Curriculum Redesign
Preparing you for the future
The world of work is changing quickly. New technologies, including artificial intelligence, are changing the way people work and the skills employers need. New careers are emerging, while others are changing or disappearing.
This means that preparing for your future career is about more than learning the knowledge and skills needed for one job. It’s about developing the confidence, adaptability and transferable skills to keep learning and respond to change throughout your career.
At the University of Northampton, we’re updating our courses to reflect this changing world.
Learning beyond your subject
Your future career may not fit neatly into one subject area. You could work with people from different professions, use ideas from other subjects or move into a career that does not yet exist.
That’s why, where appropriate, our courses are being designed to give you more opportunities to learn alongside students from other disciplines. Working with people who have different knowledge, experiences and ways of thinking can help you see problems from different perspectives, develop new ideas and understand how different areas of knowledge can work together.
You’ll also have opportunities to develop transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking. These are skills you can take with you into many different careers and continue to develop throughout your working life.
Getting ready for an AI enabled world
Artificial intelligence is already changing the way many organisations work, and this is likely to continue. Rather than trying to predict exactly what your future job will look like, we want to help you develop the skills and confidence to adapt as technology and the workplace change.
This includes understanding how to use new technologies confidently and responsibly, while developing the human skills that complement them.
Being able to ask good questions, assess information, think critically, solve problems, communicate clearly, work with others and make informed decisions will remain important as technology develops.
Building your employability
Your course is an important part of preparing for your future career. As we update our courses, we’re looking for more ways to connect what you learn with the skills and experiences that can support your employability.
Depending on your course, this could include working on real world problems, collaborating with students from other subjects, engaging with employers or applying your learning in different settings.
These experiences can help you understand how your knowledge can be used beyond university. They can also give you opportunities to practise the skills you’ll need in the workplace and develop examples you can talk about with future employers.
You’ll also have access to support from our Student Futures team, who can help you explore career options, develop your skills and gain experience throughout your studies.
What does this mean for you?
The changes to our courses are designed to help you get more from your university experience and prepare for a future that may look very different from today.
You’ll still develop the knowledge and skills you need for your chosen subject. Alongside this, we want to give you opportunities to work with different people, think across subject boundaries and develop skills that can be useful throughout your career.
We’re not trying to predict exactly what your future job will look like. We’re helping you develop the knowledge, skills and adaptability to succeed whatever changes.
The exact changes will vary between courses. If your course is being updated, you’ll find a note on the course page explaining this. We’ll continue to provide you with the latest information as the course develops and before you start your studies.
