CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR EMPLOYABILITY: WHY HOW YOU BUILD A DEGREE SHAPES EVERYTHING THAT COMES AFTER

Only 59% of UK graduates are in full-time employment 15 months after leaving university. The institutions improving that figure are doing it by building employability into the curriculum from day one, not adding it on at the end.

Curriculum design for employability means structuring a degree so that career-relevant capabilities are built progressively throughout a student’s studies, not added on at the end. Universities that embed this approach from year one consistently see stronger graduate employment outcomes than those relying on standalone careers support.

Graduate employability sits at the top of almost every UK university strategy document right now. And the urgency behind that priority is well-founded.

HESA’s Graduate Outcomes Survey, published in July 2025, found that only 59% of graduates from the class of 2022/23 were in full-time employment 15 months after leaving university. For the institutions behind those numbers, and for the students they represent, that figure is a prompt to ask harder questions about where in the student journey the most meaningful change can happen.

The encouraging part is that the sector is already asking them.

For UK universities, curriculum design for employability is becoming one of the clearest ways to connect academic learning with measurable graduate outcomes. Rather than treating employability as an additional service, this approach embeds career-relevant learning, industry engagement, and structured reflection into the degree itself. In short: curriculum design for employability helps UK universities improve graduate outcomes by making career-relevant skills, work-based learning and industry engagement part of the degree itself, not something students only encounter through optional careers support.

Key takeaways

• UK universities are moving from optional careers support to embedding employability directly into the student learning experience.
• Curriculum design for employability connects learning outcomes, assessment and industry experience with the capabilities graduates need beyond university.
• The most effective models bring careers teams, academics and industry partners into curriculum design from the beginning.
• The main barriers are siloed teams, workload, resourcing and the challenge of scaling quality across large cohorts.
• Work-based learning can scale when student briefing, industry partner coordination, assessment and feedback are managed through consistent infrastructure.
• Experiential learning gives students clearer evidence of workplace capability and supports stronger graduate employability outcomes.

HOW UK UNIVERSITIES ARE EMBEDDING EMPLOYABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

For many years, the dominant model placed employability support at the edges of a degree. Careers offices, CV workshops, employer panels and placement preparation all served an important purpose and continue to do so. What the evidence increasingly shows is that students who encounter real professional challenges within their degree, not just in preparation for leaving it, develop stronger capabilities and demonstrate them more confidently to employers.

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Education and Work found that students consistently identified hands-on, work-relevant experience during their studies as the most significant factor in building career confidence and professional identity. Not what they were taught but what they were asked to do with it.

This is the direction the sector is moving. From employability as a service students can access, to employability as something students experience through how their degree is designed and delivered from the start.

WHAT CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR EMPLOYABILITY LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE

In simple terms, curriculum design for employability asks a different question: not only what students should learn, but how their degree helps them apply that learning in professional contexts. For universities, this means designing learning outcomes, assessments, and industry experiences around the capabilities graduates will need beyond graduation.

Curriculum design for employability is not a module, a workshop series or a rebranded placement scheme. It is a deliberate approach to structuring a degree so that career-relevant capabilities are developed progressively across the full arc of a student’s studies. In practice, it tends to involve several things working together:

• Careers professionals contributing to module design and assessment criteria from the beginning, not just offering support services alongside the academic programme
• Students working on real industry projects with genuine stakes and structured reflection built in
• Assessment that values professional capability alongside academic output
• Students having a meaningful role in shaping how their own learning works

Times Higher Education reported in May 2026 that universities are increasingly being called on to co-design curricula directly with employers, with sector voices pointing to this collaboration as one of the most effective levers available for improving graduate outcomes. That call is being answered across the sector.

The Graduate Futures Institute Academic Employability Awards, which Practera was proud to sponsor this year, recognised exactly this kind of work. The Award for Curriculum Design for Employability attracted one of the most competitive shortlists in the event’s history, a strong signal of how seriously institutions across the UK are taking this. The winning entry was described by judges as showing “really innovative student and staff partnership working,” pointing to something structural rather than cosmetic. Students were not just the recipients of a well-designed programme. They were involved in building it.

That quality ran across the full shortlist. This is not a challenge one or two pioneering institutions are figuring out in isolation. It is a conversation happening across the sector, and the pace is accelerating.

HOW TO EMBED EMPLOYABILITY INTO UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM

To embed employability into a university curriculum, institutions need to bring careers teams, academic staff and industry partners into the design process early. The most effective models connect learning outcomes with real workplace tasks, assess professional capability alongside academic knowledge, and give students repeated opportunities to apply, reflect and improve across the full length of their degree.

