The Skills and Employability Framework was announced on 19 June in conjunction with Welsh universities, the ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Funding Council for Wales, the Confederation of British Industry in Wales, and the National Union of Students.

The plan includes aims to:

? Increase the number of students enrolled on employer-approved courses, and the number of courses designed with employers

? Increase the number of students and graduates making ¡°strong applications¡± to work placement opportunities

? Create an extra 300 to 400 six-month-long work experience placements for unemployed graduates under 24

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Jeff Cuthbert, the deputy minister for skills, said that there was concern among employers that some graduates ¡°lacked the basic employability skills¡± such as information technology, working with others, problem-solving and number skills.

Many targets in the framework have not yet been finalised, and the final document will be released in July.

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Mr Cuthbert said that the organisations involved would look at whether universities should run functional literacy and numeracy classes for students.

He stressed that employers were ¡°quite happy¡± with the ¡°great majority¡± of graduates ¡°but there was still a fairly significant proportion that identify problems as basic as [literacy and numeracy]¡±.

On 5 June Mr Cuthbert was reported as telling the Welsh assembly that he was ¡°loath to give a direct assurance¡± that no campuses would be closed as part of the Welsh government¡¯s plan to merge the country¡¯s 10 universities into six.

However, he told ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ that there were no plans to close campuses as part of the reorganisation.

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david.matthews@tsleducation.com