12 core skills
Warwick's 12 Core Skills and related skills
The Warwick Award is based on our Core Skills Framework. This consists of Warwick’s 12 Core Skills, each of which also includes a range of sub-skills or related skills
These skills have been included because they are important to your development at university, through your degree programmes and your other experiences. They are also important to graduate employers in all sectors, as the kinds of transferable skills you will need to complement and apply more specific knowledge and skills
On this page we have included a bit more information about the 12 Core Skills and related skills which make up our framework. This includes some definitions. Links to further resources will appear here as they become available, including to work our team has done to explore these skills, explain them, and facilitate your development of them during your time at Warwick. We have also included the names of the subject experts who guided us to design the framework, select the sub-skills, and come up with their definitions in 2022
If you would like to discuss any of the skills, their definitions, and their applications, please contact the Skills Developer listed under each skill directly.
Communication is the ability to convey or share ideas and feelings effectively, by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.
Related subskills:
- Creating discourse
- Presentation and public speaking
- Adapting output to audience
- Active listening
- Creative writing
- Professional writing
- Nonverbal communication skills
Examples of where you might develop this skill during your time at Warwick: giving a presentation, writing an essay, volunteering with Nightline.
Current students can find out more with our Communication course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Communication: Lisa Faulkner
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Communication skills and definitions
Chair: Dave Musson, Skills Developer
Email:
Kevin Moffat, Professor, Life Sciences
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Shirley Sturzaker, Marketing Manager, Warwick Medical School
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Damien Homer, Head of Disability Services
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Paul Grigsby, Research Fellow in Outreach and Impact, Classics and Ancient History
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Critical Thinking is the ability to independently analyse facts, data, information, and opinions to form an evaluation and engage in debate.
Related sub-skills:
- Identifying
- Clarifying
- Questioning
- Interpreting
- Analysing
- Contextualising
- Evaluating
- Arguing
- Synthesising
You might develop this skill by writing an essay, conducting a literature review, doing some independent reading to understand an issue or event in the news, or examining a conventional approach in your work before developing an alternative.
Current students can find out more with our Critical Thinking course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Critical Thinking: Steven Burke
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Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Critical Thinking skills and definitions
Chair: Steven Burke, Skills Developer
Email:
Andre Celtel, Associate Professor, DSEP, Sociology
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Elise Smith, Assistant Professor, History
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Nalita James, Associate Professor, DSEP, Centre for Lifelong Learning
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Rochelle Sibley, Senior Teaching Fellow, English and Comparative Literature
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Digital literacy is the ability to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is through digital technologies like internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices.
Related subskills:
- IT skills
- Data skills
- Information evaluation
- Data security
- Social media content creation and management
- App development
- Search Engine Optimisation - SEO
- Software creation
- User experience/interface development
- Data visualisation
- Reputation management
- Personal brand
- Using Learning Technologies
You might develop this skill by using common Office software such as Excel and Word, managing a club/society social media feed, and building an effective LinkedIn profile.
Current students can find out more with our Digital Literacy course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Digital Literacy: Dr Zoe Pflaeger Young
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Critical Thinking skills and definitions
Chair: Dave Musson, Skills Developer
Email:
James Alexander, Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation, IDG
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Helen Luckhurst, Engagement Officer, WIE
Email:
Bodrun Nahar, Employability and Placements Manager, School for Cross-Faculty Studies
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Ethical values are the ability to operate in the workplace with high moral standards – namely being fair, respectful, compassionate, honest, and responsible – as well as negotiate the sometimes-difficult situation of taking responsibility for your own actions.
Related subskills:
- Integrity
- Trustworthiness
- Compassion
- Empathy
- Accountability
- Organisational values
- Freedom of expression
- Inclusivity
- Being aware of unconscious bias
You might develop this skill by being accurate and honest with referencing in academic writing, not fabricating experiment results, and mentoring a school student through an outreach project.