COMMON BARRIERS TO INTEGRATING EMPLOYABILITY INTO UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM

Integrating employability earlier in a degree is genuinely complex. It asks for sustained collaboration between teams that have not always worked closely together. It requires curriculum review processes to move in step with a labour market that changes quickly. And it asks institutions to measure success in ways that go beyond module pass rates and graduate employment percentages.

Research into work-based learning published in 2026 identified the most common barriers as careers and academic teams working in separate structures, workload and resourcing constraints, and the challenge of scaling quality consistently across large and diverse cohorts. None of these is insurmountable. All of them require deliberate design and the right infrastructure, not just good intentions.

The institutions making the most progress tend to share a few things in common. They bring career professionals into curriculum design conversations rather than consulting them after decisions are made. They build real industry engagement into the structure of modules rather than treating it as an optional enhancement. And they invest in infrastructure that allows excellent programmes to run consistently at scale, not just brilliantly in a pilot of twenty students.

HOW PRACTERA HELPS UNIVERSITIES SCALE WORK-BASED LEARNING

Practera is an experiential learning platform and programme provider that works with universities to design, deliver and scale work-based learning. The three barriers the sector most commonly names are precisely what Practera is built to address. When careers and academic teams are operating in separate structures, Practera’s programme design process brings both teams into a shared framework with clear roles, shared goals and a delivery structure that keeps them aligned from design through to assessment. For work-based learning in UK universities, the challenge is rarely whether the model is valuable. The challenge is how to make it consistent, assessable and scalable across different faculties, student cohorts and industry partner expectations.

When workload and resourcing are the constraints, Practera’s platform reduces the administrative and assessment burden on staff by up to 60% through AI-enabled project management and feedback tools, freeing academics to focus on the quality of learning rather than the logistics around it.

When scaling is the challenge, Practera’s infrastructure ensures that a programme delivering strong outcomes for 20 students delivers the same quality for 200 or 2,000. The consistency comes from the structure, not from individual effort that cannot be sustained at volume.

Practera currently works with universities across the UK, including Leeds University Business School, Newcastle University and King’s College London. In UK programmes, 95% of students report gaining relevant work experience, and 92% of industry clients say they would consider hiring from the student cohort. These outcomes run consistently across cohorts of different sizes, disciplines and delivery contexts because the programme design is built to produce them.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS ABOUT GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY OUTCOMES

One reason UK graduates struggle to find work after university is not a lack of academic ability, but a lack of structured opportunities to practise and evidence workplace capability during their studies. When degrees include experiential learning, industry projects and assessed professional reflection, students leave with clearer examples of what they can do, not just what they have studied.

When work-based learning is embedded well, the results for students are measurable and durable. Research from NACE found that students who participate in experiential learning during their degree go on to earn more, progress faster in their careers and build stronger professional networks than peers who did not. The HESA Graduate Outcomes data points in the same direction: students with structured work experience built into their degree consistently report stronger employment outcomes and higher career satisfaction.

The intervention is not remedial. It is foundational. And the institutions building it into their curriculum from year one are producing graduates who do not need to be explained to employers. The degree speaks for itself because it was designed to.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is curriculum design for employability?

A: Curriculum design for employability is the practice of structuring a degree so that career-relevant capabilities are developed progressively throughout a student’s studies, rather than addressed only at the end through careers support services. It typically involves careers professionals contributing to module design from the start, students working on real industry projects as part of assessed coursework, and assessment criteria that value professional capability alongside academic output.

Q: Why does curriculum design matter for graduate employment outcomes?

A: Research consistently shows that students who encounter real professional challenges within their degree, rather than only in preparation for leaving it, develop stronger capabilities and demonstrate them more confidently to employers. HESA’s Graduate Outcomes Survey found that only 59% of UK graduates from the class of 2022/23 were in full-time employment 15 months after graduating. Institutions embedding employability into curriculum design from year one are seeing stronger and more consistent outcomes at the cohort level.

Q: What is the difference between employability support and curriculum design for employability?

A: Employability support typically refers to services students can choose to access alongside their degree, such as careers advice, CV workshops and mock interviews. Curriculum design for employability means those outcomes are built into how the degree itself works, so every student develops career-relevant capabilities through the learning, regardless of whether they seek out additional support.

Q: What are the biggest barriers to embedding employability into university curriculum?

A: The most commonly cited barriers in recent sector research are careers and academic teams working in separate institutional structures, workload and resourcing constraints, and the challenge of scaling quality consistently across large and diverse cohorts. Each of these is addressable through deliberate programme design and the right delivery infrastructure.

Q: What does work-based learning mean in practice?

