News - Denham expresses concern over graduate skills
Released on 12/09/2008. Author Sam Gardner.
John Denham, the Universities Secretary and Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has expressed his concern that the UK is "not yet anywhere near" a position where employers believe that the university system is producing graduates with appropriate skills.
Results of Denham’s department's consultation on higher-level skills have shown a gap between what employers say they want from higher education and what is being offered. He identified that employers wanted people who were able to solve problems, communicate, apply critical analysis to evidence and think for themselves.
The Universities Secretary said he believed he had focused attention on the need for widening-participation efforts to begin at a younger age, and a greater recognition of the importance of links between schools and universities. He also commented on the need to ensure that those that want to attend university “get the achievements at school level that enable that to be a possibility” while noting that this did not mean that attention would be directed away from issues surrounding admissions policies.
As part of his continuing commitment to the future of higher education he said he would be "going to the business community, students, people interested in the regional impact of universities and so on" to develop a picture of "the challenges of the future as they are seen from within the university sector with the view from outside the sector".
