Employment Ready Assessment Strategies

In the wider context of the United Kingdom Higher Education climate, several challenges intersect to increase the focus on employment readiness of graduating students. The focus on the B3 Graduate Employment metrics (OFS,2023) , the rising interest in apprenticeship approaches (gov.uk, 2026) and the concerns around the impact of Artificial Intelligence on assessment (Fyfe, 2023), leads to enhanced opportunity for innovative development of strategies to enhance employability and future proof programs. Finding the balance between traditional academic writing skills and practical, skills driven and employment ready assessments, requires looking at the assessment diet of individual students across their program to enable them to develop these approaches in tandem. Simulations, scenarios, case studies and reports are all considered in the context of the employability potential of graduates and good practice in all of these areas can support learning in all programs (Segbenya et al., 2023). Contextual learning and assessment in both formative and summative formats can be used to enhance the student experience as well as supporting positive B3 outcomes for institutions.