Lifelong Learning: Developing Transferable Skills in Higher Education

Rethink how skills are surfaced and recognised in higher education

A university degree signals knowledge, but does it clearly communicate what a learner can actually do?

As expectations around employability continue to evolve, higher education is being challenged to better articulate the skills students develop throughout their studies. Yet many of these capabilities remain hidden, difficult to evidence, or inconsistently recognised.

This course invites you to rethink how skills are understood, surfaced, and valued within higher education.

Rather than focusing on adding new frameworks or redesigning curricula, it explores how existing teaching and learning already develop meaningful capabilities — and how these can be made more visible.

Move beyond the degree as a signal of capability

Higher education is increasingly shifting from a focus on subject knowledge to demonstrable skills and outcomes.

On this course, you’ll explore the implications of that shift, examining lifelong learning as a non-linear and cumulative process rather than a single endpoint.

Sharpen the skills already embedded in teaching for transformative results

Many of the most valuable skills developed in higher education are not explicitly named or recognised.

This short course explores how transferable and durable skills are embedded within subject-level teaching, and how skills literacy can be developed as a capability in its own right.

Strengthen how skills are evidenced and recognised

Lastly, you’ll explore the difference between strong and weak signals of skill, and how recognition practices can better reflect real capability.

This course is for higher education professionals, including academics, learning designers, and employability leads. It’s ideal for those looking to better articulate, evidence, and recognise the skills developed through university study.

This course is for higher education professionals, including academics, learning designers, and employability leads. It’s ideal for those looking to better articulate, evidence, and recognise the skills developed through university study.

• Explain lifelong learning in higher ed contexts, including the hidden skills curriculum and the role of skills literacy
• Identify transferable skills within everyday teaching and learning activities and curriculum
• Apply skills-based language to describe learning as clear, evidence-informed capability
• Design simple reflection routines that help students recognise, articulate and evidence their skills
• Evaluate skill descriptions to distinguish between general statements and credible, usable evidence of capability
• Explore how making learning visible and credible supports the recognition of skills within and beyond the learning experience