Learning & Teaching

Our Embedding Employability Framework and accompanying resources provide an institutional approach to embedding employability within curriculum design and delivery and empowers students to understand and articulate their skills and knowledge, and the value of their degree. All resources have been co-created with staff and students and support a key part of the Learning and Teaching Strategy, which aims to integrate skills development within the curriculum.  

The benefits of embedding employability are that it: 

• is key for inclusivity, as it ensures that all students (regardless of location, situation or programme) will have opportunities to enhance their skills and employability
• feels integrated into the degree, rather than being seen as add on 
• helps students to see that the skills necessary for thriving in their learning journey are also those that will set them up for successes throughout life. 
• develops future skills which are in high demand from graduate employers and will become even more important in the age of AI where human centred skills are vital 

We have taken an extracted approach where the skills and employability value are extracted from existing academic practice, which might be hidden or not given enough focus. This approach has been adopted as it values the academic nature of degree programmes and builds on existing good practice.  

The Employability Framework has been designed as a cyclical model, which recognises this as a continuous process that can be joined at any stage.  

Our approach aims to better support you to:  

• identify the skills and employability value that exists within your programme  

• surface this to students so they feel confident articulating and reflecting on the skills they develop 

• introduce and build on experiential learning opportunities to enhance ways in which students can apply their learning  

• improve the quality and depth of student’s learning by supporting the move to meaningful assessment. 

• and utilise our skills and employability data to review and inform potential developments.  

By introducing a more consistent approach to embedding employability, our framework aims to help students translate their learning to use in whatever context they want as a graduate and ultimately support the university in meeting its ambition of moving into the Top 20 UK Universities for Employability (Graduate Prospects, Times & Sunday Times League Table). 

Useful Definitions

Employability - Intentional cultivation of knowledge, skills, behaviours, attributes and attitudes that enable students to gain employment and to contribute in the fullest way possible to culture, society and economy locally and globally throughout their lives

Future skill(s) - Future Skills are human-centred, interdisciplinary and transferrable. Future skills, alongside specialised disciplinary knowledge, are a core component of a University education and vital for lifelong success. They are increasingly essential in a world of rapid technological change, equipping individuals to thrive by contributing meaningfully to the economy, society, and culture

Experiential learning - We define experiential learning as an active approach that: (1) emphasises learning through direct experience and reflection on that experience and (2) encourages students to actively engage in opportunities that highlight how their disciplinary studies link to or are used in real-world experiences.

To view more useful Learning & Teaching relevent definitions, visit the L&T Strategy Common Language Library