The Horizons Program will provide meaningful, introductory professional work experience to domestic, first- or second-year undergraduate students from equity group backgrounds defined as at-risk of progression from higher education by the participating institution.

Professional work experience during study has been strongly evidenced to be an influential factor in graduate attainment (1, 2). Horizons aims to make initial, supported professional experience more accessible and available to students, complementing programs universities already offer.

We believe further programs to support graduate attainment for disadvantaged groups will be important, as universities further lift enrolments in line with the directions of the Australian Universities Accord.

Horizons provides students with a structured 3-week, 30-hour, CV-worthy professional project experience with an authentic industry client, supported by a highly accessible online platform experience, optional online skills and employability training, and professional coaching.

“The program provided an enjoyable and enriching experience, characterised by the opportunity to connect with new individuals and explore innovative approaches to work. My group developed strong communication skills, actively sharing ideas and collaboratively determining the best ways to implement them in accordance with the project brief. Overall, it was a valuable experience that I will carry forward into my future endeavours”

Chitsanzo Dorothy Konyan

University of East London

“An excellent piece of work that I'm excited to share with my team! I can see the work you've put into the final report, it's a real step up from the initial draft, and demonstrates originality of thought and that you took on feedback from our mid-project check in. You've done a really great job of researching the market and obstacles we may face entering it. I particularly liked the sections on how we can be impacted by emerging technology and how to overcome this. The report is insightful and the recommendations actionable.

Maria Gibson Vazquez

Communications & Operations Lead, Bold voices UK

Opt-out from ECU Legal Internship

I understand that by completing this form, I am opting out of the professional development & industry experience opportunity being provided to me for free by Edith Cowan University and the School of Business & Law.

I understand that by opting out of this program I am choosing not to partake in the internship with real industry clients and The ECU School of Business & Law’s “ECU Legal Internship” which is designed to support students’ industry practice by working through one of 3 modules for an industry client:

Risk Register
Policy & Procedure Review or
Issue Research Note

I understand that by opting-out of this program, I am choosing not to partake in an authentic industry experience, and develop skills and connections by engaging in research addressing basic legal requirements* for an industry client. I am also choosing not to potentially increase my awareness of the breadth of application of a Law Degree beyond court practice.

What kind of students can enrol in the program?

The program is aimed at first- or second-year domestic Undergraduate students from widening participation groups defined as at-risk of Progression from Higher Education by the Office for Students. The program is suitable for students from any discipline, and teams will be as diverse and multi-disciplinary as possible. The Institution decides how to interpret these criteria, and you nominate a slate of students for a particular cohort.

What is the students’ expected commitment?

Each student commits to 30 hours of work, mostly ‘asynchronous’ and entirely online, over the three week period. They commit to act as consultants and complete a professional project for an industry client, managing their time as best as possible to complete tasks, catering to the needs and schedules of their client and team mates. Each project team aims to commence with 6 students.

Is the program delivered online?

Yes, the program is delivered online via the Practera Platform. Orientation, Client meetings and final presentation will be facilitated via Zoom.

What does the program entail for our students, and how will they be supported to succeed?

The students will be supported to succeed with;

A team of 6 peers from other institutions
a virtual orientation session at program commencement
an optional preparatory 10-12 hours of self-paced, professional and digital skills training designed to support students with at-risk attributes
an introductory client meeting
very structured briefs, program instructions, training material, delivery templates and feedback loops to support delivery and learning, designed for students who have not completed a similar project before and aligned to the Kolb cycle of experiential learning
professional program coordinators & coaches provide facilitation, and both reactive and proactive support
the Practera platform, an AI enabled, mobile-responsive, WCAG 2.2 compliant, secure collaborative project learning platform with real time analytics to support content delivery, collaboration, feedback and issue management.
a final presentation with the industry client
a digital certificate and support to articulate the experience and professional skills demonstrated on CV and online platforms
an optional post-program employability module to assist the student to develop an enhanced LinkedIN profile and CV
post-program promotion of completing students, with achievements, to employers through LinkedIN and a branded social campaign

Are the Industry clients ‘real’, how are they selected, is there choice?

Student teams are matched with a REAL AU industry ‘client’ (eg; a startup, small-medium enterprise, NGO or large business) who provide an authentic, topical project brief of interest to their business and commit to providing students with a meeting, supportive feedback and final presentation.
Students work with industry partners on a 1 team of 5-7, with 1 industry partner and a unique brief. The industry partner should be able to get to know individual proactive students within the team through the experience and hopefully helpful networks are formed that could lead to internship and employment opportunities in the future. However the experience overall is intended to be formative, introductory and CV-worthy for students with lower career readiness, rather than lead directly to employment.
Industry partners are recruited in real time to participate in given cohorts, and are assigned to teams. Students are not offered a choice of client, but preferences of project theme and sector will be taken into account where possible.

What is the Institution’s commitment and workload?

Institutions co-fund student places
Institutions are responsible for promoting the program opportunity and recruiting students from eligible groups, who have the capacity and desire to participate in the program and the potential to most benefit from it
Institutions provide support as needed to students experiencing complex issues during the program and who are referred back to them by Practera (by exception only)
Institutions receive a report on each cohort and may elect to participate in a debrief

When are places ‘used and paid’?

Places are generally paid in advance, at contract execution to secure volume discounts. Places are ‘used’ once student participation numbers are confirmed 8-weeks prior to program orientation
Practera will make best endeavours to support student commencement and completion once provided with contact details, and will keep the University apprised if the student has withdrawn or is non-responsive so that an alternate student can takeup the place
We generally advise Institutions to recruit 110% - 120% of student numbers so that a waitlist can be used to manage any dropouts
Our program target is >80% completion of commencing students

How will we contract and ensure data security & privacy etc

Practera will provide a draft contract and ICT trust centre for your legal and ICT teams to review. We work with >40 AU Institutions and are experienced in meeting legal, procurement & ICT requirements. Practera is a GDPR and SoC-2 compliant, secure and WCAG 2.2 accessible platform used by many Universities to deliver student-industry project experiences. We require very limited personal information from students, only a name, email address and course of study.

Has this program been run previously or is it a new initiative?

This is a new program as of June 2025, although it is based on a proven project learning module deployed to tens of thousands of students and industry partners globally, managed by Practera, an edtech company with 14 years experience which works with >150 Universities globally and >40 in the AU.
Practera brings unique education technology for managing student-industry projects at scale, and substantial global experience in scaling University employability student-industry project networks in other contexts, for example the Study Australia Industry Experience Program and World Association of Co-operative Education (WACE) flagship Global Challenge program which operate on similar principles for different purposes.