A: Work-based learning refers to structured learning experiences where students apply their academic knowledge to real professional contexts. This can include industry projects, virtual internships, consultancy briefs with live clients and mentoring programmes. The defining characteristic is that the work is genuine, the stakes are real, and the reflection is structured and assessed.

Q: How can universities scale work-based learning across large cohorts?

A: Scaling work-based learning without losing quality requires infrastructure that manages the logistics of student briefing, industry partner coordination, assessment and feedback consistently across cohorts of any size. Practera’s platform reduces the administrative burden on academic staff by up to 60% through AI-enabled tools, allowing the focus to remain on the quality of the learning experience rather than the operational demands around it.

Q: How does Practera support curriculum design for employability?

A: Practera works with universities to design, deliver and scale work-based learning programmes. This includes bringing careers and academic teams into a shared programme framework, building structured industry project experiences into the curriculum, and providing the platform infrastructure that ensures consistent outcomes across large and diverse cohorts. Practera currently works with universities across the UK, including Leeds University Business School, Newcastle University and King’s College London.

Q: How can universities embed employability into the curriculum?

A: Universities can embed employability into the curriculum by involving careers teams, academics and industry partners in programme design from the beginning. This includes mapping career-relevant capabilities to learning outcomes, using real industry projects as assessed coursework, and giving students structured opportunities to reflect on their professional development throughout the degree.

Q: Why do UK graduates struggle to find work after university?

A: UK graduates may struggle to find work when their degree gives them limited opportunities to apply academic knowledge in professional settings. Curriculum design for employability helps address this by building work-based learning, industry engagement and evidence of professional capability into the student experience before graduation.

The “Employability for All” Paradox: How Universities Can Finally Break the Barriers of Time, Geography, and Scale

“Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.”

It is a phrase we hear often in Higher Education. We know that a student’s potential is not defined by their postcode, their parents’ network, or their ability to work unpaid hours. Yet, the traditional model of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL)—the rigid 9-to-5 placement, the city-centric internship—continues to inadvertently exclude the very students who need it most.

As we move towards 2026, the mandate for university leaders is clear: We must move from talking about “Widening Participation” to building infrastructure that guarantees Employability for All.

But how do you scale personalised, authentic industry experience to thousands of students without breaking your budget or your team?

This definitive guide breaks down the systemic barriers to equitable employability, the data behind the crisis, and a scalable, technology-driven framework to overcome them.

The Cost of Exclusion: What the Data Says (The “Why”)

International education is no longer a linear journey.

Political shifts, digital transformation, and changing student expectations have created a world where adaptation isn’t optional — it’s the measure of relevance.

Educators everywhere are asking the same thing: How do we prepare students for careers that don’t yet exist, using technologies we’re still learning to master?

The answer lies in three forces that now define modern learning: Artificial Intelligence, Experiential Learning, and Collaboration.

Together, they don’t just respond to change, they help us navigate it.

The Bottom Line: If your employability strategy relies solely on students “finding their own placement,” you are effectively designing a system that privileges the already privileged.

The 4 “Hidden” Barriers to Inclusive Industry Experience

To solve the employability crisis, we first need to dissect why traditional internships fail under-represented groups. Based on data from our work with over 100 institutions globally, these are the four distinct barriers blocking student success.

1.  The Geography Gap

   • The Problem: Traditional placements are clustered in CBDs (Central Business Districts). The Reality: For regional, rural, and remote students, taking a placement often means paying for travel or moving cities—a financial impossibility for many.
     • The Equity Implication: Geographic immobility is widely cited as a primary structural barrier to social mobility, creating a measurable “postcode penalty” for regional graduates.
     • The Solution: Virtual Industry Projects. By moving the experience online, a student in rural New South Wales can consult for a fintech startup in London, removing geography from the equation entirely.

2.  The “Time Poverty” Trap

   • The Problem: The “standard” internship is a full-time, 9-to-5 commitment for weeks at a time. The Reality: Many “Widening Participation” (WP) students balance full-time study with part-time jobs and caring responsibilities. They simply cannot afford to stop working to take on an unpaid placement.
     • The Solution: Asynchronous Project Work. Structured, team-based projects that allow students to contribute at 8 PM or 6 AM offer the flexibility required for true inclusion.

3. The Network Gap

   • The Problem: Success often depends on “who you know.” The Reality: First-generation students often lack the “inherited networks” that their more privileged peers use to secure placements.
     • The Solution: Democratized Client Access. Universities must stop relying on students to “find their own placement.” Instead, institutions must provide a guaranteed “scaffolded” introduction to employers through managed programs like Horizons Australia.

