London & Scotland
A chance for students to work on a live brief. A chance for industry leaders to discover great young talent.
Graduates are finding it harder than ever to break into the industry. BIMA NextGen gives them a way in.
Students work on a live brief, supported by industry mentors from BIMA membership. They leave with connections, real experience, and a portfolio piece that could make all the difference.
It also supports BIMA’s commitment to building the digital talent pipeline, bringing together the brightest minds from universities, agencies and industry partners.
Why does BIMA NextGen matter?
Unemployment among 16–24 year-olds rose to 16.1% at the end of 2025. According to the ONS, that’s the highest figure in a decade.
Immerse yourself in agency life.
BIMA NextGen kicks off at our agency hub in London or Scotland. You’ll get the brief, join a team of other students and get to work. Over the next few days, your team develops its response away from the hub. On the final day, you come back to the hub and present to a panel of industry judges.
You’ll leave with industry contacts, hands-on experience, and work for your portfolio. Maybe even a gateway to employment.
Help find and shape the next generation of digital talent.
We’re looking for agency representatives to coach students on the day, lending their expertise to help answer the brief. We also need judges to sit on our panel and view the end submissions. BIMA can then facilitate conversations with students you think might be suitable for employment opportunities.
Ahead of our 2027 national rollout, we’re on the lookout for agencies to host BIMA NextGen events for 20-30 students.
BIMA Next Gen is specifically built to cater for university students, ideally in their last year of study. Rather than take individual applications from students BIMA really needs a key contact at a University so we can co-ordinate a group of students rather than single applications from mixed colleges.
Nope! BIMA as a not for profit aims to finance the whole event. There might be some travel costs but outside that we cover it all, for both agencies and students.
We aim to split up students so you work with others from different universities. Ideally with a mix of skills in each team. So, some design students and technology students and also some broader marketing or business skills. Our aim is to create an agency group that all bring something to the team to battle the brief.
Help shape the future of digital and creative talent while building meaningful connections with the university sector. Next Gen brings students and industry professionals together through practical experiences, insight and inspiration - giving sponsors the opportunity to engage with emerging talent, build relationships with universities and demonstrate their expertise to a key sector.
