Two students from Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) travel to London this week to find out if they will be crowned winners in targetjobs’ Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2022.

The annual competition, now in its thirteenth year, is aimed at finding the best undergraduates in the UK and partners with prominent graduate recruiters to present awards. Recruiters provide fantastic career-development prizes for each winner, including paid internships, trips abroad, and other exclusive opportunities.

First-year LUMS students Adit Kaleka and Ryan Herbert are joining five other Lancaster students - Kathryn Vest (Environmental Science); Lucy Hitchins (Law); Phoebe Hanson (Politics); Amaani Moress (Mechanical Engineering) and Yassmina Popescu (Law)—at the prestigious award ceremony on Friday.

This year, Lancaster University students submitted the most applications out of all the universities in the UK, with over 150 students taking part. The seven Lancaster finalists have beaten off stiff competition to be shortlisted, selected from a pool of 4,000 entries from across the UK.

The following twelve awards are up for grabs:

1. Management Undergraduate of the Year, partner: Enterprise Rent-A-Car

2. LGBT+ Undergraduate of the Year, partner: Clifford Chance

3. Undergraduate of the Year Award for Excellence Through Adversity, partner: Rolls-Royce

4. Future CFO of the Year, partner: CIMA

5. Young Activist of the Year, partner: Clifford Chance

6. First Generation Undergraduate of the Year, partner: HSBC

7. Black Heritage Undergraduate of the Year, partner: Sky

8. Female Undergraduate of the Year, partner: Rolls-Royce

9. Software Engineer of the Year, partner: Skyscanner

10. Undergraduate of the Year Award Celebrating Neurodiverse Talent, partner: Rolls-Royce

11. Future Lawyer of the Year, partner: Clyde & Co.

12. Built Environment Undergraduate of the Year, partner: AECOM

19-year-old Adit Kaleka from Birmingham, lives in Lancaster and is studying Accounting and Finance. He is a finalist for the Future CFO of the Year Award. He said: "I am really excited to represent Lancaster in this award. It's amazing to see so many Lancaster finalists. I never expected to get so far but it has definitely motivated me to push myself and not underestimate the things I can achieve!"

Ryan Herbert is studying Business Management and is a finalist in the Undergraduate of the Year Award Celebrating Neurodiverse Talent category. He said: “I'm really pleased to be a top ten finalist. The whole experience has been amazing. I've got to talk to some high-profile people within Rolls-Royce and have already been offered an internship for this summer, which is fantastic. The process has boosted my confidence immeasurably, especially when it comes to interviews. I'm grateful to LUMS for advertising this opportunity to me. I'm looking forward to the award ceremony!”

Matthew Howard, Undergraduate Careers Manager for Lancaster University Management School’s Careers Services, said: “We were over the moon to learn that Lancaster University had the highest number of applications to the UGOY Awards this year of any UK university! It is clear that our students recognise the boundless employability and career development opportunities associated with the awards, each taking a leap of faith in making an application. Huge congratulations to all students across campus who competed through challenging graduate-level selection stages with top international employer sponsors.

“On behalf of the university, I would like to wish all of our incredible finalists the best of luck; we could not be prouder of our inspirational Lancaster ambassadors.”

Half of the Lancaster University finalists are part of the GROW Your Future programme, an opt-in scheme for UK undergraduates and postgraduate taught students that provides targeted careers support by offering opportunities to develop key employability skills and professional networks, and access financial support.

Hannah Allison, Careers Widening Participation Manager, who works with some of the students, said: “I am delighted that so many GROW Your Future students have made it to the finals of their awards, demonstrating the incredible things they have done which have impacted our campus, local communities and beyond. There is such diversity at Lancaster – we have so many students who are passionate about what they do, and I am pleased it is being celebrated in this way.”

The winners of each category will be announced on 29th April 2022.

Follow Lancaster University Careers service on Instagram - @lancscareers and @lums_careers - to find out the results.