We hope you had a relaxing and safe new year and are looking forward to the further opportunities presented by the start of a new year here at King's College London.

It seems impossible that another year has gone by, and thankfully this autumn we've been able to welcome back our +40,000 students and researchers to our campuses and the return of physical teaching as the core of our academic strategy. For the first time since 2019 that's enabled us to also welcome back many of you to raise awareness of your opportunities, recruit, educate and upskill our audience.

We've been overwhelmed by the demand - from all sides - our student attendances have been the highest and most diverse for over a decade, and we could have filled many events twice over with employer demand, so we're confident this provides a great platform to continue into 2023 as you work with us in even more ways to reach our diverse and international student population.

Throughout the last few months, we've been heartened by the support of partners around the world, keeping us informed of their latest challenges - and working collaboratively to identify possible solutions here at King's to support your organisation and its strategy. But we know how the other side of the pandemic has highlighted a range of new challenges about budgets, resourcing, targets and ensuring your workplaces are diverse, inclusive and supportive of this generation of talent.

So, to all of our partners - thank you. Thank you for sharing those struggles, for trusting in us to adapt and deliver new opportunities, events and provision and for continuing to recognise the breadth of talent here at King's.

Across autumn - and our five week-long Focused Festivals, we have seen greater student attendance from across our faculties, levels of study, nationality and diversity demographics than ever - and we're currently reviewing what this tells us to help plan our initiatives from next academic year.

Our virtual panels with speakers from around the world have covered areas including:

• Social Media
• Software & Gaming
• Public & Global Health
• Corporate social responsibility: Purpose over profit

We've also engaged thousands more attending masterclasses, workshops, fireside chats and through our Spotlight on Inclusion series with other London Russell Group institutions and our Action Essentials series, focusing on the recruitment process.

2023 Plans

We know that not everything has been perfect, and we're listening and learning from that feedback to generate even more ways of engaging in 2023 and beyond. Here's just a few of the opportunities we're planning for the new year, as we continue to expand and diversify our delivery...

• Our Focus on Culture & Creative Careers returns (23-27 January) providing a platform for those in the creative industries to share their experiences, alongside highlighting creative roles across all sectors.
• The Careers in China Series (20-31 March), working with other leading universities to bring together workshops, panels and virtual events showcasing this important market.
• Our focus and commitment on diversity, inclusion and equality continues through both our Spotlight on Inclusion series looking at race, mental health & wellbeing and LGBT+ inclusion alongside being woven into every activity we deliver.
• Our rebuilt Work-based Learning unit, comprising our King's Internships and Global Placements teams will be formed in January, ensuring our delivering of meaningful work experiences continues apace through business treks, work shadowing, virtual projects, internships modules and industry placements

Strategy 2026

As part of the next phase of our Vision 2029 strategy we're also busy working with King's leadership to ensure Student Success remains at the heart of our institutional priorities, including support our students’ journeys and their success into, through and beyond King’s.

• King’s First Year will provide a comprehensive induction to learning.
• King’s Flexible Curriculum will be research-informed, regularly reviewed and refreshed, and inclusive of knowledge and perspectives, creating opportunities for students to study across disciplines.
• King’s Edge will prepare students for their next steps in life, building upon opportunities to develop the attributes, knowledge, skills and experiences for their future careers.

We look forward to sharing more on these initiatives in the coming months.

So, from all of us at King's Employer Engagement, we thank you for all your continued support throughout this most different of years, and look forward to working with you again in 2023!

King's Employer Engagement

Andrew, Gunesh, Imogen, Jessica, Jonathan, Karley, Melissa, Parm, Phil, Rebecca, Roger, Ross and Wenqian.