4. The Scalability Ceiling

   • The Problem: High-quality WIL is traditionally high-touch. It requires extensive staff time to source, vet, and manage employers. The Reality: Careers teams are stretched thin. Delivering high-touch experiences to 50 students is manageable; delivering them to 5,000 is impossible without technology.
     • The Solution: Experiential Learning Technology. Platforms like Practera automate the “heavy lifting”—feedback loops, content delivery, and progress tracking—allowing educators to focus on mentorship rather than administration.

Case Study: Scaling National Impact with Study Australia (SAIEP)

The 3-Step Framework to Implement “Employability for All”

How can your institution begin this transition? We recommend a three-phase approach.

Phase 1: The Audit (Identify the friction)

The Technology Enabler: Practera’s Horizons Program

“We aren’t just teaching students about work; we are giving them the agency to build their own professional identity in a safe, supported space.” — Kate Daubney PFHEA FRSA

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How does virtual WIL compare to traditional internships for employability?
A: Research shows that virtual WIL develops specific “future of work” skills—remote collaboration, digital communication, and agile project management—that traditional internships often miss. It offers comparable employability gains with significantly higher accessibility.

Q: Can this model work for First-Year students? 
A: Yes. In fact, “Employability for All” strategies suggest intervening early. Short, low-stakes industry projects in the first year build the “self-efficacy” students need to apply for high-stakes placements later in their degree.

Q: How do we fund Widening Participation initiatives like this?
A: Many institutions utilise HEPPP (Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program) funding or similar equity grants, as these programs directly address retention and success metrics for underrepresented cohorts.

Ready to break down the barriers at your institution?

“Employability for All” isn’t just a slogan. It’s a deliverable strategy.

We are currently partnering with forward-thinking Australian universities to roll out the Horizons initiative. If you want to see how this model fits your 2025 strategy:

Will the cart be leading the horse?

Exploring the impact of measuring placement activity on university employability strategies:

To enable analysis of the delivery of placements or activity abroad; to enable analysis of student mobility and placements; to monitor how this activity impacts on student attainment and graduate outcomes; to monitor the characteristics of students undertaking this activity.

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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So, what does make an impactful work-related activity that benefits graduate outcomes that is worth building an education strategy around? HESA have put some criteria in place by explicitly stating ‘off venue’ as part of the definition, and in my capacity as an Advisory Board Member for experiential learning provider Practera, I clarified with HESA recently that ‘off venue’ does include virtual work experiences (my thanks to the HESA Liaison team for this). Either way, an employer is involved, and experiences like that can be very productively co-created either directly with employers or with suppliers of pedagogically sound experiential learning experiences.

But if you are an institution who hasn’t got the financial and staffing resource to reinvent your education strategy in that way, what do you do? Well, what if – instead of a Spring Week type experience – an academic created a piece of authentic (or more varied means of) assessment where each learning outcome also intentionally developed a different transferable skill and didn’t only assess knowledge gain?

Given that these transferable skills are the same ones that employers are looking for, could we not just as reasonably say that this is work-related and has an impact on graduate employability and employment? A student who can, for example, articulate how they have developed their ability to define a problem, or construct a narrative from evidence, or apply a model in different contexts and has some interesting ways to demonstrate that through assessment is going to be able to talk confidently about how their degree has helped them prepare for a range of different workplaces, and demonstrate that self-awareness that employers are looking for. And that is going to have a positive effect on their ability to secure a good graduate outcome.

But we aren’t tracking approaches like that, because we aren’t working with a new data collection model that even asks us to think about using learning outcomes to help students develop their transferable skills and thus get more impact from their education in their chosen graduate employment outcome. I hope therefore that universities, particularly those without the resource to commit to creating work-related activities in curriculum, will not feel panicked by the OVA, and will instead remember that they already have everything they need in their existing curriculum to make a positive impact on students’ future employability.

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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Kate Daubney

Careers and Employability Consultant and Practera Advisory Board

Kate Daubney is a former academic and a former head of university careers services, and now acts as a consultant on education, careers education and employability strategies to universities in the UK and internationally. She is an Advisory Board Member for Practera and on the Board of Gyrfa Cymru Careers Wales.

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A Vital Imperative for Higher Education Educators

The Relevance of Skill Development in the Modern Workforce

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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Strategies and Best Practices for Higher Education Educators to Enhance Skills Development Through Work-Based Learning

• Curriculum Integration

  • Higher education institutions must integrate work-based learning seamlessly into their curricula. This requires creating flexible programs allowing students to engage in internships, co-ops, or apprenticeships without delaying graduation.

• Industry Partnerships

  • Building strong partnerships with industries is essential. Collaboration should extend beyond internships and involve curriculum development, joint research projects, and mentorship programs. This ensures that students are learning relevant and up-to-date skills.

