Work-integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly identified as essential to helping creative arts students' transition from university into the creative industries workplace. Off-campus activities, such as work placements, play a major role in educating work-ready graduates. At the same time, increasing enrolment numbers in creative arts education put pressure on institutions, in particular on campuses in regional areas where the local creative industry sector is usually small and unable to provide enough relevant work placements. Viable alternatives were explored by investigating oncampus WIL activities in creative arts education and how to offer students the opportunity to develop work-ready skills on-campus. Consequently, community and industry partners in various roles (e.g. client, industry advisor/mentor) were directly integrated into the creative arts curriculum and trialed over a period of two years. The benefits and insights gained by students through undertaking a client-based project and contact with industry professionals were investigated and are discussed in this exploratory study.
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