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Aligning HE
Aligning higher education with the world of
with the world of work work
Ruth Helyer
Department of Academic Enterprise, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
95
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine UK higher level skills gaps. UK universities now
have many students who were already learning at a higher level about, for, or through, their activities
at work, and have decided to formalise this via a higher education (HE) programme; for these students
learning mostly takes place away from the university and is sometimes categorised as “work-based”.
Due to the increasingly flexible and hybrid profile of all contemporary students it is more realistic to
align those undertaking work-based study with those choosing more traditional study routes, as all
students need to enhance their workplace and life skills in order to better fit them for employment and
life after university. There are blurred, not solid, boundaries between the differing kinds of students
and between working and studying, and it is useful and productive to acknowledge this continuum.
Design/methodology/approach – A researched overview of relevant policy, data and literature
including a research project into higher level skills gaps.
Practical implications – Employers cite the crucial nature of employability and subject-based skills
and the need for employees who understand how to learn, and furthermore how to build upon and
maximise the usefulness of what they learn by making connections and solving problems.
Originality/value – The paper shows how HE is shifting, due to demographics, an evolving world
picture and a tough economic climate. Technological advances intensify globalisation causing rapid
changes and greater competition for jobs and resources. The pressure on HE graduates is greater than
ever before. The Government states that individuals require skills with a high economic value and to
be prepared to undertake jobs in industries which do not exist yet; they must be changeable and
adaptable to meet the challenges of the jobs market and willing to continuously develop themselves.
Keywords Higher education, United Kingdom, Work-based learning, Skills,
Continuous development, Government policy
Paper type Research paper

UK higher education (HE) is usually credit-bearing with a discernible worth attached

to it, recognised globally as a “brand”. HE awards are widely renowned with a reputation
for quality and rigour; they imply research, theory and world-class pedagogy. Studying
at HE level has traditionally followed secondary and college education within a
university – predominantly away from the student’s place of habitation. In recent years,
this has changed with FE colleges also offering HE as well as the development of many
distance-learning opportunities. There are also “for-profit” institutions. The spiralling
costs of HE study have meant that many more students now choose to remain in
their hometown. HE was originally for the young, but its culture of developing the
whole person has led to it attracting students of all ages and backgrounds. Inevitably
these older, often employed, students operate more professionally and can be more
demanding than their predecessors; universities operating in the 21st century have to
be customer-focused and offer their consumers value for money. There is more
awareness of legal obligation in an increasingly litigious society; the government now
require clear, somewhat contractual, labelling of HE qualifications in respect of, for Higher Education, Skills and Work-
example, tutor contact hours and what kind of employment the student can expect to Based Learning
Vol. 1 No. 2, 2011
use their qualification in, encouraging an ever more consumer mentality in students. pp. 95-105
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Universities were classically viewed as autonomous “seats of learning”, housing 2042-3896
subject experts who transmitted knowledge to pupils in timetabled tutorials and DOI 10.1108/20423891111128872
HESWBL lectures, on site, using set texts from a pre-decided syllabus. This content-heavy
1,2 position has shifted considerably in recent years with a growing amount of negotiated
and personalised interaction between students and lecturers; and theories like
postmodernism questioning the strength held by “grand narratives” and suggesting
a blurring of formerly rigid boundaries (see Lyotard, 1984). Higher education
institutions (HEIs) historically determined what would be legitimately classed as
96 knowledge; the curriculum was laid down in advance, stating a canon of material to
be covered. The insinuation was that there was a “set” way of succeeding on a
subject-based course; knowledge would trickle downwards towards an empty
recipient, in a classroom setting, on a full-time basis, over a set period of weeks and
years. This “learning” would be typically assessed by essays and examinations.
Contemporary and future methods of learning, teaching and assessment need to go
way beyond this if they are to fulfill the complex needs of society. Service learning,
a form of experiential learning that combines academic coursework with voluntary
service in the community, provides an interesting example of appropriate learning
activities for today’s HE students (Deeley, 2010). Similarly, Robyn Muldoon, at the
University of New England, Australia, has undertaken research into the effect of
employment (while studying) on graduate skills and claims that, on the whole,
workplace activity enhances the student’s higher level professional and personal
development (Muldoon, 2009).