• Holistic Student Support

  • To ensure equitable access, universities should offer comprehensive support services to help students secure work-based learning opportunities, regardless of their background or circumstances.

• Assessment and Feedback

  • Assessment in work-based learning should be formative and summative, providing students with constructive feedback. This continuous evaluation aids skill development and fosters a deeper connection between academia and industry.

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

• Students apply skills/knowledge to industry scenarios– Employers gain value-add insights and access to graduate talent
• Educators can offer inclusive work-based learning at lower cost, broader geographic reach and enhanced scalability
• Plus, Practera’s unique program structure guarantees feedback for your learners along with authentic industry touchpoints

What Does the Term Future of Leadership Mean, and How Does Student Industry Experience and Graduate Employability Impact it

The future of leadership refers to the evolving nature of leadership in the coming years, taking into account the changing global landscape, technological advancements, and shifting societal expectations. In today’s rapidly evolving world, the concept of leadership has taken on new dimensions and challenges. As industries, job markets, and working environments undergo significant transformations, it is crucial for educators and universities to give aspiring graduates the necessary tools and practices to develop skills and competencies to succeed in their chosen fields.

In this blog post, we will explore the future of leadership, with a specific focus on industry experience and its link to graduate employability and building future leaders.

Understanding the Future of Leading

The traditional notion of leadership, characterised by hierarchical structures and top-down decision-making, is undergoing a paradigm shift. The future of leading is rooted in adaptability, collaboration, virtual capabilities, ownership and innovation. Effective leaders of tomorrow must possess a diverse skill set that goes beyond technical expertise. They should be able to navigate uncertainty, inspire teams, drive change, be as impactful in person as virtually and embrace a global mindset.

Leadership in the future will require individuals to be comfortable with ambiguity and complexity. As technological advancements continue to reshape industries, leaders must be able to leverage emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and automation, to drive organisational growth and productivity. Moreover, the ability to lead diverse teams in virtual, hybrid, and remote scenarios in a culturally sensitive manner will become increasingly important as globalisation blurs boundaries and brings together people from different backgrounds and perspectives.

The Role of Industry Experience

While academic qualifications are undoubtedly important, industry experience plays a vital role in enhancing graduate employability.

While tertiary education plays a pivotal role in carving career paths, many employers note a need for work-ready skills among new graduates. In fact, a remarkable 83% of employers struggle to find suitable candidates due to a shortage of necessary skills, according to research done by NACE 2022 in the US.

Employers increasingly seek candidates who can hit the ground running and contribute immediately to their organisations. Practical experience gained through internships, co-op programs, or part-time jobs provides graduates a competitive edge.Industry experience allows individuals to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world contexts, enabling them to develop practical skills and gain insights into industry trends, challenges, and best practices. It helps graduates understand the nuances of their chosen fields, build professional networks, and establish credibility among potential employers.Moreover, industry experience fosters the development of essential leadership qualities. It offers opportunities for graduates to cultivate essential professional skills like problem-solving, adaptability, virtual teamwork, communication, and resilience – all crucial attributes for effective leadership in the future.

Linking Industry Experience to Graduate Employability

As the future of work becomes increasingly dynamic, graduate employability relies on integrating industry experience into academic programs. Employers often find that recent graduates have the technical knowledge required for their jobs but must gain essential professional skills required to succeed in the role. Employers expect new hires to have excellent communication skills, problem-solving abilities, critical thinking skills, and the ability to work in remote and in-person teams. Unfortunately, these skills are not always taught in traditional academic settings.

It is essential for educators and universities to understand the importance of professional skills and incorporate them into their curricula. Universities and educational institutions must adapt curricula to provide students with experiential learning opportunities that align with industry needs. Internship programs, industry projects, and collaboration with businesses should be an integral part of the educational journey. These initiatives enable students to gain practical skills, build professional networks, and develop a deep understanding of industry dynamics. By bridging the gap between academia and the workplace through industry experience, students can graduate with a strong foundation of real-world experience that enhances their employability prospects. Furthermore, fostering partnerships between educational institutions and industries creates a win-win situation. Employers gain access to a pool of well-prepared talent to meet industry demands. At the same time, students receive the necessary exposure and experience to thrive in their careers.

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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The Path to Success

In conclusion, the future of leadership is evolving to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world. Aspiring graduates, educators and universities must recognise the importance of industry experience in enhancing employability skills. By actively seeking out opportunities for practical learning, universities and educators can help their learners develop the skills, knowledge, and networks necessary to develop future leaders. Moreover, educational institutions and industries must collaborate to provide students with experiential learning opportunities, ultimately shaping the leaders of tomorrow who will drive innovation and success in their respective fields.

