In response to HEPI’s policy note, Dr Richard Boffey, Head of AccessHE, London Higher said:
“All courses can have good employment prospects providing students know how to apply the transferable skills they have acquired through their studies. Research by London Higher member, Kingston University London, already shows that employers need and value skills that are embedded across curricula in a very wide range of HE programmes the most. The students polled for this HEPI report are right, therefore, to be sceptical about short-sighted proposals to steer student finance in certain directions. The collective efforts of the sector are much better spent giving students on all HE programmes a line of sight to the full range of jobs they are equipped to do.
This is where initiatives such as the Mayor’s Creative Academy, that London Higher runs with partners, come in. The Creative Academy works in tandem with HE careers services across London and exists to address skills gaps in the screen sector specifically. Those skills can be found wherever you look in London HE, from students with accountancy qualifications, to those specialising in construction and electrical engineering, to computer science experts, to the generalist graduates who can problem-solve, think on their feet and work as part of a team.”
