• The required elements of the course can normally be completed in around 2-4 hours  
• You may choose to take more time to explore the course. There are extra activities, such as extra exercises and videos that you can choose to engage with and these will obviously extend the time. Some students will take a little longer than others
• We recommend completing this in several sittings to allow time for reflection. You can do it in one sitting with regular breaks if you prefer

York Strengths Online is hosted on the YorkShare VLE, under the Community section. Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate students will be automatically enrolled.

If you are having any trouble accessing it, please email york-strengths@york.ac.uk 

If you are a Postgraduate research student, on a distance learning programme or a member of staff and would like to access the course, please email york-strengths@york.ac.uk 

You'll be asked for your name and student ID, which registers that you've started the course.

York Strengths Online and the York Strengths Development Day both support you in assessing yourself against the nine York Strengths, and identifying YOUR strengths.

• In York Strengths Online you'll complete your strengths assessment independently, through a self-led series of self-discovery exercises and reflections
• On the York Strengths Development Day you work with others. Particpants take part in a series of interactive activities, led by an Observer, and completed with others in a small group. The Observer will be noticing what you're good at and what energises you, as well as asking you to consider this for yourself.

From 2020/21 academic year, York Strengths Online will provide the core content for all students. The York Strengths Development Days will provide an added opportunity to explore your strengths in more depth, with feedback from group members and an external observer. 

It's really important that you submit your results in the final section of the course, to verify that you have completed York Strengths Online.

During the course you'll:

• assess yourself against each York Strength and map your strengths using the York Strengths Grid
• provide an example of when you've used your top strength
• identify a goal and three related actions.

When you submit your results, your completion of the course will be recorded on your student record. You will receive confirmation by email and a participation certificate.

All first year undergraduates are expected to complete York Strengths during their first year of study.

Completing York Strengths is also the first stage in the NEW York Award!

We've worked really hard to make York Strengths Online as accessible as possible.

• The course should work with most text or screen readers
• We have provided transcripts, closed captions, descriptions of visual content and alternative accessible activities wherever possible
• We have made every attempt to ensure that all the activities are accessible for everyone. If you are having any issues accessing the content or require support to take part, please contact york-strengths@york.ac.uk and we'll do our very best to help

All information generated as a result of your use of York Strengths Online will be managed in accordance with the University's Data Protection Policy.

You will be asked to complete two forms as part of this course. The first is to register that you have joined the course. The second is to submit your results and confirm completion of York Strengths Online. Both these forms ask for your student ID or email address.

The information on these forms will be used to:

• indentify those individuals who have registered for and/or completed York Strengths Online. The data may be shared with your academic department
• produce aggregate anonymised statistics to allow the University to better understand student needs and to create and tailor University service provision accordingly

No data on the positioning of the York Strengths or identified actions that can be linked to an individual will be shared outside of the Careers and Placements team. We may share this information back with you in the future to support your development. In the event that you do not wish to share this data there will be an option on the relevant form to indicate that.

Yes!

The course is suitable for anyone new to York Strengths, but also provides a useful refresher and new content for anyone who attended a York Strengths Development Day prior to Easter 2020. If you have already attended a Development Day you may wish to revist your strengths assessment and/or review the actions you recorded in your Learning Journey Booklet, so York Strengths Online is also for you.