UCLan vice-chancellor Malcolm McVicar has had his plans to make learning a foreign language compulsory for all new students rejected by staff.

McVicar made the comments at a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference last week in Manchester.

He said that in the current economic climate, it is important that courses offer a wide range of skills other than what the student has chosen to study.

He said: “We have to get away from narrow vocationalism”, and that courses should have as many “employability skills” as possible to help graduates get jobs.

He also said that he was dissuaded by staff to push the idea forward.

A UCLan spokesperson did not deny that the plans could still go ahead. He said: “As part of the University’s ten-year strategic plan which was published last year, UCLan is pursuing a policy of ‘internationalising’ its curriculum.

He went on to say: “Our approach to internationalisation does not stop at attracting international students to study in the UK. We have put systems in place that encourage all our students to study for an international language and by offering financial incentives we will also support students to undertake part of their course abroad or undertake work placement with internationally-based companies. We strongly believe that by ‘internationalising’ our curriculum UCLan students can set themselves apart from rival graduates and succeed in the global graduate careers market.

UCLan claims that plan is working, and that 95.4 per cent of graduates go straight into a career or further study six months after graduation, which is one of the highest employment rates of any UK university.

The languages department were unavailable for comment.