Following my graduation from the University of Bedfordshire in 2016, I was offered the position of Research Assistant with the NCCR on a two year project. In this role, I worked alongside Police in a project looking at the management and risk assessment of cyberstalking and harassment. The skills I learned through my time at the University were fundamental in obtaining this position.

An essential requirement for this role was a degree in Psychology or a closely related discipline. For my dissertation topic, I chose to study the accuracy of facial composites and which facial aspects are most important for recognition. This really developed my interest in forensic research projects and allowed
me to develop my skills further in this particular area, which was another requirement for the Research Assistant role.

In the second year of my Psychology degree, I volunteered as part of the Student Research Assistant Scheme and had the opportunity to work with a member of the Psychology academic staff on a qualitative study focused on the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This helped
to develop my qualitative research skills which would subsequently help in obtaining my position following graduation.

This was a very interesting role and such an incredible and rewarding experience which I am extremely grateful for. Following the end of this project, I began a role with Bedfordshire Police where I continued to use and develop my research skills in their intelligence team.

Melvin graduated from the University in 2001 with a degree in Media Performance and Radio, burst onto TV screens just a year later as part of the Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow cast, before moving onto present TV and radio shows across Kiss, MTV, BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

The University has been delighted to welcome Melvin back to Bedfordshire on several occasions. In a recent student panel led by the Vice Chancellor students got to ask him questions about his life and career, from winning the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special to presenting live from the BRIT Awards red carpet.

“I’m sure there are lots of students at the University who are interested in getting into media, TV and radio, just like I was, and I can’t wait to share my experiences with them – the great people I’ve met, shows I’ve worked on and places my job has taken me. I hope this event will help to inform and inspire the future generation of Bedfordshire graduates.”

After graduating from the University in Sports Studies, Sam went on to work for Bedford Borough Council as a Sports Development Project Officer. Since then Sam's career has focussed more on his passion - Cricket. Staring at Herfordshire Cricket as Cricket Development Officer, to Cricket East as a Club and Community Manager. He has now progressed to Head of Cricket Development at Cricket East. 

Jamie has recently finished his second year of study and will return to complete his third and final year after this one-year placement with the entertainment giant.

Based at their London office, Jamie will be working with Disney on producing and marketing video games for Disney and their license holders.

During his placement year Jamie said:

I completed my master's degree in Electronic Engineering with Distinction and received the 'Best Overall Student of the Department' award in 2015. It was a major milestone in my life and something that I am certainly very proud of. I had the opportunity to work on some cutting edge projects with industry leaders and on very high-tech equipment that the University had provided. I come from an Aerospace Engineering background and I really wanted to specialise in control systems and the automation side of things so pursuing Electronic Engineering at graduate level was the definite path for me.

Peter, who graduated from the University in 2015 with a BSc in Games Development, is realising an ambition he has held since childhood by self-publishing his own games, developing ideas for his employers Electric Gamebox and taking part in gamejams for his own enjoyment.

Under the pseudonym BigHandInSky, Peter released his first game for profit in late 2020 – titled A Forgetful Loop – which he subsequently submitted to the Palestinian Aid and Queer Games bundles earlier this year. The puzzle game sees the player join a team of scientists and engineers in Hope Labs, working against the clock to fix a broken machine.

For Peter, releasing his own creation on gaming platforms itch.io and Steam is the beginning of an exciting long-term project. He said:

“I’ve wanted to make games since I was a kid – I think I got one of my brother’s consoles, then the idea resonated ever since. Making A Forgetful Loop felt like a real catharsis for that young kid’s dreams.

“It’s the first game I’ve developed to sell for money, but through various other projects such as gamejams – fun challenges where you work to a theme to create a game in a set amount of time – I’ve probably made about a dozen now.

“Including the game in the Palestinian Aid and Queer Games bundles was also really pleasing. The Palestinian Aid bundle did amazingly, comprising of over 1,200 games and making almost $900,000 for the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) – to be even a tiny drop in a group of developers that made that happen was a good feeling.

