{"id":299,"date":"2025-09-09T16:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/qaa-curriculumreform\/?p=299"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:53:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:53:03","slug":"shaping-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/qaa-curriculumreform\/2025\/09\/09\/shaping-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping the Future: Creating Newcastle\u2019s Education for Life Skills and Attributes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Alison Williams and Michelle Black, Leading Edge Curriculum Leads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What does it truly mean to prepare students for life beyond university?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Newcastle University<\/a>, the Education for Life 2030+ Strategy<\/a> responds to this question by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

placing core skills and attributes at the heart of a university-wide commitment to preparing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

students for their futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Newcastle created the Education for Life Skills and Attributes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The development of Newcastle’s Education for Life Skills and Attributes emerged from a simple but<\/p>\n\n\n\n

powerful question: What kinds of graduates do we want to develop for the future?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question is familiar in higher education, but it has renewed urgency in the context of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

technological change, global disruption, social injustice, and the growing need for lifelong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learning. Underpinning our Education for Life 2030+ strategy is a fundamental commitment to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

support our students to be fit for their futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our task was to create a model that recognises the complexity of the challenges facing our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

students while offering a practical, inclusive and future-focused approach that can be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

embedded within and beyond every degree programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recognised that skills development was already happening in many places across our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

curriculum – but often only implicitly. The challenge was to make these opportunities more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

visible, intentional and equitable across all our programmes. We needed an approach that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

supported students to recognise and reflect on their skills and attributes development across<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their whole university journey, and to help academic teams to embed this meaningfully into<\/p>\n\n\n\n

their programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What shaped our thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The design process was informed by both scholarship and collaboration. We drew on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

international frameworks, employer insights, and sector-wide research to identify a rich set of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

capabilities that align with the needs of today\u2019s learners and tomorrow\u2019s workforce. This was<\/p>\n\n\n\n

paired with a wide-ranging process of co-creation involving academic and professional services<\/p>\n\n\n\n

colleagues, students, alumni, and governance groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, our thinking was given focus by Ehlers\u2019 (2024) triple helix model<\/a> of future-oriented<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learning, which conceptualises the development of learners across three interwoven domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

academic, personal, and professional. This approach provided us with the opportunity to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rethink skills and attributes development more holistically, inclusive of students\u2019 academic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

experiences as well as part-time work, clubs and societies, caring responsibilities and alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We adapted Ehlers’ model to suit our context, embedding it in a Newcastle-specific values-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

driven structure that reflects Newcastle\u2019s identity and aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Newcastle Growth Mindset Clusters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We structured our approach around our university\u2019s aspirational values – Excellence,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creativity, and Impact – which act as three growth mindset clusters for the skills and attributes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Positioned within the broader institutional strategy, they provided a foundation for clusters of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

skills and attributes that reflect the kind of mindset we want our students to develop as they<\/p>\n\n\n\n

learn, explore ideas, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each cluster includes five skills and attributes, giving a total of fifteen. This number reflects core<\/p>\n\n\n\n

skills and attributes identified in research and employer literatures as essential for future<\/p>\n\n\n\n

graduates. We don\u2019t expect all students to develop all fifteen; instead, we will support<\/p>\n\n\n\n

colleagues to make intentional, discipline-relevant choices so students can identify, explore,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apply and reflect on their skills and attributes throughout their university journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A student-centred, values-led approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our aim is coherent yet flexible – aligning with diverse disciplines, levels of study, and delivery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

modes while centring students\u2019 future needs. By embedding growth mindset clusters, we o er<\/p>\n\n\n\n

more than transferable skills; we provide a model that fosters empowered, purposeful learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our approach is student-facing and student-led, with the fifteen skills and attributes visible in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

programme documentation, surfaced in teaching, and reflected upon throughout the student<\/p>\n\n\n\n

journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Newcastle’s Education for Life Skills and Attributes approach is more than a checklist – it is a long-term<\/p>\n\n\n\n

commitment to embedding future-facing learning in every programme. As we implement it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

across the University, we aim to support students to become confident, creative, and capable<\/p>\n\n\n\n

graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a core part of the Leading Edge Curriculum Framework, it combines scholarship, co-design,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and our institutional values to shape a distinctive educational experience \u2013 one that ensures <\/p>\n\n\n\n

students are fit for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Alison Williams<\/a> is Dean of Postgraduate Research at Newcastle University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Black<\/a> is Learning Design & Curriculum Development Advisor at Newcastle University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Alison Williams and Michelle Black, Leading Edge Curriculum Leads What does it truly mean to prepare students for life beyond university? 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