Learn corporate skills for higher marks

London: Some British universities are considering awarding students of all subjects extra marks to their degrees if they can show "corporate skills" or experience in the jobs market, according to reports in The Guardian.

Undergraduates in all courses could earn credits for showing the ability to run a workshop or make a good presentation, under the University of Leicester's plans.

University College London's (UCL) career unit is mulling over accrediting employment skills, and Durham University is considering marks for work experience.

Workplace skills courses have been a compulsory part of vocationally-oriented undergraduate degrees, such as engineering, for several years. But awarding credits to an English literature student for these skills is thought to be a new step.

Supporters of the courses argue that a growing number of students will soon pick a degree based on whether they think it will prepare them for the jobs market. This is largely because graduates will soon have to pay back up to £9,000 (Dh51,231) in tuition fees for each year of their degree, up from the current £3,290 a year.

Paul Jackson, director of student support and development at the University of Leicester, said his institution was "looking closely at how to embed corporate skills into the curriculum at the undergraduate stage". He said universities were discussing if students should be able to complete courses without a corporate skills course.

"There is no difference between academic skills and employment skills. We are looking for students who can apply things in a new context," he said.

Professor Anthony Forster of Durham University, said Durham was exploring ways to "allow academic credit to be awarded for student employment or short-term community and work-based placements that have involved the application or development of academic knowledge and skills".

Karen Barnard, head of careers at UCL, said some degrees already had workplace skills courses, but students tended not to be awarded credits for attending them. She said she was "looking at some form of skills accreditation".

But Prof James Ladyman at Bristol University said learning how to think was the skill graduates most needed to succeed in the workplace. He said: "Incorporating corporate skills into the curriculum is short-term thinking. The point about education is that it equips you for the long-term."

Mike Molesworth, senior lecturer in consumer cultures at Bournemouth University, said universities were "reducing their ambition to churning out cheap, job-ready young people to fill the immediate skills gaps identified by corporations".