the practical realities students face, rather than offering advice disconnected from their day-to-day circumstances. 

This might mean offering flexible engagement options — online alternatives, short conversations that work around working students' schedules, or signposting to paid opportunities that reduce financial pressure. 

BERA's research makes clear that disabled students, mature learners, neurodivergent students, and first-generation students need institutions to take the initiative, not rely on passive availability. These groups don't have family networks prompting them to seek career support. They need to encounter career development brought to them. 

This requires: 

● Bringing career content to residence halls, student organisations, and online spaces where these students already are 

● Explicit signposting in disability services, mature student networks, and first-generation support programmes 

● Staff training on the specific barriers these students face 

● Mentorship connections with people from similar backgrounds 

Start early and maintain momentum 

The House of Commons Library briefing on student mental health notes that the transition to university is a key point where students face challenges. Career development starting in year one — as normalised conversation rather than crisis intervention in final year — gives students more opportunity to develop and explore. 

If your career centre is experiencing engagement challenges, research suggests several practical steps: 

● Acknowledge mental health as a career engagement issue. Don't treat career anxiety as something students should manage alone. Create space for discussing worry and uncertainty alongside career planning. 

● Partner with academic teams. Work with faculty and personal tutors to embed career conversations into academic advising. Don't rely on students seeking you out. 

● Make it genuinely flexible. Offer online options, short conversations, and engagement opportunities that work around students' part-time work and other commitments. 

● Reach underrepresented students first. Identify which student groups aren't currently engaging and bring support to them. Don't wait for them to realise they need help. 

● Start in year one. Build career conversations into induction and first-year activities. Don't wait until final-year crisis mode. 

Implementing these recommendations often requires tools that help track engagement, deliver content consistently across the institution, and reach students at the right moments in their journey. 

Access Careers Centre is built specifically to support whole-institution career engagement. It enables embedded career conversations across the university, so students encounter development naturally throughout their studies — not just through career centre visits. Flexible delivery options work around students' real lives, with both in-person and online pathways. Data insights show which student groups are engaging (and which aren't), so teams can direct outreach where it's needed most. And early intervention from year one helps build engagement momentum rather than scrambling to reach final-year students. 

Rather than hoping students will seek out support, institutions can bring career development to them — embedded in courses, visible to academic advisers, and accessible whenever students need it. 

Addressing the real barriers — anxiety, financial pressure, competing priorities, and inequality — matters more than visibility campaigns when it comes to making career support accessible.