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This independent review looks at the employment situation among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates and the role of accreditation of courses. The review focuses on the skills requirements of employers, how STEM graduates' skills and knowledge relate to labour market demand, and how existing accreditation systems support this. The review's primary task has been to investigate the graduate employment outcomes of those STEM disciplines that are judged to be of high value and important to economic growth and productivity, and to identify which of those disciplines have sufficiently poor outcomes to warrant further in-depth consideration through future targeted work. The report makes two key recommendations focused on the need to think creatively about how additional opportunities for work experience could be opened up to students during their studies and how the development of soft skills could be embedded more systematically and robustly in degree curricula.

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Graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are key to providing the higher level skills that are required for economic recovery and long-term prosperity in the UK. Engineers play a crucial role in emerging and growth sectors and, critically, engineering expertise is largely made up of 'know-how'. The authors state that the UK must continue to be strong in an increasingly competitive global field to win the jobs of tomorrow. Specifically, companies require more engineering graduates with practical experience of industry. Stronger partnerships between industry and higher education (HE) can ensure that an increasingly diverse student body develops the engineering skills necessary to meet the future recruitment needs of a globally competitive industry.

The study team use the term 'experience-led' to describe the components of an engineering degree which develop industry-related skills including, but not limited to, direct interaction with industry. Published literature was reviewed and six universities provided in-depth case studies. This report describes exemplars of excellent experience-led provision within undergraduate engineering degree programmes. Either working directly with industry or delivering industry-related content, the exemplars together highlight a wealth of innovative practice with high impact.

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