Universities are set to provide a new, fuller record of students’ achievements alongside traditional degree certificates. The new system should help graduate recruiters to move away from using 2.1s as a cut-off point when assessing job applications by providing them with a more detailed and balanced picture of graduates’ academic and extracurricular achievements.
The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) will include information about graduates’ course marks and activities such as involvement in sports or societies and volunteering. It is a concise electronic document that follows a standard template, and has been trialled in 30 institutions across the UK over the last five years.
It has been endorsed by the higher education sector’s representative bodies, Universities UK and Guild HE, and both organisations have recommended that all institutions should adopt the HEAR, although they are not obliged to do so. It is likely that universities that were not involved in the trial will seek to introduce it for students who are now starting their degree courses.
How the HEAR will help you get a graduate job
Carl Gilleard, the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), said that the HEAR would allow students to present a fuller picture of themselves when applying for jobs, and would help employers move away from using the achievement of a 2.1 degree as a cut-off point when filtering applications.
He said, ‘It is widely accepted that the degree classification system is not fit for purpose. As a recruitment tool it is a blunt and inconsistent measure, and so it is a shame it has become so heavily relied on and used by employers.’
The trialling of the HEAR has already begun to have an impact on how students present themselves to recruiters, Mr Gilleard said. ‘I have already noticed how it is acting as a catalyst for change, with students better able to articulate what they have to offer to employers and considering the skills they have developed more carefully.’
Every mark that counts towards your degree goes in
According to a report in Times Higher Education, students will be able to review their HEAR throughout their degree, and universities will validate the extracurricular activities that are included.
In a blog post for The Guardian’s higher education network, Professor Bob Burgess, who chaired the steering group that developed the HEAR, commented that student representatives were concerned about the inclusion of fails and low marks on the record.
He explained, ‘Employers were firmly of the view that anything less than a complete record might be seen as a cover-up. On balance, we decided that for the sake of simplicity and completeness, everything that counts towards the final degree result should be recorded, including fails and low marks.’
Source: 4th October 2012, TARGETJobs by Alison
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