As Gibbons et al. (1994, p. 37) suggest, “The bounds of the intellectual world and its
environment have become blurred”. When new higher level knowledge is produced
outside of the university, a more active style of learning is involved and it is difficult
to separate the learning from the activity; learning occurs during work activity, as well
as sometimes being brought to the workplace and then applied – Gibbons describes
these distinctly different styles as Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge, but they may be
effectively combined. Similarly, Biggs (2003) claims that something personal is
constructed from work activity, which encourages further learning. The precise nature
of what is learned is influenced by many factors including the learner’s, motives,
intentions, previous learning and previous knowledge. Work-based students bring
learning, ideas and expertise to academia with them, they are not blank canvases –
they are already in possession of knowledge and keen to build on it. They have
professional knowledge (which, if of a specialist nature, sometimes exceeds that of
the lecturers they encounter) and are usually operating at levels higher than any
existing formal qualifications suggest. When these learners apply their workplace and
life learning in an academic setting, they create a powerful synergy – an opportunity
that should be embraced and built upon by HE, not treated as suspect.
Students have grown to expect a study route that provides a personalised
opportunity to progress; if it is about their own work and how they learn, then a
didactic style of teaching has little to offer. Work-based learning (WBL) programmes
are usually negotiated and driven by a personal learning contract, increasing
individuality and appropriateness. This attitude to learning requires changes in the
established formats and methods of HE, whilst retaining established strengths, such
as the development of intellectual, personal, critical and analytical skills, which clearly
support and complement a working students’ practical skills and knowledge. New
skills for new jobs (European Commission, 2010) focuses on future skills needs and
sustainable skills growth by suggesting that education and training opportunities
are developed in ways that converge with the realities of the workplace and it is this
convergence which will offer HE students the best learning experience possible.
 The numbers of non-traditional students undertaking HE-level study have increased Aligning HE
significantly in recent years, with the UK having the highest percentage of part-time with the world of
students and the highest average age for students in the EU (Watson, 2009, p. 4).
Many factors have influenced this, such as: widening participation offering equalised work
opportunities, an ageing UK population and workforce, the economic and employment
markets, for example jobs requiring graduate status have increased considerably over the
years, thus requiring older, already employed students to undertake HE-level study for 97
parity against new workplace entrants, technological developments, globalisation and so
on. A diverse student body requires HEIs to acknowledge and build upon non-traditional
educational experience which students already hold at HE level. This has led to an
increase in the use of articulation of achievement and accreditation of company in-house
training, both practices that often offer advanced standing, and therefore affect admission
processes. Occasionally this may simply involve the certification of learning that has
already taken place – with little, if any, campus attendance, placing the HEI in the position
of facilitator. This challenges notions of the academy as the holder of knowledge and
requires some re-thinking about what graduateness is, if it can be achieved without the
traditional, all-round, on-campus, university experience.
Building relationships with different kinds of students (and often now with their
employers) challenges a culture more accustomed to acting in established ways, but it
contributes to the unavoidable evolution of HE. Working with employers and
employees sharpens HE’s responsiveness to the development and/or delivery of
learning opportunities relevant for the 21st century, prescient, bespoke, negotiated,
adaptable and often multi-disciplinary. The best of these opportunities are also
reciprocal – in that both the academy and business gain from the relationship.
Knowledge transfer partnerships provide a good example of this; both the university
and the company benefit from increasing knowledge and expertise (for further
information see – www.tees.ac.uk/sections/business/knowledge_transfer.cfm).