Skills Developer for Ethical Values: Dr Zoe Pflaeger Young
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Ethical Values skills and definitions
Chair: Dave Musson, Skills Developer
Email:
Jane Bryan, Reader, Warwick Law School
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Jen Baker, Teaching Fellow in C19th and C20th Literature, English and Comparative Literature Studies
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Information literacy is the ability to understand the nature, value, use, and management of information.
Related subskills:
- Understanding Academic Information
- Understanding Information outside Academia
- Valuing and using information
- Articulating an information need
- Searching for Information
- Managing Information
- Selecting information
- Using and creating information
You might develop this skill by using databases, conducting literature reviews, communicating research findings, and identifying limitations of research.
Current students can find out more by exploring the courses provided by the library.
Skills Developer for Ethical Values: George Haughie
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Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Information Literacy skills and definitions
Chair: Tom Greenaway, Skills Developer
Email:
Kate Courage, Librarian, Library
Andrew Calvert, Librarian, Library
Email:
Katherine Halliday, Librarian, Library
Sophie Allen, Digital Experience Development Officer, Library
Email:
Cathy Hampton, Reader, School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Email:
Jenny Lloyd, Associate Professor, Warwick Business School
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Jade Millar, Project Officer, Library
Intercultural awareness is the ability to work productively with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Related subskills:
- Intercultural Communication
- Intercultural Relationships
- Intercultural Sensitivity
- Intercultural Adaptation
- Intercultural Understanding
- Language Learning
- Language Flexibility
You might develop this skill by learning a language, working in multicultural teams, and sharing experiences with people from different cultural backgrounds, e.g. meals, sports events, seminars.
Current students can find out more through our Intercultural Programme.
Skills Developer for Intercultural Awareness: Dr Tom Greenaway
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Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Intercultural Awareness skills and definitions
Chair: Tom Greenaway, Skills Developer
Email:
Simon Brown, Internationalisation Officer, Student Opportunity
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Sophie Reissner-Roubicek, Associate Professor, Applied Linguistics
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Achim Krausert, Associate Professor and DSEP, WBS
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Zi Wang, Internationalisation Coordinator, Student Opportunity
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Organisational awareness is the ability to understand how organisations work and act on that knowledge to interact effectively with and within them.
Related subskills:
- Organisational Research
- Talent Management
- Achieving Organisational Goals
- Networking
- Corporate Social Responsibility/Impact
- Organisational cultural awareness
- Commercial Awareness
- External stakeholder awareness
- Market Awareness
You might develop this skill by performing a SWOT analysis, researching an organisation and finding out its values, priorities and culture prior to a job application/interview.
Current students can find out more with our Organisational Awareness course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Organisational Awareness: Lisa Faulkner
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Organisational Awareness skills and definitions
Chair: Lisa Faulkner, Skills Developer
Email:
Bo Kelestyn, Associate Professor, WBS
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Daniel Dauber, Associate Professor, Applied Linguistics
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Konstantina Dee, Careers and Employability Officer, Warwick Manufacturing Group
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Oliver Walmsley, Director of Business Relations, Innovation Group
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Problem solving is the ability to define a problem or challenge, then find, design, and select a solution to it.
Related subskills:
- Problem Design
- Intuitive Problem Solving
- Creative Problem Solving
- Co-Creating
- Innovation
- Logical processing
- Logical Reasoning
- Cyclical Reflection
- Decision Making
- Learning from Failure
You might develop this skill by selecting ingredients to make a meal, creating a brand-new product, choosing modules that are relevant to your career aspirations, and applying feedback on your essays to improve them next time around.
Skills Developer for Problem Solving: Steven Burke
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Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Problem Solving skills and definitions
Chair: Steven Burke, Skills Developer
Email:
Siri Chongchitnan, Associate Professor, Mathematics
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Mark Pulsford, Associate Professor, Education Studies
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Sarah McCourt, Director of Student Experience and Progression, Faculty of Arts
Professionalism is the ability to be reliable, set your own high standards, show you care about every aspect of your job by being industrious and organised, and hold yourself accountable for your thoughts, words, and actions.
