What are Graduate Attributes?

Graduate attributes (GA) are the qualities, skills and understandings that a student should develop as a consequence of the learning they engage with on their programme of study. This sense of ‘graduateness’ is therefore what distinguishes them from individuals who have not studied at degree level and is the added value they offer to employers and society generally. Graduate attributes have the potential to outlast the knowledge and contexts in which they were originally acquired. Moreover they provide a framework for engaging with the world and with ongoing learning of new knowledge. As such they transcend the disciplinary contexts in which they were originally acquired.