Similarly, work-based learners often bring a good deal of expertise to share with the
academy as they are operating in positions of authority at work (see Helyer, 2010 for more
detailed profiles of work-based learners). This is why work-based HE-level activity is
genuinely student-focused, with the emphasis on what the student knows already and
what they want/need to learn now; it is not about offering only “off-the-shelf” courses. The
boundaries around where the knowledge lies and how it will be shared and built upon are
distinctly blurred. When these students connect with the academy (whether physically or
virtually), they are already in possession of knowledge, expertise and skills. What they
require of an HEI is a partnership in which what they know can be built upon and used,
as Burns and Costley (2003, p. 45) suggest, “These learners already have intellectual
capital, what they seek from HEIs is not so much factual knowledge as ways to research
and develop knowledge, reflect and evaluate situations and think autonomously”.
HE study occurs at a sophisticated level and should test those who engage with it;
however, it becomes more complex logistically for students who spend the majority of
their time in the workplace. Compounding this lack of time, they often have no recent
experience of official “education” which can create a need for instant assistance with
acadgemic writing, presentation, note-taking, literature reviews and so on. Yorke and
Knight summarise such learners (employed, mature, etc.) as:
[S]tudents who might not otherwise have entered higher education (who) may well be faced
with bridging a larger cultural and pedagogical gap than those for whom entry would
typically be taken as the “natural course of events”. Students with lower levels of “cultural
capital” (Yorke and Knight, 2006, p. 11).
HESWBL These students are learning through their work and lives in an ongoing manner
1,2 and this learning can easily be the equivalent to HE (levels articulated via level
descriptors); however, this learning is rarely formalised via any kind of discourse,
evidence production or validation process. Operating successfully in the workplace
utilises the knowledge accumulated from actions and experience that lies deep within
(tacit knowledge) – so deep it is usually taken for granted and unacknowledged,
98 but is used every day to make instinctive decisions. Michael Eraut (1994) and also
Robert Toynton (2005) discuss the subtle nuances between the tacit, that which is
implicitly acknowledged and referred to, rather than that which is explicitly pointed
out, Toynton points out the particular importance of tacit knowledge for mature
students and incidental learning (Toynton, 2005, p. 108).
WBL programmes utilise the same levels of academic rigour as comparable taught
courses. It is a different but not easier or lesser way of obtaining an HE qualification; in
many ways, it is a more demanding route as students must be self-motivated and
independent – they cannot wait until their course “teaches” them those skills but rather
they need to be practitioners of continuous professional and personal development
(CPD) from the outset. Furthermore, with much less in the way of fixed timetable
and content, it is far harder to study strategically, i.e. learn and repeat by rote. WBL
programmes regularly achieve above average percentages of first and upper second
classifications, due to the motivated students they attract. Many different (not
work-based) HE programmes now acknowledge what students are learning at and
through work. These students may be progressing towards a degree (bachelors-
doctorate) or a much shorter award; the course might be delivered on a university
campus, at the student’s place of work, online – or by some combination of these
methods. Lester and Costley (2010) discuss the tensions that exist between the
demands and opportunities of workplace and the necessity for capable practice,
personal development and academic validity; maintaining that well-designed work-
based programmes are both effective and robust. See sites below for some examples
of these specifically work-based courses; however, all HE-level courses should
address the practical application of their content in a working situation: www.
tees.ac.uk/sections/parttime/work_based_studies.cfm; www.chester.ac.uk/wblu; www.
northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/ar/lll/lla/mod/; www.derby.ac.uk/online; www.mdx.ac.
uk/wbl
There are obvious advantages to employed students in undertaking some/most of
their university-level learning off-campus; fitting their learning needs around the
demands of their work and/or family and being able to study at their own pace and at
times, and in convenient locations, rather than following a rigid timetable, to name a
few. This flexibility encourages programmes of study designed around the interests
and concerns of the student’s own workplace and professional practice; therefore,
combining relevant academic and theoretical knowledge with work-based skills, this
leads to creating and sharing cutting edge, innovative practice. Company training
personnel might be involved, indeed they may deliver courses, and similarly experts
from the company may come to the university campus as guest lecturers or to deliver
master classes (see, e.g. www.tees.ac.uk/sections/news/pressreleases_story.cfm?
story_id ¼ 3162&this_issue_title ¼ September%202009&this_issue ¼ 196). Such
initiatives are truly collaborative between HEIs and commercial businesses
(like the knowledge transfer partnerships mentioned above) but also between
internal departments, schools and faculties as many of these courses are
interdisciplinary.
