The Graduate Attributes (GA) are our vision for the skills and qualities that will be developed in every student to come through Swansea University.
GA1: Professional/Discipline Competence
Aims and Benefits:
All programmes at Swansea are designed to help you become competent in your discipline by developing both subject-specific and professional skills, knowledge and attributes essential for your future career. Through authentic, innovative, skills-based assessments, you’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your capability in both academic and professional areas. By embedding this approach across your curriculum, you will:
- Possess the discipline-specific skills, knowledge and competencies necessary to succeed in your chosen profession.
- Gain a clear understanding of how your academic journey prepares you for the workplace, boosting your confidence and career readiness.
GA2: Address Global Challenges
Aims and Benefits:
This attribute equips you with the knowledge and skills around Sustainability, Climate Change, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You’ll learn how your discipline impacts the SDGs and how to apply your learning to tackle global challenges, both in your personal and professional life. This ensures that you will:
- Be well-prepared to address environmental, economic, and social challenges, locally and globally and understand the factors that influence these issues.
- Meet employer demand for graduates with sustainability-focused competencies.
- Become globally aware and ethically minded, capable of solving societal and environmental problems in your career.
GA3: Effective Communicators
Aims and Benefits:
You will develop a deep understanding of communication principles and master your communication skills throughout your studies, through lectures, seminars and assessments, enabling you to:
- Use effective communication to advance your career while building professional networks both in person and online.
- Collaborate confidently in teams, interpret messages from diverse sources and apply information appropriately.
- Build social and professional confidence, so you are able to express yourself appropriately across different contexts.
- Learn to convey your ideas clearly across various media, selecting the right tone and register for each audience, including digital platforms.
GA4: Innovative Thinkers
Aims and Benefits:
We want you to graduate well-prepared to think creatively, solve real-world problems and thrive in a fast-changing world. With entrepreneurial thinking and innovation weaved into your courses, you will:
- Spot opportunities and tackle challenges using data, research and critical thinking.
- Gain the confidence to solve complex, real-life problems and work on live projects with employers, industries, and communities.
- Get an insight into how businesses and workplaces operate in your field.
- Reflect on your learning to become a flexible, independent thinker.
- Develop practical, subject-specific skills you can apply immediately in professional settings.
GA5: Collaborative Leaders
Aims and Benefits:
We want you to feel confident in who you are, how you work collaboratively and how you lead. By developing this attribute throughout your course, you will:
- Understand your strengths and how to use them to contribute meaningfully in group settings.
- Communicate and collaborate effectively with peers.
- Build self-awareness to recognise how your emotions, personality and motivations shape your actions.
- Set clear goals, manage your time and plan how to get things done, both individually and in a team.
- Develop the courage to step outside your comfort zone, embrace challenges and continue growing.
- Recognise and value different perspectives and understand how diversity can make teams stronger.
- Grow leadership qualities such as emotional intelligence, resilience, confidence and tolerance.
