Employability and work based learning

In February 2000, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment called for all higher education students to have a minimum period of work experience. Underlying this ‘call’ we can assume there was a recognition that students gain something of value from work experience.

In this paper, we explore the learning that a student can gain from work experience, and we will use the term ‘work-based learning’ to mean learning that is derived specifically from doing a job of work and taking on a workplace role. Used in this sense, work-based
learning is a more restricted notion than ‘work-related learning’ (which also has currency in higher education). Work-related learning is taken to mean any learning that is intended to
enhance students’ grasp of working life or their employability. The continuing emphasis being given to work-related learning and work-based learning in higher education programmes demonstrates Government’s belief that the workplace can provide a suitable
location (alongside others) for the development of higher level learning. Of course, there is nothing necessarily new here – the development of a higher education system more responsive to the needs of the economy and the individual has been ongoing for a number of years.