 The content of WBL programmes is negotiated to ensure that it is bespoke enough Aligning HE
for the employer/employee and yet rigorous enough to be classified as HE. There is with the world of
often very little in the way of a set curriculum and empty framework style
qualifications are increasingly popular – they have some generic content/core modules work
but mostly consist of empty, shell-like modules, constructed to be populated with
appropriate material. Shrewdly written modules can fulfill a multiplicity of needs
as there are many appropriate ways to meet aims and outcomes. This plasticity 99
delights as many as it horrifies; however, such time and resource-saving initiatives
make sense when what learners require is, “curriculum at the speed of light”
(a respondent from the digital media sector to a recent survey about higher level skills,
Helyer and Lee, 2010, p. 34).
The point of this survey, undertaken in the North East of England, was to ascertain
higher level skills gaps in certain key sectors. The survey and interview responses
highlighted some important issues and backed up Bill Rammell’s description of how
HE and business need to work together, “Universities need to help organisations
through knowledge exchange [y], by supplying skilled graduates and post-graduates
and by providing high level skills for those already in the workforce” (Department
of Innovation, Universities and Skills, 2008, p. 4). This emphasis on developing the
workforce, new and existing, is tied to fears for the UK’s future profitability and
wealth, “Human capital directly increases productivity by raising the productive
potential of employees” (HM Treasury, 2000, p. 26), and means that HEIs’ funding
streams in recent years have been influenced by their work with employers and
employees and government policies have focused on increasing the number of adults in
the UK with qualifications at level four and above:
40 per cent of the adult population qualified to Level 4 and above, (by 2020) up from 29 per cent
in 2005, with a commitment to continue progression. Widening the drive to improve the UK’s
high skills to encompass the whole working-age population, including 18-30 year olds; a total
of 5.5 million attainments over the period (Leitch, 2006, p. 14).
Whilst some of the aims of the Leitch review have been questioned [e.g. UK
Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), 2009], it remains unchallenged
that UK PLC is under-skilled when compared to its counterparts in the OECD. One
of the Leitch review’s main aims was for 40 per cent of UK adults to be qualified to L4
by 2020 (29 per cent in 2005) and current figures suggest that this aim should be
achieved. However, many of the other predictions of the review are unlikely to happen.
This includes the UK raising its global position to within the top eight countries in the
world, at every skill level, by 2020, i.e. being in the top quartile of the OECD countries.
“Ambition 2020” (UKCES, 2009) suggests that this would require more than 20 million
new qualifications to be obtained.
Professionals involved in the development and delivery of HE-level learning
must use innovative and evolving pedagogies and practices to develop the UK
workforce, over 70 per cent of those who will constitute the UK workforce of 2020
have already left compulsory education (Leitch, 2006). WBL is an attractive option for
this constituency; however, it is equally important that all degrees explicitly address
transferable employability and life skills (see Little, 2011 for further discussion).
Students need to be able to point out and exemplify to future employers what they have
learned through HE study over and above subject content; it is not enough to insert
employability skills silently and implicitly into the curriculum, they need to be obvious,
contextualised and preferably continue from where previous schooling left off. In
HESWBL “Ready to grow”, the CBI state that 70 per cent of employers surveyed wanted to
1,2 see the UK government making the employability skills of young people one of their
top priorities (CBI, 2010, p. 6). There is some evidence from the USA to support the
usefulness of this, suggesting that by equipping young adults with work-related
skills and introducing them to WBL a high level of workplace identity and efficiency is
promoted (Raelin, 2010).
