Working with Universities

Transform Society works with universities across the UK to deliver a range of programmes and activities that help students to understand the range and impact of careers in public service and increase their chances of successfully applying for entry to leading social change programmes and employers.

University partners benefit from access to our founder, James Darley and his over 25 years’ experience in graduate recruitment to support their institutions at the highest level, including senate, council, boards, advisory boards, steering groups and employer panels.

Every university partner utilises James Darley’s expertise in a bespoke way. Most focus on work-related learning (WREL), embedding “Transform Society Challenges” into their curricula, often as an alternative to work experience. In some cases, Transform Society units are credit-bearing while others are extra-curricular – it depends on the institution and course. Sessions and workshops around employability, transferable skills and professional skills are also popular, again often as part of the curriculum. All of these units support students in building their lifelong employability skills.

University partners can access a wide range of resources, ready to use wherever they want through our member portal. These include films, presentations, and coaching sessions covering topics such as:

The state of the graduate market
What is the Public Sector/Public Service
What is an Assessment Centre
AI in Selection

We can also provide workshops and one-on-one coaching for your students, often with focus on DEI or widening participation. Please contact us to find out more.

“We are excited to be working with Transform Society to offer our graduates a pathway to highly skilled employment in the public sector.”

Tom Banham, Director of Careers and Placements,
University of York

“We are excited to be working with Transform Society. We are building a partnership that transcends the student lifecycle, from supporting students to access higher education, providing invaluable learning experiences to current students and opening up pathways to highly skilled employment in the public sector for our graduates.”

Rob Fryer, Director of Student Life, Student & Academic Services,
University of Leicester

“Our partnership with Transform Society is helping to build the employability skills of our graduates and we are seeing increased numbers joining these prestigious public sector programmes.”

Stuart Johnson, Director of Careers Service,
University of Bristol

Why partner with us?

In the future, we hope that all universities and employers will recognise and value the importance and prestige of public service roles and that all suitably qualified students will actively consider applying to programmes and opportunities in this sector. But we have a long way to go before then.

So today, partnering with Transform Society means stepping out of the crowd and helping to pioneer a new movement for social change and justice. It means contributing to and benefiting from the development of public service leadership – actively taking a lead in forging a better version of society.

We work with our university partners to provide opportunities and engagement with social change initiatives and programmes. From community challenge days and sector inspiring events to broadening participation initiatives and one-to-one support for graduates, Transform Society is redefining how universities collaborate with employers to provide the best-possible career opportunities and awareness for the next generation of students.

By partnering with Transform Society, our universities are delivering better outcomes for their graduates – including participation in prestigious graduate programmes that lead on to influential roles in public service management, policy shaping and leadership roles in business.