Embedding Employability in the Curriculum

Enhancing the student experience through employability related study and practice.

Employability is a growing priority in higher education, and increasingly a factor that influences students in choosing their degree subject or university.

As highlighted in a recent UCAS report based on a survey completed by 27,000 individuals, employability and career prospects have become increasingly important over recent years, with over 50% of applicants stating that ‘high graduate employment rates have become more important to them since the start of the pandemic’. Moreover, 54% of applicants stated that their subject choice was motivated by ‘good career prospects after graduation’. This was the second most commonly cited factor after ‘subject enjoyment’ (74%). The report also shows that when asked about what they want to get out of their degree, ‘developing skills’ (63%) and getting a ‘meaningful job’ (62%) were most important. As this UCAS blog suggests, ‘the political swing from ‘education, education, education’ to ‘skills, skills, skills’ is now reflected in the applicant mindset’.

The Career Readiness survey, managed by Student Futures and completed by all Cardiff University students as a mandatory part of enrolment, reinforces the notion that students are ready and eager to develop their employability at all stages of their university journey. The survey highlights their appetite for discussing their future careers, undertaking work experience and developing enterprise skills. The statistics below highlight some of the headline summaries from the most recent surveys:

From an institutional perspective, it is evident that the changing policy environment is placing much greater responsibility on universities to prepare students for the labour market. Graduate Outcomes measures are becoming an increasingly weighted metric in regulatory schemes like the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and league table rankings like the Times ‘Good University Guide’.

Cardiff University positioned 13th Top universities in the UK for graduate employability 2025, THE Good University Guide

In England, the Office for Students (OFS) has already introduced measures that will ensure universities are more accountable for student outcomes. Programmes considered to have ‘poor’ outcomes for not leading to graduate jobs are likely to face additional scrutiny. In Wales, we are yet to understand whether the newly established Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, now formerly known as Medr, will take a similar approach, but their strategic priorities outline their commitment to developing “a tertiary system that prepares learners for a dynamic and changing economy where all can acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life and work”.

With the growing influence of graduate outcomes on both reputation and student choice, universities need to consider placing this metric on an equal footing to other more familiar metrics, as this Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) article suggests,

Given the increasing importance of graduate outcomes in higher education, it is critical that our programmes provide our students with a diverse range of opportunities to develop their employability skills and graduate attributes. As such, Student Futures has produced a range of information, resources and case studies to support curriculum design and delivery at both programme level and module level (this section is under development).