100 Employability is a mix of essentials that can differ from job to job. Adaptability
and versatility are key; it is unlikely that 21st century workers will hold one position,
or even one occupation, for their working lives. They will work for longer than
previous generations and in changing circumstances; this need for re-invention
requires a receptive and self-aware person and employability skills need to be honed
and enhanced to cope with this (Helyer, 2007). These skills include analysis, critical
debate, making connections, reading and researching widely, creativity, imagination
and entrepreneurship. In his “Higher education speech”, Vince Cable (Secretary of
State for Business, Innovation and Skills) tries to summarise the generic skills to be
gleaned from undertaking HE, “[y] learning how to learn, learning how to think;
intellectual curiosity; the challenge and excitement of new ideas [y]” (Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills, 2010).
Central to coping with the swift changes in the workplace is the individual’s ability
to be reflective. WBL programmes inevitably involve a personal and professional
“stock-take” and much of the pedagogy hinges on active reflection and self-awareness.
Courses commence with an audit using processes such as the Accreditation of Prior
Learning (APL) (for further details see: www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/apl/
default.asp) to acknowledge appropriate learning already undertaken; this develops
reflective individuals who value, acknowledge and build upon their past, present and
future learning to become practitioners of CPD and lifelong learning whilst operating
as better informed employees on a day to day basis. APL is usually a positive, if
challenging, experience:
. It empowers by encouraging the strategic gathering of evidence about prior
learning, hence focusing on strengths, perhaps formerly taken for granted.
. It measures existing learning against an HEI’s level descriptors, proving that
operating in the workplace can be compared to HE study.
. It increases a student’s feelings of confidence.
. It requires students to negotiate and manipulate the HE credit system –
including understanding how many credits at each level are required to obtain
their award and the size, shape, value and relationship to each other of various
modules.
. Ideally it should be made available to ALL students.

WBL courses include a formalised element of personal development planning; all

students will benefit from this kind of activity, although more traditional courses have
been slower to see the benefits (for further information see, www.heacademy.ac.uk/
ourwork/teachingandlearning/pdp). Active reflection is an important skill in an
accelerated world and jobs market (there is an extensive body of theory around active
reflection encompassing the work of D.A. Kolb, D. Schon, D. Boud, J. Moon and more).
All students should be encouraged to see a commitment to learn, improve and fulfill
their potential at a higher level as “investing in themselves”, realising that although
they will perform better in the workforce they will also be better citizens – more Aligning HE
valuable to their families, friends and communities. WBL acknowledges the way that with the world of
high-level learning happens and is utilised in many places, “The process of ‘marrying’
academic skills within ‘real life’ circumstances brings theory out of the classroom, right work
onto the desk in the office, onto the shop floor, or wherever individuals seek to build and
use knowledge” (Nikolou-Walker, 2007, p. 539, italics in original).
Critically reflecting on work activities, as part of continuously evaluating, reviewing 101
and improving performance, satisfaction and results, encourages necessary changes to
workplace practices. Personal performance is improved along with the overall
performance of organisations. David Gray cites reflecting actively and usefully as a
process which generates the development of “a dynamic synergy and dialectic between
academic learning and work-based practice” Gray (2001, p. 24). Joseph A. Raelin (2010)
offers an interesting US perspective on this, suggesting that whilst US institutions have
embraced WBL, they have been slower to appreciate the educational power of active
reflection. Critical reflection instigated by an academic course of study can be usefully
formalised into reports, essays, journals, logs or diaries and is often a central part of WBL
core modules, where short reflective essays might be required as part of the module’s
assessment strategy. These essays often form a file of reflection which is a useful
enhancement to the HE progress file and initiatives such as the Higher Education
Achievement Record (see www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/diversity/achieve/). In work-based
degree programmes, the acknowledging of what has been, is being and will be learned
and achieved is central. Students look backwards, forwards, through and across their
experience. This approach to learning, like postmodern theory, can be seen as
simultaneously liberating, because of the opportunities it offers, and disquieting, as it
removes boundaries and the “safety” boundaries claim to bring (Helyer, 2007).
Postmodern theory aligns with several aspects of WBL, for example the postmodern
belief that knowledge is fragmented and hard to categorise and furthermore involves
reflection (especially in a non-linear way) and constant updating. However, in an
unavoidable paradigm shift, postmodernism itself is giving way to new cultural
dominants, for example, digimodernism, a product of globalisation, computerisation and
the digital revolution (Kirby, 2010). Digimodernism further develops the postmodern ideas
around onwardness, haphazardness and fluid boundaries, and offers parallels to like WBL
theory that acknowledges the vital importance of being adaptable and open to change.
