I joined Leeds Trinity University as a Lecturer in Marketing in September 2019. Prior to joining the University, I worked for a number of training providers and within the further education sector.

I was attracted to the role as I could immediately see the focus on student support as well as a clear emphasis on student engagement and progression. That is still a core value of the University, and we are delighted that our students also agree!

Leeds Trinity University recently achieved an overall student satisfaction score of 80% in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2022 results, making it joint top in Yorkshire and the Humber and joint 25th in the UK for this measure*.

The 2022 NSS also saw us regain our position as one of the top performing Business Schools in the region and amongst the best in the country. Business Studies courses achieved an overall satisfaction score of 100%, cementing our already strong reputation for supporting our students every step of the way through their Higher Education journey.

There is no secret, for us students are at the heart of everything we do, reflecting in real life the Leeds Trinity ethos that each and every student, whatever their background or life experience, is a name not a number. Our curriculum and our teaching reinforces our belief that our students’ careers starts here, not in some far distant future, and when they leave us as a Leeds Trinity graduate they are ready to ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’ as experts in their chosen field. 

Like many of my colleagues in the School of Business, I have a number of years of industry experience. This includes senior marketing roles spanning the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. I use my experience to bring lectures to life with real-world situations and scenarios – for example when teaching marketing planning, I am able to refer to specific sectors (e.g. charities and the NHS) and events such as sports, arts and consumer-based promotions including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The way we teach our programmes is a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Our lectures provide students with the knowledge about a particular theme. In seminars and tutorials, they have the opportunity to discuss these concepts in smaller groups, but still facilitated by a member of staff to provide guidance and support. There is pre-work to carry out so students can come to the lecture with a broad understanding of the topic. There are also follow-up tasks to complete, which may be multiple-choice quizzes, reading, forum posts, research or written reflections.

We also help students to develop valuable transferable skills including communication, teamwork, self-awareness and delivering effective presentations. We support our students to develop a career plan and to participate in industry placements, which further enhances their employability. Many students go on to be employed at the organisations they undertook a placement at. (This year’s Graduate Outcomes survey also placed Leeds Trinity University top in Yorkshire for employability and 15^th in the UK**.)

As lecturers, we aim to inspire our students through interesting and engaging lecture content including timely and topical examples from the media, industry or the world around us. We use cutting-edge case studies from a wide range of geographical regions, varying sectors and sizes of organisations. We also invite guest speakers into lectures to talk about their roles and experience, including renowned authors and CEOs of regional organisations. Students are set tasks by the speakers and receive feedback from them about their work.

The combination of small classes and unrivalled student support leads to excellent results. We are always delighted to hear about the exciting roles that our graduates go into and their successful careers.

Gaynor Cross is a Lecturer in Marketing at Leeds Trinity University.

* Mainstream universities in the National Student Survey 2022. For more information visit: leedstrinity.ac.uk/nss

** Graduate Outcomes, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) published 2022. For more information visit: leedstrinity.ac.uk/gosurvey