Importance of Employability skills Afshan BakshHead of Higher Education & International DevelopmentHarrow College

Difference between Soft, Key, Basic, Functional and Essential Skills

Introduction: Experience, knowledge & expertise

• 16 years experience of education, working mainly with students aged 19+

• Teaching and management within education• Harrow College – Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training – I both

teach and manage this area in the college• 4 years experience of working with international partners to support skills

development (China, India, Tanzania, Tunisia, US)• Mentoring/coaching managers in the education sector since 2008• Consultancy work on behalf of the Learning & Skills Improvement

Service (a national agency which focuses on skills development and quality within the post 16 education sector)

Basic Skills, Functional Skills (Essential Skills)

Basic Skills Key Skills (Essential Skills)

For Adults (age 19 or more) For young adults (aged 16-18)

• Subjects taught & examined separately and not related to any context

o Literacyo Numeracyo Mathso ICT

• A range of essential skills that underpin success in education, employment, lifelong learning and personal development

• Subjects contextualisedo Communication skillso Application of numbero Information technology skillso Problem-solving skillso Team workingo Improving one’s own learning and

performance

Functional Skills

•Skills needed for English, maths and ICT vital for young people and adults to participate in life, learning and work

•Feature in most educational and training choices.

•An essential, compulsory element in apprenticeships

•Development of Functional Skills seen by the Government as essential to address employers' concerns that young people and adults are not achieving a firm enough grounding in the basics.

•Functional Skills strengthen and bring consistency to learning routes for young people and adults

•Have replaced basic and key skills.

Soft Skills

• Skills for Employment (Employability Skills)

• Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which are about a person’s skills set and ability (technical knowledge and competency)

• personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits

• Graduates, however well qualified, need to be able to demonstrate a set of soft skills. Hard skills will get you an interview but it's soft skills that get you a job.

Activity – discuss one or more of the following:

• What skills do you look for when you are interviewing?

• Would you hire someone because you felt they had potential and would be successful even thought they did not have the appropriate qualifications or knowledge?

• What are the top 3 skills you would need to be at the top of your career?

Feedback & Summary

Afshan BakshHead of Higher Education & International Development

abaksh@harrow.ac.uk