Students’ employment may be part or full time, paid or unpaid (voluntary, family
business, so on), self-employment and/or business owner, seasonal or contract work.
As well as being employed they want to expand their qualifications, improve their
career prospects, justify their role in the workplace, achieve a long-held personal wish
or react to a catalytic event in their life (Helyer, 2010, p. 13). Employed students have
multifaceted lives, and commitments (family, work, community) and can usually only
attend the campus outside of “office hours” (some employers might offer “day release”),
obviously this has an impact on the availability of tutors and resources and can create
feelings of isolation and “not belonging”. Typically virtual learning environments such
as blackboard and other technological tools are relied upon to deliver course material,
offer contact with other students and provide pastoral support. The vast technological
capacity of the internet means that all learners now believe that if they do not know
something they do know how to find out; it is not usually by asking a lecturer or going
to the library. With a minimum amount of computing expertise students can study at
home, at work and even when working away from home in other parts of the UK and
the world. As Digimodernism (Kirby, 2010) suggests, technology develops rapidly, web
HESWBL 2.0 tools are a prime example of this with the recent proliferation of social networking
1,2 options, all focused on instantaneous human interaction, sharing knowledge and
information, working and learning collaboratively and being up-to-date and
innovative. Blogs, wikis, RSS, podcasts, social bookmarking and social networking
sites such as delicious Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are now household names (see
McClenaghan and Young, 2010 for further information).
102 These technological advances are vitally important to HE students as skilled
practitioners are required in every occupational sector and, as this quotation from
the Work Foundation suggests, these are the skills which cross boundaries and allow
learners to be useful in multiple workplaces and scenarios, “the knowledge economy is
challenging existing sectoral boundaries – either the sector concept is largely
irrelevant (the low carbon economy) or cuts across boundaries (the creative industries
and ‘manu-services’)” (The Work Foundation, 2010, p. 33). HE-level workplace-focused
study enhances relevant job-specific qualifications because it also develops the
rounded qualities which future jobs and industries (some not even in existence yet)
will need and furthermore which employers state they are looking for, the mix of
cognitive and non-cognitive skills needed in order to fully develop and respond
to the challenges and opportunities of the workplace, the home and the community.
A high proportion of research participants to the Tees Valley survey (Helyer and
Lee, 2010, p. 34) from different work sectors ranging from petrochemicals to digital
media, identified generic training delivered with a sector-specific slant as the most
appropriate to current and future skills development. Key areas requested included:
. leadership and management;
. business development (for growth and diversification);
. sales and negotiation skills;
. problem solving;
. communication skills;
. finance (in context);
. marketing;
. IT and software training;
. legal issues – intellectual property, copyright and so on; and
. innovation.
The survey respondents, on the whole, were aware that their success depended on staff
development that covered generic and sector or job-specific skills, all of which had to
illustrate their relevance. Most felt that they were the best placed to provide the most
specific knowledge but the idea of this being in a relationship with an HEI was
appealing. It is typical for a work-based student to undertake a large work-based
project rather than a dissertation. This is a good example of providing relevance to the
company as the project will investigate a real issue and, like all learning, will result in
changes; students can make a discernible difference to the workplace practices
of themselves and their colleagues. These projects repeatedly increase company
profitability and because of this WBL has become positively associated with
organisational change. There has been pressure in recent years for HEIs to prove the
impact of their research; these are the kind of activities which do just that.