Remember, the future belongs to those willing to embrace change, adapt, and continuously learn. Are you ready to equip your learners with tools that take them to success?

How can Practera help?

Practera is a project learning technology enabled organisation that can connect learners with real-world learning opportunities, internships, work placements, and industry experience programs.

Enrolling in one of these programs will allow learners to gain in-demand skills employers are recruiting for and provide them with actual talking points for their CV/next job applications, participating & learning as a student consultant to solve various real-world business challenges from driving technological innovation, creating new funding opportunities, finding new market expansion pathways to encouraging sustainability.

If you’re a student, check out our government-backed student programs to sign up for free and kick-start your career.

If you’re an educator looking to boost your student’s chances of success or increase student engagement, you can try our industry experience program for free,  contact the Practera team, or download our white paper to learn more about project-based learning programs.

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Virtual internships involve adapting the traditional onsite internship model for the contemporary virtual world. COVID-19’s impacts have proven that leveraging innovative digital technologies – like Practera’s – allows educators, companies and students to continue their activities in a disrupted world. In fact, it has highlighted the many benefits of moving online – such as enhanced flexibility and cost and time savings.

What Is a Virtual Internship?

Virtual internship programs offer students and new graduates the opportunity to gain real-world, remote work experience with a company in their field, under the supervision of a professional mentor. Virtual interns work on authentic projects assigned by the organisation or company hosting them. 

Each internship involves tailored projects designed to enhance student skill development and employability, while also supporting a range of organisational goals – such as growth and innovation, identifying export opportunities, developing sustainable practices, and finding new funding sources.

Virtual internships are sometimes also known as remote internships or online internships. They are available across a huge variety of fields and industries, such as marketing, business, accounting, and international relations.

Who Can Apply For A Virtual Internship?

Any student can talk to their university about conducting a virtual internship. Some universities have a policy designed to promote equal opportunity access, allowing any student to participate in company projects and gain career-boosting skills and experience – irrespective of their age, faculty, degree program or location.

To ensure a virtual internship supports academic learning, it needs to be directly related to a student’s educational course. 

Can Any Business Accept Virtual Interns?

The short answer is yes – any company or organisation can host students on virtual internships. The business needs to offer students a safe learning environment and the opportunity to work on a project where they can apply their academic knowledge to an authentic work scenario. 

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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This typically involves working on a solution to a genuine challenge or situation the business is facing – such as how to implement an effective social media strategy or find new ways to reduce their environmental footprint. The business will also need to provide a professional mentor to give students guidance and feedback. 

How Can My Business Establish A Virtual Internship Program?

Establishing a virtual internship program may sound like another task to add to an already overloaded schedule. But with Practera’s help, the process is fast and easy. We’ll work alongside you to engage a team of talented students to explore opportunities in the marketplace and solve key challenges for your business or organisation.  

Here’s how it works:

• You choose a suitable project type from our list (or talk to us about what would work best for your business).
• Submit a project brief (this only takes 5-10 minutes to complete).
• We’ll assign a team of students to undertake your project.
• You review students’ work and provide online feedback (this takes approximately 60min/week over 2-3 weeks).
• You receive a market research report with recommendations.

Practera currently have a global network of over 2000 corporate, community and government partners providing learners with authentic work experiences. 

You can learn more or submit a project here.

The Benefits of Virtual Internships 

When conducted well, virtual internships have benefits for everyone involved.

Students

• Get to apply their academic learning to a real-world work situation
• Gain career-related and transferable skills and confidence
• Get to connect with potential future employers and professional peers 
• Boost their employability by adding relevant work experience to their resume
• Gain insight into current challenges and opportunities in their field
• Benefit from mentoring by a qualified professional
• Have greater flexibility to conduct an internship around their schedule
• Save time and money commuting to a workplace.

Educators

• Enhance student learning through real world experiences
• Differentiate your institution from your competitors
• Attract and retain students
• Add variety to your suite of pedagogical strategies 
• Build mutually beneficial networks with industry, government and community partners.

Businesses

• Gain access to teams of keen and talented students
• Upskill and reskill staff by providing mentoring experience 
• Identify graduate talent, saving time and money on hiring
• Get innovative solutions for key challenges
• Save time and money on market research 
• Discover insights to help with planning and decision-making
• Stay current with industry knowledge and trends
• Build helpful networks with universities.

University Involvement in Placing Students for Virtual Internships

For universities, finding student placements can be a huge drain on time and resources. With our global network of more than 2000 corporate, community and government partners, Practera makes it easy to provide learners with authentic work experiences such as virtual internships. We can help universities grow a healthy reputation and boost industry engagement while increasing scale and reducing delivery costs. 