“For the Queer Games bundle, that’s more close to home. I wanted to be a part of a community project that I hope to be more involved with in the future.

“My current plan is to keep working on a game each year to build up a library of cool stuff, working towards the end result of being fully independent. However, that's a lot easier said than done, especially if I want to contract other folks to work on the games with me.”

Jodie graduated from the University and landed the role of Production Manager at Channel 4 for Made in Chelsea. Jodies says:

"The Television production course really prepared me to step out into the industry. The skills I learned on the course where really valuable and taught me what to expect in a professional TV production environment. The course covered all aspects of TV from directing to set design. It helped me figure out what I wanted to pursue once leaving university. As soon as I graduated I was offered a full time job in the industry. Joining the university on the TV Production course was where it all began for me."

Since graduating in Interior Architecture Design Pyae Phyo has been working successfully as an Interior Designer. 

“I loved doing my undergraduate course for Interior Architecture and managed to graduate first class with a vast amount of knowledge which has helped me down the line in my career. I am currently working on freelance projects and hoping to start my own business in Interior Design/Architecture. The help and support I received from the lecturers and the university were very useful to me and to date, I still apply the advice and feedback from the course to my practice.”

Dominika graudated in 2019 and landed a job as Course Advisor at Cambridge Education Group. Since then she has been back in Practice as a Psychologist. "Psychology knowledge is essential in every role out there and has helped me understand people's needs, motives and behaviours. My psychology degree has opened my eyes, helped me at every stage in my life, personally, but also professionally. My current role requires coaching and sales skills, a psychology background and communication skills. All of them I had a chance to practice during my university time. The entire university experience has been amazing. I met many people from around the world, mastered the English language, gained incredible work experience within the field, and increased my confidence. These 3 years definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I loved every bit of it."

After graduating Shane was offered a role as Legal Analyst at Silver Circle Law Firm. 

"This has been a good opportunity to improve my chances of gaining a reputable training contract. A typical day at work involves working with senior solicitors and managers and attending meetings with senior professionals from other jurisdictions. I also assist with billing matters to time-record individual tasks with different clients and project to charge per hour at the end of each day. There are many tight deadlines to adhere to and this can be challenging but very rewarding."

Following her graduation Andreea secured a role as Psychology Wellbeing Practitioner at Milton Keynes Talking Therapies IAPT Service. 

Andreea says: 
"During my undergraduate sandwich course I had a year placement where I worked as an Honorary Assistant Psychologist. There I had the chance to apply the research and psychological theories learnt during my first two years at the University of Bedfordshire. This experience built up on my practical skills that are required on a day to day job of working within the area of Psychology and boosted my confidence and desire to pursue a career in psychology. Moreover, all the knowledge accumulated throughout my placement helped me a lot with the final year modules at university as I already had some knowledge of different mental health problems and it also enhanced my reflective skills used in the practical tasks required for the Coaching unit year which made a massive difference towards my first degree diploma."

Richard joined the University of Bedfordshire in 2011 and earned a BSc Hons in Sport & Exercise Science and a Masters degree in Sports Performance. During his studies his path into tennis began after he was selected to be a University Tennis Coordinator as part of the Lawn Tennis Association’s University Tennis network.

After graduating, Richard continued his career as a Research Officer at The International Tennis Federation – the world governing body for tennis – and was based in Valencia, Spain, where he oversaw the Federation’s international coach education resources, publications and coaching conferences. He is now an Education Project Manager for the International Tennis Integrity Agency – the body responsible for combatting corruption and doping in all professional tennis globally.

I am a football analysist for FIFA. My primary role is to collect and analyse data based on FIFA’s footballing language. This language aligns technical expertise and the data itself to produce insights and to understand trends within football at all levels of the game. We look at all age groups as well as men and women’s football. The data is combined with observations from technical experts such as Steve McClaren and Arsene Wenger with the aim of understanding the game better, while hopefully improving fan experience and football as a whole at all levels of the game. It’s amazing to watch football every day, it’s the dream.

