Creating work-ready graduates: how Ravensbourne University London and Perlego’s partnership delivers what the 21st century job market demands

In a rapidly evolving graduate job market, universities face growing pressure to demonstrate clear employability outcomes. With youth unemployment remaining a concern, there is increased attention on how effectively graduates transition into work, and the need for institutions to equip students with practical, future-focused skills has never been greater. Against this backdrop, Ravensbourne University London stands out as a forward-thinking institution redefining how higher education prepares students for the workplace.

Ranked among the top performing universities in the UK for employability, Ravensbourne has built its approach around a simple but powerful philosophy: “We learn with industry and industry learns with us.” This ethos underpins a model where industry is not an external partner, but an integrated part of the learning experience; shaping curriculum design, informing teaching methods, and co-creating opportunities for students.

A new kind of business school

At the heart of Ravensbourne’s transformation is the launch of its School of Business, Management and Commerce, led by Executive Dean Dr Kellie Vincent. Building this business school was a brand-new, forward-thinking initiative at an institution traditionally known for the creative industries. This presented both challenges and opportunities, alongside the pressure to retain its industry-led mission. 

During a recent session at the Digital Universities UK Conference in Birmingham, Vincent shared best practices behind their curriculum transformation in conversation with Katharine Templeton, Head of Partnerships at online library Perlego. 

“It felt like a real privilege to finally have a context where everything is industry-led,” says Vincent. “Normally within business schools, you’re artificially bringing industry in. Here, it’s embedded in everything we do.”

Rather than operating in silos, Ravensbourne’s three core specialisms—creative, business and technology—are interwoven across all programmes. This interdisciplinary approach ensures students develop not only subject expertise, but also the ability to collaborate across disciplines, mirroring real workplace environments.

From day one, students engage with live industry briefs, collaborative projects and real-world challenges. Whether designing campaigns for global brands or responding to business problems set by organisations like Innocent Drinks or Zurich Insurance, students are consistently applying their learning in practical contexts.

Building confident, work-ready graduates

This emphasis on applied learning is central to Ravensbourne’s mission to develop “confident students for the workplace.” Every undergraduate programme includes work-based learning, while postgraduate courses are structured around the Rave Advanced Leadership Framework: a competency-based model designed to reflect evolving industry needs.

The framework brings together business, creative and technological competencies, enabling students to personalise their learning journey and build a portfolio of evidence demonstrating their skills.

“We’re not just teaching students what to think, we’re helping them shape how they learn and how they present themselves to industry,” Vincent explains. “It’s about building a story from day one that they can take into their careers.”

This focus on portfolios, storytelling and demonstrable skills is particularly important in today’s job market, where employers increasingly value adaptability, creativity and digital fluency alongside academic achievement.

A digital-first approach to learning

Supporting this innovative curriculum is Ravensbourne’s commitment to a digital-first learning environment. For a university with a large international and commuter student population, accessibility and flexibility are essential.

“We knew we needed resources that could support competency development, but also fit the way our students live and learn,” says Vincent. “Digital-first wasn’t just a preference: it was a necessity.”

This is where Perlego, the online library, plays a key role. Providing access to over one million academic books across disciplines, Perlego enables Ravensbourne students to explore beyond traditional reading lists and take greater ownership of their learning. This opportunity to go beyond business books complements the interdisciplinary nature of Ravensbourne and the realities of the job market for creative industries; graduates need to be multi-faceted as more and more entry-level specialist roles are at risk of being entirely automated.

Rather than relying on static core texts, students are encouraged to discover, evaluate and apply a wide range of resources, developing critical thinking and research skills in the process. As Vincent notes, this approach is deliberately built into assessment:

“We give them a very small reading list but actually build it into assessment that they have to go seeking other things and other resources in a more creative way.”

Enabling collaboration and community

Perlego’s impact extends beyond access to content. It also supports Ravensbourne’s broader pedagogical goals around collaboration, inclusivity and community building.

With many students commuting to campus, traditional physical libraries present practical limitations. Vincent highlights how digital resources help overcome these barriers:

“Even living in London, our students consider themselves effectively commuter students relying on tubes, trains and buses. There's no way they would physically carry books. But equally, we wanted them to create more of that community and sharing and collaboration of ideas through using the digital books and recommending. It’s amazing.”

By enabling students to access materials anytime, anywhere, and to share and recommend resources, Perlego contributes to a more connected and collaborative learning experience. This is particularly valuable for international students, by offering flexible, cutting-edge resources, and providing a seamless learning environment around the world

Supporting innovation at scale

As Ravensbourne continues to evolve, digital resources also play a strategic role in scaling innovation. Launching a new business school from scratch required not only academic expertise, but also the infrastructure to support high-quality teaching and learning.

“It’s expensive to launch from scratch,” Vincent notes. “We needed more than just an amazing teaching team. We needed resources that would help deliver that experience.”

Perlego’s model offers a cost-effective and digital-first solution, allowing the university to provide students with up-to-date, relevant content affordably across rapidly changing subject areas such as business and technology.They can use reading on Perlego as evidence of competencies they are developing on Ravensbourne’s innovative framework. 

Crucially, it also provides insights into usage and engagement, helping the university understand which resources are having the greatest impact on student outcomes and continuously refine its approach. The Business School team is working with Perlego to look at the digital bookshelves that students are creating and reviewing these against the Digital Badges that are awarded via the Ravensbourne Advanced Leadership Framework to gain a deeper understanding of how competency development is personalised. 

A model for the future

Ravensbourne’s approach reflects a broader shift in higher education; from knowledge transmission to skills development, from interdisciplinary learning to dynamic, digital ecosystems.

By embedding industry into every aspect of the student experience and leveraging digital tools like Perlego, the university is creating a model that is both responsive to current challenges and resilient for the future.

As Vincent puts it, the goal is not simply to produce graduates, but to develop individuals who are ready to navigate complexity, adapt to change and contribute meaningfully to their chosen fields.

In a challenging employment landscape, that ambition, and the innovative practices supporting it, offer a compelling example of how universities can rethink curriculum design, embrace digital transformation, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for their students.

Find out more about how online library Perlego can support GuildHE members’ strategic priorities. Get in touch to request a tailored proposal.