Enhancing Graduate Employability - embedding employability in the curriculum

Other Useful Links

•Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS).

AGCAS is the professional association for higher education (HE) careers practitioners. Part of its work is to generate up-to-date information, advice and guidance products for careers advisers others interested in the employability of graduates. These pages give access to a variety of resources in various media of benefit to all those working with students engaged in career decision-making and self-marketing. Academics can purchase resources but are initially recommended to contact their campus careers service. They may be able to view and assess them there and gain advice and support when using them. See the Media round up for news items relating to HE and graduate employment.


 
 •Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). AGR is an organisation of major UK-based graduate recruiters that keeps its members abreast of developments in the graduate market though surveys, research findings and briefing papers. The full range of its services is for members only, but informative press releases of its bi-annual surveys are published on the website, and its bi-monthly magazine, Graduate Recruiter, which includes news and comment about market trends, is available to all for a modest subscription.
 
 •Association for Sandwich Education and Training (ASET) . ASET, a professional body for work-based learning practitioners, provides universities and colleges with expertise and advice to support programmes that integrate periods of academic study with periods of relevant work in an external organisation. Academics have access to a meetings programme and publications that include a newsletter. Membership is open to institutions and individuals.
 
 •Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE). ATHE is the subject association for tourism in HE in the UK and is of interest to all who wish to promote the development of tourism as a subject of study. Liaison between HE and employers and related bodies is facilitated and some of its activities focus on employability issues including tourism placements.
 
 •Centre for Recording Achievement (CRA). The CRA promotes and supports good practice in recording achievement and personal development planning (PDP) in all aspects of the student experience to develop employability skills and attributes. There are resources about PDP and the Progress File available to HE staff relating to strategies, PDP delivery and assessment, and staff development.
 
 •Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs), HEFCE. The HLST Network has identified a number of CETLs that have potential links with hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism. Some focus on aspects of employability including: curriculum design; the use of PDP; developing students’ vocational, leadership and entrepreneurial skills; and placement learning.
 
 •Context Context case-study materials aim to give students work experience without going to the workplace. Available online, they are based as far as possible on real work situations and academics can use them with their students, within or outside of the curriculum, to build work awareness and provide experience of decision making and group working.
 
 •Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME). CHME is a voluntary body which represents universities and colleges offering higher education degree programmes in hospitality management and related subject disciplines. Within the website are details of a special interest group, Placement Advisers for Tourism and Hospitality (PATH), for those involved in supervised work experience/internship elements of programmes.
 
 •Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE). CIHE aims to improve the dialogue and mutual understanding between business and higher education. Amongst its investigations are the enhancement of employability through the curriculum and other aspects of the higher education experience including work–based learning, skills development, and the widening participation agenda..
 
 •Graduate into Employment Unit (GIEU). GIEU, an independent unit of the University of Liverpool, helps graduates to develop their careers and helps businesses to develop their workforce. Its Windmills Programme can be used by academic and careers staff to help students to make and execute career plans, and monitor and review progress.
 
 •Graduate Prospects. Graduate Prospects is a leading UK provider of graduate careers information and services and works closely with campus careers services. Its wide-ranging web resources encompass career decision-making, employer, employment sector and labour market information, degree related career outcomes, self-employment, and postgraduate study.
 
 •The Higher Education Academy. The Academy ‘s mission is to help institutions, discipline groups and all HE staff to provide the best possible learning experience for their students. Its Employability and Employee Learning web pages are designed to help academic staff to understand and engage with employability. Information and resources are available to support staff as they work with their students to enable them to exploit all aspects of their experiences in higher education to enhance their employability. Many important resources are linked to degree subjects and are located within the Subject Centre websites.
 
 •Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA is the central source for higher education statistics including the data generated by the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey. Data is collected annually from publicly funded HEIs in the UK approximately 6 months after qualification of UK and EU domiciled first degree and undergraduate diploma students. It is also collected from postgraduate leavers. Statistics for UK domiciled leavers are broken down by subject of study, and the cohort entering employment in the UK is further broken down by type of employer and type of work. HESA also carries out a longitudinal survey that generates data about the employment patterns of leavers three to three and a half years after graduating.

 
 •Hospitality Adding Value to Education (HAVE), The HE Academy Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Subject Centre and partners. The project has generated materials, eg a self-assessment tool, a Reflective Log and an Evidence Portfolio, to help students from all disciplines obtain greater benefit from their part-time and vacation employment in the hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism industries. This will help them, with tutor and employer support, to develop, articulate and demonstrate transferable employability skills and personal attributes.
 
 •The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Network. A Higher Education Academy Subject Centre. The Network aims to encourage and broker the sharing of good learning and teaching practice across the HLST subject areas of UK higher education. Its publications, including guides, newsletters and case-studies, research, and events focus on a wide variety of student employability issues. Most of its publications are described individually in the Employability Resources section of these web pages.
 
 •Labour Market Trends, Office for National Statistics. These web pages contain very detailed and extensive labour market statistics relating to earnings, employment, training and employment programmes, and other topics. See particularly the Economic and Labour Market Review (recently replacing Labour Market Trends), a monthly assessment of the labour market with topical interest items, analytical articles, technical reports describing ONS methodologies, and news about statistics and research. There are references to the graduate employment market.
 
 •Motivating Student Personal Development Planning, University of Leeds. This is the website of a national project through which all academic staff will have access to materials and guidance to help them enhance the use of personal development planning (PDP) by their students. Original current performance and review documentation from a range of collaborating graduate employers is used. The overall aim is to help students from all disciplines make a connection between PDP and the type of performance development used in the workplace and thus win their support for and commitment to the process.
 
 •National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE). The NGCE aims to increase the numbers of students and graduates giving serious thought to starting a business and thus increase the number of business start-ups. It promotes and facilitates the option of starting a new business through the Flying Start programme with rallies, residential programmes and online support. Information and resources are available to entrepreneurship educators.
 
 •National Council for Work Experience (NCWE). NCWE promotes and supports, and helps students to acquire, quality work experience. Information and resources are available to academic staff as well as to students and employers. Academic staff can order a Tutor’s resource pack that helps them to support their students on placement. Students have access to online and downloadable information that helps them to obtain employment and enhance their employability skills through all types of work experience.
 
 •People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism. This SSC has produced a Sector Skills Agreement that identifies the critical skill issues facing the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industries. Industry Research Profiles describe each of 14  industry sectors and their skill needs.
 
 •The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). The QAA provides an integrated quality assurance service for UK higher education and ensures that appropriate standards are being achieved and a good quality education is being offered. The QAA subject benchmark statements for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, as well as providing an outline of the knowledge and understanding of the particular subjects, describes the transferable intellectual and personal skills which a typical honours graduate is expected to possess.
 
 •Shell Step programme. Shell Step offers project-based work experience opportunities to second and penultimate year undergraduates and to recent graduates. Paid placements, lasting 8 weeks mainly in the summer but occasionally, for graduates, in the Autumn and Winter, are available with small and medium sized enterprises. An induction programme, mentor support, and networking opportunities with other students are provided.
 
 •SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning. This SSC provides information about industries including sport and recreation, highlighting trends and developments with particular reference to current and future skill needs. Its SkillsActive Careers section includes information about job roles in sport and recreation, and case-studies written by individuals working in active leisure.