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Education Development Toolkit

Employability

Welcome to the main page for Employability.

Access the Student Futures introduction video transcript here

Experts in all things Employability, Student Futures have you covered. We are a collective group of experts, specialists and professionals that can support you in the development of your programme, modules and learning and teaching.

With a multidisciplinary background gained from academic knowledge, employment and lived experiences, we have been working together to produce a range of employability related resources to support and enhance the student experience.

In this theme you will find advice, guidance and resources that will enable you to achieve the desired goal for your programme or module.

Mirroring the working and collaborative process for revalidation, we have divided our resource and guidance into the following categories:

  • Student Futures Framework
  • Graduate Attributes
  • Programme Approval and Revalidation (PAR)
  • Embedding Employability in the curriculum

The first category is the Student Futures Framework, outlining Cardiff University’s approach to embedding employability into the student experience. It explains how Student Futures can provide further support via curricular and extra-curricular initiatives and activities.

The second category introduces Cardiff University’s Graduate Attributes, what they are, why they have been created and how you can use the attributes to enhance and embed employability opportunities into your programme.

The third and fourth categories mimic the approach you will take with Programme Approval and Revalidation (PAR). Once the overarching design, ethos and content has been identified for your programme, we (Student Futures) can further support with the fourth category of Embedding Employability in the Curriculum.

Each category will provide you with a brief overview of what you can expect from Student Futures and examples of best practice. For every category we have specialists and teams of professionals that can provide advice and guidance.

Whether you are looking to plan a networking event with employers, an entrepreneurial competition, develop student exchange programmes with partner universities, create industry focused learning and or simulate industry practice, we can support you in achieving those goals.

We are Student Futures; we are a student facing service that is eager to develop the presence of employability in the curriculum. We want to support you in making your programmes sustainable for a world of work that is not yet determined. We want your graduates to successfully transition into the world of work, confident and able to attain the graduate jobs they want.

To do that we need to work together to ensure we provide the best possible education that is fit for the future.

Employability Tip

One of three themes; Employability is interlinked with the other two themes presented in the toolkit. It is impossible to explore employability without considering inclusivity and sustainability.

When approaching any theme, it is a worthwhile exercise to explore one theme and how that naturally links and flows into the other themes.

Embedding employability into a module / programme, you must consider if this is something all participating students will be able to achieve. Is the opportunity equitable and inclusive?

Is embedding employability a sustainable (manageable) project for your team and those who will be leading the module? EG, can you provide the necessary support for 300+ students to find a work placement and ensure all the necessary documents are completed and submitted prior to the students embarking on their placement?

Students who are unable to secure a work placement for their module / study; are they able to gain those relevant skills, knowledge, and practice in an alternative way? Is there provision to support those students?

For more information, support and guidance please contact the Student Futures Business Partner for your College:

AHSS                  Jon Forbes                       ForbesJ3@cardiff.ac.uk
BLS                     Joanne Jenkins               JenkinsJ6@cardiff.ac.uk
PSE                     Llinos Carpenter             CarpenterL1@cardiff.ac.uk

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Institutional Expectations

If you are going through revalidation, you will find that the employability theme is picked up throughout the process and highlighted in the paperwork.

Please contact your college Business Partner for further advice and guidance.