 Relevance to “real” workplace activities was quoted by respondents to the Tees Aligning HE
Valley survey (Helyer and Lee, 2010) as crucial to whether employers would pay with the world of
the fees for HE-level education and furthermore allow staff time away from the
workplace to undertake necessary sessions. Bearing in mind the recent cuts in funded work
HE student places, offering tailored programmes at full cost to employers could offer
a way to gain new students. The success of this would hinge upon strategic and
ongoing relationship building between HE and business. As stated in “New industry, 103
new jobs” , “We require a skills system that not only responds to demand but is
also able to anticipate future growth in the economy” (Department for Business,
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2009, p. 15) and to develop and successfully use
such a system ongoing and meaningful dialogue is fundamental, as one respondent
commented, “We need more training providers who are prepared to talk to businesses
and ask what our needs are” (manufacturing sector). The conversation needs to be
continuous to be valuable; jobs and skills are evolving all the time, “a graduate today
can fully expect to still be in the world of work in 2058. The one thing that we can be
certain of is that we will be applying skills that we haven’t even thought of today”
(Gilleard, 2010).
Using knowledge to its fullest potential involves implementation, performance and
continuous enhancement with practitioners who focus on what they do but also why
and how they do it, underpinned by theory. This blurs traditional ideas of where
learning takes place, but HE’s major characteristics can be identified, wherever
HE-level learning occurs: it awards credit which values, describes, measures and
recognises all learning (at level), it develops intellectual and personal skills together
with specific knowledge in key areas, it improves the many facets of every individual
student with holistic programmes, courses and modules, it acknowledges and validates
skills, knowledge, experience, work practice, it facilitates learning which transforms
and improves lives, it is challenging, innovative, even uncomfortable – because it
inevitably causes disruption by including re-thinking and changing. Most importantly,
HE claims to offer all of this to everyone who stands to benefit from it. Can this be
achieved by offering finite courses and materials in the same ways, from the same
buildings? Employed learners tend to take responsibility for their own learning and
their own time management. HE has always claimed to produce learners like this;
independent self-starters, creative and intellectually curious, capable of thriving with
minimal tutor contact – HE should not simply be “big school”, or somewhere to pass
the time for three years. The employed student below emphasises just how important it
is for the academy to evolve:
If anybody is actually thinking, “oh, I can’t do it, it’s not for me” [y] I would just say go for it
because you can do it. [y] Everybody is capable of so much more than they settle for, and if
you only take that extra step to overcome your fears, it’s [y] a brilliant challenge that opens
up so many aspects of your life you wouldn’t believe it (Graduate, Teesside University WBS
programme).

Employers need individuals who are creative and dynamic, who can think “out of the
box” (clichéd, but true), welcome challenges and, as the student above discovered, reap
the benefits of pushing outside of usual comfort zones. The HE experience should be a
holistic one, embracing the widely varying contexts in which knowledge is produced,
gained, built upon and used and this stretches beyond academia to encompass work,
social and community uses, adding value to the many facets of its students’ lives as
they become talented and trained individuals.
HESWBL References
1,2 Biggs, J. (2003), Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the Student Does, 2nd ed., Society
for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, Maidenhead.
Burns, G. and Costley, C. (2003), “Non-traditional students and 21st century higher education”, in
Knowledge, Work and Learning: Conference Proceedings of the Work-Based Learning Network
of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning, compiled by D. Hollifield and issued on
CD, Cardiff.
104 Confederation of British Industry (CBI) (2010), “Ready to grow: business priorities for education and
skills”, London, available at: www.cbi.org.uk/pdf/2010-cbi-edi-ready-to-grow-business-
priorities-for%20education-and-skills.pdf (accessed 23 April 2011).
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About the author

Ruth Helyer is Head of Workforce Development (Research and Policy) at Teesside University. Her
research interests encompass all aspects of business-facing activity from an academic
perspective. She recently edited and contributed to The Work-based Learning Student Handbook
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Other recent publications include, “Hybrid HE: knowledge, skills
and innovation” with Dionne Lee and Adrian Evans in The Work Based Learning E-Journal,
Middlesex University (Jan 2011). Ruth was formerly the programme leader of Teesside
University’s Work-based Studies Programme and has a particular interest in producing such
tailored programmes for employed learners; before this she lectured and published in the field of
English Studies. Ruth Helyer can be contacted at: r.helyer@tees.ac.uk

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