The Vice-Chancellor’s (VC’s) Education Excellence Awards aim to raise the standards of education at Newcastle University by rewarding those individuals who have made a marked impact on enhancing the student learning experience. They are open to all members of staff at Newcastle University, Newcastle University in Singapore and Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia.

The MBA Business in Action module and those supporting were chosen as winners. The award panel praised the module for being student-centred and offering students an exceptional support structure.

Business School success

Business in Action is a two-week experiential learning module on the MBA programme. It is student-centred and encourages students to put theory into action with first-hand experience of life as a business consultant across several sectors; all within a supportive and collaborative environment. 

The colleagues involved in running and supporting the module were recognised for their dedication to teaching excellence and their transformative work in designing and delivering such an immersive module for MBA students; one that bridges the gap between academic theory and real-world practice. The award panel were impressed by how the work was influencing other practice in the Business School and could foresee this model working with other schools across the University.

Dr Lucy Hatt, MBA Degree Programme Director, said: "Winning the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Excellence Award for the Business in Action Module is a tremendous honour for the MBA programme, affirming our dedication to delivering a distinctively practice-based educational experience. It's wonderful that the exceptional work that goes into making this logistically complex module work so well has been recognised in this way. As the Degree Programme Director for the MBA programme, my involvement with the Business in Action module is primarily an enabling one and I have worked hard to create a supportive educational environment where everyone – academic and professional support staff and students – can flourish and achieve their full potential, ensuring the best possible learner experience and outcomes. We look to continuously enhance the curriculum and pedagogy, and we are eager to proactively share our best practices and processes across other schools and academic programmes, showcasing what sets this module, and this programme, apart."

Jo Clark, Module Leader for the MBA Business in Action module, said: “I’m delighted that the work of our team of colleagues has been recognised with the Vice Chancellor's Education Excellence Award. The Business in Action module, a transformative experience for our MBA students, ensures students have an opportunity, working on live consultancy projects, to apply their academic skills and knowledge in practice. Working together with external learning partner organisations we bring real challenges and business experiences into the classroom. We ensure that this experience benefits not only our students, but also our enthusiastic learning partners, a range of businesses and charities with whom we work on an annual basis, such as, PWC, Lloyds Bank, Aqua Consulting, Charity Groundwork North East and Cumbria and Northumbrian Water. These strategic learning partnerships are made possible by the effective teamworking between our academics and external relations colleagues, plus, alumni relations and careers advisers. Business in Action is both an enjoyable and rewarding experience, so we find that our learning partners are pleased to return year on year to engage with our MBA students.

“Effective team work, internally and externally, underpins all this activity making it my pleasure to lead the Business in Action, MBA module. This year we were delighted that colleagues from the School of Engineering were able to join us for final presentations. We are looking forward to extending the benefit of working with Newcastle University students by taking an even more collaborative and interdisciplinary approach in our work with external learning partners in 2026.”

Keira Iveson, MBA Programme Administrator, added: “Being involved in Business in Action is always one of the most rewarding parts of my job within the Education Team. I’m responsible for ensuring that the logistics run smoothly and that students feel fully supported and well-informed about the week ahead. The module gives me the opportunity to work closely with academic colleagues and other professional services staff from different teams within the School. The award is a testament to the teamwork and dedication that goes into making Business in Action Week a success.”

The winning team are enthusiastic about continuing collaboration with even more innovative, purpose-driven work as they continue the success of the Business in Action module. The award panel were also keen to explore how to disseminate this great practice further into other School’s and teaching throughout the University.

The team will collect their award at the winter congregation ceremony in December 2025.