I did a HND at Tresham College and a Sport and PE course. This gave me a good grounding in sport and exercise science in general. The units I studied there developed my understanding of the physiological side of sport and how sport science is used in different sports. At that point of my journey, it really helped me focus on what I wanted to do next. The two years doing my HND helped me brush up on my academic skills; get applied experience in a professional academy setting; and gave me a solid understanding of the elements of sport science. I then completed my top-up degree in Applied Sport Science and Coaching at the University of Bedfordshire. My dissertation during this year was linked with the college football academy as well and I helped collect GPS data.

My advice to future students is to not be afraid to ask questions! Don’t assume the top-up is not for you. It provides a good opportunity for exposure to a wide variety of units. The tutors and staff will support you in a number of ways and it gives you an alternative route to achieving a Batchelor’s degree. The course helps you to find your own path in the sporting industry as well and gives you the freedom in your dissertation to choose a topic that you are keen on. You also get to work alongside people on other courses as well.

Finally, take all the opportunities you’re offered in the time you are at university.

I was given the opportunity to work at Luton Town FC as part of my course, which helped me to land a job as Media Executive at Tottenham Hotspur FC and then my current role as Women's Football Social Lead at UEFA. I can't thank the University of Bedfordshire enough.

Since graduating from the University of Bedfordshire I am now Head of Behaviour Change Unit at Hertfordshire County Council.

I couldn't have envisaged the path that my career would take when I started my BSc Health Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire and how important this broad understanding in psychology would be for my role in Public Health.

I loved my BSc so much that it inspired me to complete my MSc and ultimately my Doctorate in Health Psychology. I apply my psychological knowledge every day to developing behaviour change programmes to improve outcomes for the population of Hertfordshire. Understanding how people perceive the world and the broad influences on their behaviour including culture, education, family and friends has been crucial as they all impact on health outcomes.

My studies at University have been fundamental to my career development and have allowed me to work in an exciting and evolving discipline to embed behavioural science into public health practice.

I studied Adult Nursing at the University of Bedfordshire, I now work as a sister in the children's emergency department. Studying this course it really helped in my nursing career. I've got to get out on clinical placements and obviously learn the job.

We did a range of placements from hospital based, community based, which was really interesting. So you get to really understand and learn what kind of things you want to do and where you want to work.

My journey with the University of Bedfordshire, through its academic partner Majan University College (MUC) in the Sultanate of Oman, has been a transformative experience that continues to shape my career. Completing my MSc in Computer Science in 2017, while serving as Director of eLearning at MUC, gave me a unique blend of academic and professional insights. The flexible yet rigorous curriculum allowed me to balance work and study, gaining both practical and strategic knowledge that has been invaluable in my role today as Assistant Director of Branding at Nitte University, one of India’s top 100 universities.

The coursework, guided by expert UK professors, instilled a forward-thinking approach that has helped me lead digital transformation in higher education and marketing. Modules such as Data Governance and Project Management gave me the tools to manage large-scale branding initiatives effectively. These skills have been essential in shaping strategic branding initiatives, ensuring a consistent and impactful presence for Nitte University across various digital platforms and communication channels.

For prospective students, my advice is to fully embrace the opportunities that the University of Bedfordshire offers, even if you are studying through a partner institution like I did. The flexibility and global outlook of their programmes allow you to apply what you learn immediately to your career, no matter where you are. The learning environment encourages innovation, and the skills you gain will set you apart in today’s fast-paced professional world.

My UK education has been the cornerstone of my career, empowering me to lead with confidence and purpose. It’s a journey that doesn’t end with graduation - it continues to drive my professional growth, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to the institutions and communities I serve.

Roshan Kolar Ganeshan
Asst. Director (Branding), Nitte University, India
Class of 2017, MSc in Computer Science, University of Bedfordshire, UK

University of Bedfordshire graduate and para-dressage international champion, Mari Durward-Akhurst, has been named as an Ambassador of the British Inspiration Trust (BRIT) and is supporting the annual BRIT Challenge this year.

The annual Luton’s Best Awards have recognised a local solicitor and graduate with a coveted award recognising their impactful career in the community.