Launch of Apply completes roll-out of Kingston University's transformative Future Skills programme

All undergraduate students at Kingston University are now benefitting from a radical new model of education designed to equip them with the Future Skills employers most value.

The University has reached a significant milestone with the roll-out of Apply – the final phase of its sector-leading Future Skills programme – across all third-year undergraduate courses.

As the new academic year begins, Future Skills will now form a core, taught, and assessed part of each year of every student’s degree, alongside their subject-specific learning. 

Through their degree, students develop nine Future Skills graduate attributes identified through extensive research with business – including creative problem solving, digital competency, adaptability and resilience. 

Apply completes a journey that begins with Navigate in the first year and Explore, which was rolled out across the second year curriculum last September. With the launch of Apply, approximately 13,000 students are now benefitting from a Future Skills education across the University.

Preparing students for career success

Most final year students will engage in Apply through a dedicated module, where they will be supported to assess, reflect on and then hone their Future Skills development. This will involve working with employers and professional mentors on tailored activities to strengthen the attributes they most want to focus on, as well as exploring potential career pathways.

The opportunities provided through Apply are designed to ensure students can move quickly into graduate roles or further study, equipped with the human-centric skills, confidence and industry experience required to succeed in a rapidly evolving workplace.

Transformative moment for University

The roll-out of Apply represented a transformative moment for the University’s ambition of ensuring students were prepared for career success, Provost Professor Kathy Curtis said. “Apply really is the culmination of our students’ Future Skills journey. This final phase of the programme builds on their experiences with industry in their second year and offers space to tailor their learning and plan their next steps.

“It’s not just about developing these skills – it’s learning how they can apply them through work and life, ensuring our students graduate not only with academic knowledge, but with the skills, confidence and ability to adapt and thrive.”

Following the roll-out of Apply, Kingston University has become the first higher education institution in the UK to fully embed Future Skills within every undergraduate degree programme.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Steven Spier, who has championed the economic importance of a Future Skills education, said: “In such a rapidly changing world of work, universities must go beyond the teaching of subject knowledge to also ensure they’re developing graduates who have the uniquely human skills businesses have told us they need.

“Our Future Skills programme has been developed from our research with business and is delivered in close partnership with employers to ensure its relevance and impact. Since we began its roll out across our undergraduate curriculum three years ago, the speed of the developments in artificial intelligence reinforce just how important the acquisition of these core skills will be for our graduates and the economy.”

Students share impact of Apply on Future Skills development

A number of students took part in pilots of Apply in the previous academic year. Biomedical science student Vivienne Farmaki outlined how it had helped to consolidate her Future Skills learning. “Apply gave me the space to reflect on my short and long-term goals. Through this process I was able to make a clear decision about the career path I wanted to pursue,” she said.

Barnabas Kemeny, who studied Apply during the final year of his business economics course, shared how it had enabled him to identify and develop the skills that would benefit him most in the workplace. “One of the final tasks was building a portfolio to highlight our achievements. I focused on digital competency because I’m keen to strengthen my AI skills, especially with how vital they’ve become in today’s world.”
 

• Find out more about Future Skills at Kingston University.