We present a pilot for a student consultancy service offering students the opportunity to work with internal and external clients on real life projects to learn and enhance transferable skills. The pilot ran for 18 months with a pool of 20 to 24 students working on 8 projects. We compare in detail two case study projects for external clients and described issues and lessons learned. Participating student consultants’ feedback is presented and analysed, in the context of managed development of professional skills. Finally we discuss the initial challenges running a student consultancy service as an extra-curricular activity and comment on the value to the host university department. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.3.2 [Computer and Information Science Education]: Computer science education, Curriculum, Information systems education, Literacy; K.6.1 [Project and People Management]: Management Techniques, Systems Development, Staffing General Terms Management, Human Factors Keywo...