Kingston University's transformative Future Skills approach recognised with University of the Year shortlisting in Academic Employability Awards

Kingston University has been shortlisted for University of the Year and Inclusive Employability Practices, in the Academic Employability Awards – recognising how its Future Skills programme is preparing students for career success.

The awards celebrate outstanding contributions from academics across the UK and Republic of Ireland in embedding employability within higher education.

Kingston University has been transforming its teaching by placing Future Skills at the heart of its curriculum as an assessed, key part of every undergraduate course. Informed by research with industry, the programme is designed to ensure students acquire nine key graduate attributes – creative problem solving, digital competency, adaptability, being enterprising, having a questioning mindset, empathy, collaboration, resilience and self-awareness.

In September, the University introduced the Explore phase of its Future Skills programme to all second-year undergraduates, following the roll out of Navigate across the first-year curriculum the previous year. As part of Explore, students work directly with employers on live briefs, placements and work shadowing opportunities alongside simulated assessment centres. The final phase of the programme, Apply, will be embedded across all third-year courses from the next academic year.

The Future Skills programme has fostered a range of collaborations across Faculties. Academics across business, marketing and computer science came together to run the University's largest ever live brief with the John Lewis Partnership this year, involving more than 600 students in a multidisciplinary project focused on AI and food security. While Kingston School of Art students came together across disciplines to work on projects with Kingston Council and the Community Brain.

The University has attracted political support from across all parties for its approach to preparing students for career success. Last month, during a Westminster Hall debate, Kingston and Surbiton MP and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, urged ministers to visit the University to see the programme in action and speak to students about the impact it was having on their learning. He also pressed for government backing in terms of additional funding, research support and potential for scalability across the UK in other universities and secondary schools.

The latest awards shortlisting comes shortly after the University was named a finalist in the Best University and Employer Engagement Strategy categories of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) Awards.

Ali Orr, the University's Director of Student Development and Graduate Success, said the growing recognition of the Future Skills programme's impact reflected the University's commitment to transforming its teaching by embedding a progressive new model of education through its visionary Town House Strategy.

"Ensuring that every student, no matter their course, graduates with the skills most valued by employers is at the heart of our Future Skills approach," he said. "Building on extensive institutional research and industry engagement, we have transformed our curriculum over the past two years through our Future Skills programme and will complete its roll out across every year of every undergraduate course this September.

"Our shortlisting in two categories for the Academic Employability Awards reflects our position at the forefront of using innovative and impactful ways to equip our students with the essential life skills they need for the evolving world of work."

The Academic Employability Awards' winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on Thursday 24 April. View the full shortlist.