Impact Challenge

The Impact Challenge is open to penultimate and final year students who have not previously taken part in the Impact Challenge and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Birmingham Scholars, defined as:
  • Students in receipt of a Pathways to Birmingham - (P2B) which includes the programmes Access to Birmingham, Routes to the Professions, National Access Summer School
  • Students in receipt of a Realising Opportunities offer
  • Students in receipt of a Sanctuary Scholarship
  • Care experienced or Care Leavers 
• And/or have a home address in an IMD Quintile 1 (indices of multiple deprivation, IMD Deciles 1 and 2, lowest 20%) neighbourhood*

* If your home address is in Northern Ireland you will need to contact us with your home postcode so that we can check your eligibility to apply. 

For more information about how the University aims to improve access, provide equal opportunities and enable progress through higher education and in to graduate levels roles click here: Widening Participation and Access - University of Birmingham 

We encourage students who are not certain about their eligibility to get in touch via P2C@contacts.bham.ac.uk for verification.

How to apply:

Once applications open on Monday 9 March 2026, please submit your application by 17:00 on Thursday 16 April 2026. We receive many more applications than there are places, so each application will be reviewed in detail and successful applicants will be notified via email within 10 working days of the application deadline.

If you are offered a place on the Impact Challenge, you must accept your place by replying to the email within 5 working days or your place will be offered to someone on our waiting list. Once your place is confirmed, you will then be able to select your top four preferred employers and will be paired with one.

The employers confirmed so far for this year’s Impact Challenge:

• Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital: the first of its type in the UK, this Trust formed in February 2017 to drive forward the commitment to providing the highest quality, world-class care that women, children and families want, and deserve.
• Chiltern Railways: commuter and regional rail operator, with support from Rebel Punkworx.
• Clarke Willmott: a leading law firm known for its strong client relationships and exceptional legal expertise.
• CoachBright: a social mobility charity dedicated to empowering young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by building their confidence, independence and resilience.
• Make an Impact CIC: social enterprise impact consultancy to create a world where all businesses are social enterprises that make a positive impact on people and the planet.
• Race Equity and Diversity in Careers Incubator (REDiC): This National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR)-supported Incubator aims to address barriers faced by racially minoritised people.
• Ridge and Partners LLP: a built environment consultancy, providing clients with access to a wide range of integrated expertise and professional disciplines. 
• Worklink: the University of Birmingham’s casual recruitment agency, connecting students with flexible, part-time job opportunities on campus.

Employers approach their student group with a current challenge, piece of work or a new project idea on which they need student insight for development. Below you can find a few examples of previous projects set by employers:

Grace Cares

Employer: Grace Cares, a not-for-profit organisation focused on sustainability and community support

Project: Students explored new ways to advertise and promote a campaign that showcased young creative talent and raise awareness of sustainability and social care as well as engage corporate sponsors. The students’ hard work and creative ideas were featured in a press release that reached Chambers of Commerce and LichfieldLive, and opened volunteering opportunities for students.

The Patient Centre

Employer: The Patient Centre, a health technology company

Project: Students were tasked with developing an effective strategy for collecting and measuring patient feedback on both an AI-driven referral system and patient follow-up system. The suggested improvements were then shared with co-founder, and created a connection with B-Experienced which led to a paid internship opportunity.

Careers Network

Employer: Careers Network, the University’s careers service for current students and alumni.

Project: Careers Network needed a student-facing space on campus that was easy to find and could offer support for general careers queries and regular drop-ins, such as CV checks and work experience advice. Through research and student surveying, the group supported Careers Network in finding a central and accessible space for Careers Network, which is now known as Careers Corner, currently located in the Main Library ground floor.

Louis Morgan,
BSc Biomedical Science (Impact Challenge 2024)

I participated in the Impact Challenge (2024) with an amazing team and a very supportive mentor from Amazon. Our project focused on creating a consulting-based educational programme to help teenagers build employability skills. Through this experience, I developed key skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, and public speaking, particularly during the final pitch presentation. Collaborating under pressure and presenting our ideas to a panel gave me the confidence to communicate clearly and persuasively. This experience has strengthened my ability to build relationships, present ideas effectively, and think strategically—skills that are essential to my current graduate role in MedTech.

Hayley Teoh,
BA History of Art (Impact Challenge 2024)

The Impact Challenge is definitely an unforgettable experience! My team and I worked to create marketing materials for our employers and it was very enjoyable. At first, I was unsure about working in a group where we have not met before but, by the end of the week, I found that I was able to make really good friends. During my time at the Impact Challenge, I’ve learnt to work as a team- to designate roles and work collaboratively towards a shared goal. We’ve created so many fresh and exciting ideas for our employer by listening to each other's ideas and feedback! 

Amanpreet Dhak,
LLB (Impact Challenge 2025)

The Impact Challenge was an incredible experience that helped me grow both personally and professionally. At first, I felt nervous and unsure about presenting to an audience, as public speaking was not my strength. However, with consistent practice and constructive feedback, my confidence steadily improved. I learned how to engage an audience effectively and discovered the power of clear, thoughtful communication. By the Final Showcase, I felt excited and proud to share our work and this led to great feedback and a sense of accomplishment. Another highlight was working in a team, I learned so much from my peers and their presentation styles, which inspired me to keep improving.

Ummay Aimen,
BSc Psychology in Education (Impact Challenge 2025)

The Impact Challenge was such a rewarding experience. Our team partnered with CoachBright to tackle their brief of boosting community engagement and fundraising — from overhauling their website and event pages to creating a youth-focused TikTok strategy and a bank of scalable event ideas. We broke the project into clear priorities, played to each other’s strengths, and kept momentum through regular check-ins. Seeing our ideas align with CoachBright’s mission to support disadvantaged young people was incredibly fulfilling. Along the way, I didn’t just gain problem-solving skills — I made genuine friends, and we’re still in touch months later.

Richmond Boateng,
BSc Geography (Impact Challenge 2024)

The Impact Challenge was a brilliant opportunity to apply my research and communication skills to a real-world project.

Working with the Careers Network on the ‘Space Creators’ project, our team explored how to improve student engagement with careers services through targeted research and stakeholder interviews. The experience helped me build confidence, sharpen my problem-solving skills, and understand how to make practical recommendations.

It’s also helped me stand out in interviews and internships since. I’d recommend the Impact Challenge to any student looking to gain hands-on experience and make a meaningful difference at university.