General transferable skills: student perceptions

(Transcript of a section of the General transferable skills report, 1998)

The project wanted to test the notions of general transferable skills developed in consultation with academic staff against the experience of recent graduates. To this end, a questionnaire survey was conducted of LLB graduates from the University of Leeds. The cohort of 1992 was chosen because, by 1997, they would have established themselves in their careers. In addition, some focus group discussions were held for trainee solicitors in Leeds, Sheffield and London.

Although small scale, these two exercises give some general indications of the way general transferable skills and legal skills training on the Legal Practice Course LPC) fit into the employment experience of recent graduates. This provides some indication of the relevance of these skills and how they need to be developed.

By and large the recent graduates reported that they were not aware of their general transferable skills as part of the undergraduate programme of higher education which they undertook, but became aware in response to the requests for information from employers at the end of their undergraduate careers.

This very much matches the implicit nature of the skills development in many law degrees. All the same, there have been significant changes over recent years and current students in some institutions are more likely to be aware of their general transferable skills.

It is fair to note that even when students fail to obtain articles or pupillage after professional courses many will seek to engage in some para-legal work in the hope of developing a legal career. There is thus a problem of persuading them at the academic or vocational stages that skills that are not specifically legal are relevant or are worth their attention. To some extent, whatever law schools may say, the general skills may not be taken as seriously as the specifically legal skills and knowledge which are seen as of obvious and immediate relevance.

The recent graduates expressed concerns about the transferability of their skills. Their own view was that they did have something to offer other employers, but they were uncertain whether their achievements would be valued by employers outside law, especially since they might appear to have failed to become lawyers. This does point to the need for students to be convinced that their skills are valued.

The recent graduates had some difficulty in disentangling skills which were gained from life experiences and those specifically developed through their courses. This is not surprising. It is perfectly possible for students to develop a range of skills outside the degree programme which will enhance their attractiveness to employers, whether in law or outside. It does not matter that they are developed outside the programme.

Indeed, the way in which law schools typically organise extra-curricular activities which enhance legal and general transferable skills, such as mooting and negotiation competitions, underlines the continuity between what is learned as part of the degree programme and what is learned during the course of one’s time at university.

Some of the comments of recent graduates questioned the value of the artificial exercises and situations in which skills were developed and practised, especially during the Legal Practice Course. How far could the skills be applied in practice as a result of this kind of training? Any transferability will still imply some adjustment and perhaps further training to prepare the individual for the context in which they are to operate.

The training in skills is merely intended to render the learning in that new context more rapid. There is thus an issue about the expectations which students should have of their skills training. Just as in the case of their learning of knowledge, they need to be aware that what they have learnt will not be sufficient for their later activity and it will need to be adapted to the context in which they have to apply it.

Students also raised the issue of continuity between the different stages of their development. There is a general question of which skills should be developed at the academic, vocational and traineeship/pupillage stages, and the continuity of development between the learning at each stage. Continuity requires either coherent planning or, more likely, that students are able to identify and articulate their training needs at each stage of their development.

Last Modified: 30 June 2010