Workforce development

Kingston University has a well-earned reputation for working in partnership with a wide range of:

  • employers;
  • professional and statutory bodies; and
  • employer representative bodies, such as the sector skills councils.

We work hard to develop and deliver courses that fulfil their needs.

The type of engagement depends on the nature of the partner:

  • The University has existing relationships with employers who contribute substantially to the delivery of provision – for example, KLM, the NHS, the National School of Government and branches of the armed forces. View a full list of Kingston University partner institutions.
  • Elsewhere employers have been involved in the design of curriculum – for example, the development of the work-based learning Professional Engineering MSc course with the Engineering Council.
  • The University has the expertise in professional development to help employers to develop their staff. Our approach is to ensure that individual learning goals are aligned to business specific goals. Find out more information on developing your staff.

This area of work is underpinned by the Employer Engagement Strategy (PDF) and the Workforce Development Implementation Plan (PDF), which seek to ensure that the University has in place the infrastructure, resource and expertise to be responsive.

The strategic setting

The Government considers work-based learning as a major force that can improve innovation, enterprise and creativity within the workplace and thereby generate new knowledge and improve the competitiveness of UK PLC.

The focus on employer engagement has grown in recent years, not least with the publication of the Leitch report (PDF) in 2006 which stressed the link between the economic productivity of the country and higher level skills. The report flagged the importance of the role of universities in working responsively with employers to identify and meet their workforce development requirements, specifically in terms of 'up-skilling' and continuing professional development. This is particularly important in the context of the UK's demographic and labour market profile.

The more recent report Higher Ambitions: The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy (PDF) focuses on the future of universities in a knowledge economy emphasising that:

  • "around three quarters of the UK workforce of 2020 have already left compulsory education"; and
  • that the UK has a "large pool of just under six million workers with qualifications at level three but no experience of higher education".

Going forward

This emphasis continues in the most recent government statements which, although informed by sectoral budget cuts, continue to stress the importance of employers as active partners with higher education. Going forward, additional weight is likely to be given to:

  • programmes that provide ladders of opportunity through vocational work based provision, particularly for adults;
  • programmes that increase flexibility to employers and employees via part-time, fast track degrees and foundation degrees; and
  • higher-level continuing professional development, designed to up-skill or re-train sections of the working population.

Find out more

For further information on the strategic setting for workforce development and employer engagement, see:

For more information, please contact Denise Cooper.