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This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal investigation into the effectiveness of skills education programmes within business and management undergraduate degree courses. During the period between 2005 and 2011, a large business school in the south-west of England was developed and implemented two distinct approaches to skills education. An analysis of final grades for the core modules for students within the business and management field exposes a clear divide in success between those who participated in an integrated skills programme during their first year and the comparatively poorer performance of those who attended either a stand-alone skills module or, in some cases, no skills module at all. The conclusion of the paper highlights the measurable value of privileging skills in the curriculum-planning process and ensuring that skills which educators agree to be important are practised in context by learners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]