Queen Mary’s Technology Enhanced Learning Team is developing a new Graduate Attributes tool within QMplus. Built on the platform’s existing competencies feature, the tool allows course teams to map graduate attributes to specific learning activities. This enables students to automatically build a portfolio of the skills, knowledge, and behaviours they are developing throughout their studies. Students can also upload their own evidence, supporting personalised reflection and recognition of their achievements.
The tool was recently presented at the 2025 Festival of Education and is currently in the pilot and development phase.
Festival of Education 2025 QMplus Graduate Attributes tool
The Digital Education Studio caught up with Megan Jones to explore this project.
What shaped the design and development of the tool?
We set out to create a technical solution that would help students identify and reflect on their graduate attributes more easily and intuitively. Our first attempt involved mapping attributes to assignments in QMplus, and then automatically populating a portfolio for students in QMplus Hub, Queen Mary’s e-portfolio platform. However, the mapping tool proved to be somewhat clunky, visually unappealing, and required students to learn a separate platform—something we were keen to avoid.
Following consultation with our Moodle partner, Catalyst IT, we decided to return to the basics. We revisited Moodle’s built-in competency frameworks and learning plans to explore a more streamlined and integrated solution.
As the core tool already existed within QMplus, only minimal development was needed to adapt it for the Graduate Attributes project. We presented an early version to staff and students, and while feedback was broadly positive, a few concerns were raised. For example, the default terminology in the reporting—using words such as "proficient" and "competent"—did not align well with the concept of graduate attributes, which are intended to be developed continually throughout a student's academic and professional journey. In response, we modified the language to use the term "evidenced", which better reflects the developmental nature of these attributes.
How is the tool used in practice?
Course teams begin by identifying which activities align with specific graduate attributes. Once this mapping is complete, they enable completion tracking within their QMplus course pages and start linking attributes to individual learning activities. These can include a wide range of tasks—submitting an assignment, watching a video, participating in a forum discussion, and more.
One of the key strengths of the tool is its automation. Once the setup is in place, the system automatically generates a report for each student, accessible via their QMplus dashboard. Under each graduate attribute, students can see a list of activities they have completed that serve as evidence of their development. This not only encourages reflection but also provides tangible examples students can draw on when applying for jobs or preparing for interviews.
What are the next steps?
Our plan is to pilot the tool with a selection of key modules from September, allowing us to observe how it performs in practice and gather insights from both staff and students.
We are working closely with Careers and Enterprise and Queen Mary Academy to support the broader roll out of the Employability and Skills Framework. If colleagues from FMD have any questions, please reach out to Lindsey Shirah.
By Megan Jones, Learning Technologist, IT Services