Quick UBC Overview

The Universities Business Challenge Worldwide is the world’s longest established simulation-based online competition designed to develop Undergraduate and Postgraduate employability skills. Trusted and supported by leading universities and graduate employers, over 35,000 students have benefitted from taking part in the UBC Worldwide Challenge since 1998.

Why:

UBC helps to develop the workplace skills employers are looking for via simulation-based learning
Students build their profile and add a significant event to their personal portfolio / CV
Each team member is presented with a certificate of participation which can be added to a personal record as evidence of employability skills development
Opportunity to meet leading graduate employers
Top three undergraduate teams win cash prizes

Who:

There are two separate competitions: UBC Undergraduate and UBC Global Masters Postgraduate.
These separate events are open to all students from any faculty
Students participate in teams of up to 5 members

What:

Students compete and run a series of realistic, simulated businesses:
UBC Undergraduate Challenge is run over 3 rounds:
Round 1 – run online over 6 weeks
Round 2 – one-day Semi-Finals – live or virtual (see section below on Format Options)
Round 3 – One-day Grand Final – live or virtual (see section below on Format Options)
UBC Global Masters Postgraduate Challenge is run over 2 rounds
Round 1 – run online for 6 weeks
Round 2 – One-day Grand Final – live (see section below on Format Options)
NOTE: UBC Undergraduate Challenge and UBC Global Masters Postgraduate Challenge have two separate timetables with different starting dates.

When:

The UBC Undergraduate 3 round format starts the last week in November and ends the last week in March the following year.
The UBC Global Masters starts late January.

Time commitment:

In Round 1 for both competitions, two hours a week for the first two weeks while teams are familiarising themselves with the simulation. One hour per week thereafter. Round 1 runs for 6 weeks

Learning Outcomes:

The learning outcomes which result from participation are mapped against the skills employers are looking for in their graduate intake
83% of participants agree they their employability skills improved through participating in the UBC

Team registration process:

Team registration is open from April to January (until advertised closing date) via this website
Register the number of teams you want to enter
Then nominate team leaders as early in the new academic year as possible
Team member names only required upon commencement of the UBC
Guidance is provided to educators by the UBC Helpdesk team

Team participation process in Round 1:

Registered teams are sent logins to the simulation website
All resources are available via the UBC simulation platform
UBC provides a team helpdesk
All team decisions are uploaded online
Results are displayed online each week

Round 2 Semi-Finals and Grand Final:

Format Options:

UBC Round 1 has always been run online. With regard to the UBC Semi-finals and Grand Final, we reserve the right to deliver them as either Live or Virtual Events, depending upon the circumstances at the time.

Option – Live: One-day live events running a simulated company under time pressures, with exercises and live presentations with guest speakers and the ability to meet other teams face-to-face.

Option – Virtual: One-day virtual events running a simulated company under time pressures, with online presentations using: Powerpoint, video live and video pre-recorded, using a combination of Zoom and Slack or Teams and Slack and using tools such as Google Forms, Kahoot quizzes and Lucidchart.

Regarding online /remote delivery of UBC simulation content, our research from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 virtual events shows that students are aware of (and value) that they are developing important employability skills, i.e. remote collaboration between team members across regions and time zones, the ability to work in a team virtually, the ability to make decisions together and the ability to present ideas in a persuasive way online.

We encourage students to talk about these skills when they are in an assessment centre or placement interview.