How Can Practera Help with Virtual Internships?  

Working with Practera can allow organisations or institutions to set up virtual internships quickly and efficiently. Our innovative platform facilitates provision of a range of fully supported program types, across different durations and levels. Digitally enabled and scalable to thousands of learners, they provide authentic industry experience, feedback and connections for students.

We also offer managed services to help both set up your virtual programs and connect students with global leaders. By connecting with our team, you can make the most out of your student projects as we find the most suitable programs and offer continuous support with a dedicated program manager.

The success of your virtual internship program is assured with our ingenious platform. Featuring robust pedagogical design, it allows seamless learning delivery with engaging apps, feedback loops and artificial intelligence (AI) powered analytics.

Easily design custom virtual internships

A key feature of Practera’s platform is the ability to custom design programs. With Practera, you can author any type of experiential learning – including virtual internships – on the one intuitive and easy to use platform. To streamline the process, our system will guide you by asking the most important questions, enabling you to create powerful learning experiences tailored to both students and industry or community partners.

To make things even easier, you can start creating experiences with just a few clicks using our template library. Simply browse the learning library, pick the right experience type, then choose one of our high-quality templates – all created by expert learning designers – to get started. 

Engaging interface with research-backed design

Practera’s platform features an elegant, intuitive mobile-first interface that supports gamification and personalisation – thereby elevating learning engagement and outcomes. Closely aligned with Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, it is designed to utilise experiential learning loops associated with real world activity. Learners and industry partners are engaged in personalised, engaging workflows with structured content that supports application of theory to practice, feedback and reflection loops. 

Practera’s superpower is its ability to provide timely, relevant feedback using integrated support tools. Students give and receive personalised feedback from their mentors, peers and educators at key points to drive critical reflection, thereby deepening learning and improving performance. 

World-leading AI technology

Another key feature is our world-first artificial intelligence assistant designed specifically for experiential learning. Practera’s ELSA (Experiential Learning Support Assistant) monitors experiences 24/7 to provide real-time suggestions based on evidence from experiential learning science and practice. ELSA saves educators time and helps deliver better outcomes for students.

High-tech analytics facilitate program monitoring and quality assurance reviews. Real-time data dashboards identify the critical issues for experiential learning, enabling you to see any issues at a glance and respond before small problems escalate into bigger ones. 

And if you need any help with designing a virtual internship for your company or institution, Practera’s responsive team are available at projects@practera.com.

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Learn more on the benefits of gaining real-world experience in our ‘Effective Experiential Learning’ whitepaper

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Are you looking to boost graduate employment outcomes within your learning institution? Experiential learning is the answer.

But—you might be wondering—what is experiential learning, and how does it boost graduate employability? Is there any proof of a connection between the two?

We’ll answer these burning questions and more in this article. 

What is graduate employability?

Graduate employability is the ability of a student to find a job following graduation. More specifically, it is the degree to which students can use their skills and knowledge to find work.

A range of factors can affect graduate employability rates, including economic conditions, cost of living, job availability, graduates career prospects, and university prestige.

So, how can universities help students find employment after graduation with all these factors to consider? And at the same time, what can students do to improve their chances at securing work?

It’s all about employability skills.

With relevant skills, knowledge, and experience under their belt, students are well-equipped for finding work after graduation. 

Some examples of employability skills include:

• Conflict resolution,
• Learning agility,
• Teamwork and communication,
• Decision making,
• Critical thinking,
• Strategic planning,
• Problem-solving,
• Leadership
• Many more.

One of the best ways universities can instil employability skills in their students is through experiential learning. We’ll talk more about this educational approach in the next section of this article.

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Boost graduate employability with Practera and learn more about the importance of experiential learning today.

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What is experiential learning?

Experiential learning is a teaching method based on the idea that learning happens through experience. While it may seem like a fancy phrase for “learning by doing”, the approach is a proven educational philosophy surrounding the concept that students learn best when engaged in active, hands-on, meaningful, and relevant activities.

While you can apply experiential learning to many aspects of life, it’s becoming increasingly popular in higher education settings.

To help you better understand what experiential learning is, let’s walk through some examples.

1. Architectural students are learning about topography. Rather than researching the subject online, the students visit a real building site and physically take topographical land measurements using surveying equipment. In this way, the students gain real, hands-on experience with the subject, have higher retention rates, and will have a better chance at finding an architecture graduate job.
2. Art students are learning about anatomy. Instead of studying from a book, the students take life drawing classes and actively reflect upon and receive real-time feedback as they paint. In turn, the students learn to think critically and manage feedback about their work.

