This article explores student attitudes towards employability skills development in higher education. The analysis draws on a questionnaire survey undertaken with 60 undergraduates studying for a single honours social policy degree and a combined honours social policy/sociology degree in one post-1992 University in London. The survey investigates students' perceptions of skills provision, and their preferences for the development and the assessment of employability skills. The findings show that the majority of students consider the development of subject knowledge and employability skills of equal importance. There is clear support for an institutional strategy and an integrated model for the enhancement of employability skills. The overall results support the development of employability skills within the situated learning approach.
Curriculum development; employability skills; social policy programmes; student perceptions