Industry News
Graduates skills 'different not worse'
Posted on 14th September 2007
Students are graduating with "different" skills to previous generations, the president of Universities UK has claimed.
Professor Rick Trainor made his comments at the annual conference of the pressure group.
He said: "The current student generation, for example, has capacities in IT, in group and independent working, in spoken presentations and in creativity well beyond those of their predecessors."
Employers must understand teaching in universities has changed since their time as students, he added.
He also called for a reduction in the "burden of regulation" and said universities should not be treated as though they are a part of the public sector. Universities should have greater autonomy over their policy, he added.
Universities UK represents executive heads of 131 universities and higher education colleges.
The Confederation of British Industry has claimed young people entering the workforce have high levels of IT skills but lack "basic abilities" such as numeracy and literacy.