Recent studies have found that experiential learning and employment outcomes are deeply connected. For example, a 2014 study found experiential learning enhanced employability for business and management students, while a 2019 study found experiential learning improves employability, progression, and prospects of engineering graduates.

Ensuring the degrees you offer enable graduate employability

Regardless of a student’s course of study, there are ways to implement experiential learning. The examples in the section above are only two of the endless options available for universities hoping to improve graduate outcomes.

Ideally, the degrees your institution offers should provide students with real-world experiences relevant to their chosen careers. Of course, not all students studying the same course will have the same future plans—that’s why it’s critical to involve students in curriculum planning as much as possible.

With experiential learning approaches, students choose activities and topics relevant to their interests and preferred field. In this way, students absorb and retain information more readily and are equipped with their skills to find work after graduation.

We’ll go into more detail about how your institution can achieve these goals in the next section.

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Gain Experience & Skills Employers Are Recruiting For Today!

Enrol for free in Practera’s government-backed live programs to build your employability skills  

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3 ways universities can boost graduate employability

Let’s talk about three key ways universities can boost graduate employability.

1. Make your courses workforce-relevant

Many university courses focus on academic skills without clarifying how the skills relate to working life. To create employable graduates, institutions need to build job-ready skills and prepare students for the reality of the workforce.

One of the best ways to achieve this is through work-integrated learning (WIL), a branch of experiential education. Through WIL, students gain on-the-job experience through volunteering, internships, job simulations, or other forms of hands-on work.

2. Provide a dedicated portal to jump-start careers

Providing a dedicated portal is a fantastic way for universities and students to take control of employment outcomes. This portal could be a learning and employment hub where students can view relevant jobs for graduates, brush up on their hard and soft skills, and connect with employers, educators, and peers.

Practera’s experiential learning platform is an example of a dedicated portal that can help students jump-start their careers. Among other features, the platform streamlines connections between students and employers, helping them network and build lasting working relationships.

3. Double down on lifelong learning

Learning shouldn’t end when students graduate. It’s critical to instil an interest in lifelong learning within every student, helping them understand that upskilling is essential for career success.

The best way universities can achieve this is by giving students control and autonomy over their work, allowing them to guide their approach to their studies and gain confidence in their ability to learn new skills.

How experiential learning can boost graduate employability

There are two main approaches within the experiential learning sphere—work-integrated learning, which we discussed above, and project-based learning. These two approaches can boost graduate employability in distinct ways.

Through WIL, students gain skills deeply relevant to their chosen careers. They gain real, hands-on experience with their field of work and can network with industry experts and leaders.

On the other hand, through project-based learning (which involves engaging in hands-on, long-term projects), students can build skills relevant to work and everyday life. These abilities assist in preparing students for challenges they may face as they enter the working world and make them more appealing to potential employers.

How work-integrated learning works

Work-integrated learning is a type of experiential learning that allows students to get hands-on experience in their field of study. It also provides them with a chance to connect what they are learning in the classroom and what they are experiencing at work.

Universities can offer WIL through:

• In-person or virtual internships
• Work placements
• Work simulations
• Volunteer opportunities
• Fieldwork
• Work-related projects

Work-integrated learning for graduate employment

Implementing work-integrated learning to improve graduate employment outcomes is simple. It’s all about offering the right kind of WIL depending on the student’s preferred career path.

For example, engineering students could benefit best from fieldwork, while students seeking computer science graduate jobs might prefer work placements or internships. You should also consider each student’s unique learning style and offer opportunities to suit.

For help with choosing the best WIL opportunities to enhance employment outcomes, an experiential learning platform like Practera can help. 

How Practera can help learning institutions deliver powerful experiential learning opportunities

Practera offers a broad range of useful features through its dedicated learning platform, benefiting students, employers, institutions, and educators alike. Institutions can connect students with industry leaders and authentic experiences, projects, and internships through the platform.

Delivery is simple. Educators can choose from premade templates built around the best experiential learning opportunities or create a custom experience through Practera’s flexible configuration capabilities.

The platform also offers additional features like adaptive learning pathways, assessment management tools, peer review features, analytics, and much more, making it easier than ever for institutions to boost employment outcomes through valuable learning experiences.

Connect with our team today to adapt one of our authentic Student Industry Project themes to your program with our project-based learning managed service. Let us do the work of connecting your students with global industry leaders with a dedicated program manager by your side and work to find the project that best suits you and your students.

Kick start your experiential journey in 2022 with Practera today. To find out more, connect with our team for a discussion, undertake a demo or download our white paper here.