Key Themes: Employability and Skills

Different employers need graduates who have different capabilities. All value the analytical and reflective qualities that lie at the heart of a quality learning experience. But there is a growing emphasis by employers on the need for graduates to demonstrate a range of competences which will equip them to work in a global environment, in different countries, in multi-cultural teams, be innovative and enterprising and have strong language skills.

The UK also needs more educated people in all walks of life if we are to be competitive in a value-adding economy fit for the 21st century. Hence learning at higher levels should be available to those in work and build on what has been learned in the workplace.

Businesses have diverse and multiple needs for higher learning. Universities are one of the players in a system embracing universities, colleges, private training providers, in-house training and professional bodies. It must be an aim of policy to join these often fragmented elements into a more coherent whole including via comprehensive qualification and credit frameworks and funding.