Related subskills:
- Responsiveness to change
- Accountability and responsibility
- Time management
- Project management
- Risk management
- Operating autonomously
- Resilience
- Personal impact
- Leadership
- Emotional literacy
- Negotiation
- Working under pressure
- Attention to detail
- Creative thinking
You might develop this skill by balancing competing deadlines to still complete all assessments and coursework on time, thoroughly proof-reading and editing coursework before it is submitted, and representing your course-mates’ views to University staff.
Skills Developer for Professionalism: Lisa Faulkner
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Professionalism skills and definitions
Chair: Lisa Faulkner, Skills Developer
Email:
Debbi Marais, Professor in Health Sciences Education, Warwick Medical School
Email:
Hilary Riseley, Undergraduate Careers Manager, WBS
Email:
Anne Wilson, Head of Careers, Student Opportunity
Self-awareness is the ability to be aware of your own personality, strengths, and emotions, then learn and develop accordingly.
Related subskills:
- Self-Reflection
- Critical Reflection
- Learning Adaptability
- Responsiveness to Opportunity
- Personal Worldview
You might develop this skill by reflecting on your experiences for the Warwick Award, undergoing training to build skills you don’t feel confident in and identifying what else you need to do to practise them further, joining a course in a format you’ve never experienced before, and carefully examining your principles and perspectives in relation to other peoples’.
Current students can find out more with our Self Awareness course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Self Awareness: Steven Burke
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Self Awareness skills and definitions
Chair: Steven Burke, Skills Developer
Email:
Gonzalo Ceron Garcia, Senior Teaching Fellow, Warwick Writing Programme
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Charlotte Jones, Associate Professor, Course Director, CLL
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Karen Simecek, Associate Professor, DSEP, Philosophy
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Luke Hodson, Associate Professor, Psychology
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Sustainability is the ability to develop capabilities towards balancing the needs of human culture and wider environments for the present and future.
Sustainability is unique among our Core Skills because it can be used as a lens for reinterpreting any other skill on our framework.
Related Subskills (indicative):
- Systems Thinking
- Future Thinking
- Sustainable Decision Making
- Social Engagement
- Community Citizenship
- Global Citizenship
- Accountability
- Contextualising
- Analysing
- Personal Worldview
You might develop this skill by recycling wherever possible, voting in your local elections and considering local issues of environmental and social sustainability when choosing who to support, researching an organisation’s values and seeing if they match up with the actions of the organisation when applying for a job.
Skills Developer for Sustainability: Steven Burke
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Sustainability skills and definitions
Chair: Steven Burke, Skills Developer
Email:
Alastair Smith, Senior Teaching Fellow, Global Sustainable Development
Adriano Lameira, Associate Professor Psychology
Email:
Caroline Kuzemko, Associate Professor, Politics and International Studies
Email:
David Chapman, Sustainability Champion, Estates
Teamwork is the ability to work collaboratively.
Related subskills:
- Collaboration
- Managing Team Processes
- Building/managing Rapport
- Inclusive Practices
- Overcoming and negotiating obstacles
- Creativity in Teams
- Leadership/ managing tasks within a team
- Virtual Teamworking
You might develop this by completing a group project, setting meeting agendas, being part of a sports team, and managing team deadlines.
Current students can find out more with our Working in Intercultural Teams course on Moodle.
Skills Developer for Sustainability: George Haughie
Email:
Membership of the 2022 Academic Advisory Group for designing Teamwork skills and definitions
Chair: Tom Greenaway, Skills Developer
Email:
Mairi Macintyre, Professor, WMG
Email:
Jagjeet Jutley-Nelson, Professor, Psychology
Email:
Tamara Fredrich, Associate Professor, WBS
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