This paper sets out to examine the situated nature of graduate attributes through using activity systems theory to explore their contextual nature. It builds on earlier work into graduate attributes by examining the reasons behind the significant variation in their interpretation, thus providing an analysis of the contextual nature of teaching and the implications this has for research and policy. The paper examines the local and individual factors which have a significant influence on the ways in which graduate attributes are understood by teaching staff. Rather than describing graduate attributes as generic, this paper suggests that the teaching of graduate attributes is embedded in local meanings and highly situated and this needs to be acknowledged in higher education policymaking, curriculum design and teaching.