Universities asked to replace old degree classifications with new grading system

Pilot scheme provides detailed reports of students’ abilities including module results and extra curricular achievements Every university in the country will be asked to adopt a new detailed electronic record of a student’s achievement to replace the “blunt instrument” of the traditional first, second or third-class honours degrees. The new higher education achievement report (HEAR), which gives an in-depth portrayal of students’ abilities, will be rolled out nationally from next autumn after being trialled at 27 universities this year. Robert Burgess, vice-chancellor of Leicester University and head of a steering group that has co-ordinated the new approach to measuring student performance, said the ambition was to replace the current “crude classification system”. Every university is being asked to take up the new system from next year to meet students’ expectations of a better service in exchange for higher fees, Burgess said. The two systems are due to run in parallel, but the expectation is that firsts and seconds will be phased out once employers become used to the richer information available in the new report. Describing the pilots, Burgess said: “We are producing information that drills down to modular level and indeed indicates whether a student does better at timed examinations, projects, dissertations, all those type of things. “The other thing is that the HEAR also records students’ achievements in extra-curricular activities – a student who has represented the university in terms of sport or perhaps been conductor of the university orchestra.” The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) warned last year that firms had raised the bar on degrees amid fierce competition for graduate jobs, and graduates with a 2:2 or worse faced being filtered out by automated applications. While the graduate job market went on to improve during the year, with a surge in recruitment in the closing months of 2010, a survey for the AGR illustrated how sharply employers were discriminating on the basis of degrees. The poll found that nearly 78% were insisting on a 2:1. Universities including Leicester that have piloted the new system will award the first HEARs to graduates this summer. Burgess said that the “template is in place” for every institution to take up the scheme next year. Other universities that are already taking part in trials of the system include Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth and St Andrew’s. He said: “The intention is to propose to the sector, as from October 2012, that all students entering higher education institutions will get the opportunity to achieve a HEAR having worked with it through a three-year period.” The intention is to make the HEAR available to employers (with the student’s consent) before he or she graduates so it can be used in early job applications. Burgess said that over time, the detailed information available in the new record would make the traditional categories look “pretty much like blunt instruments”. “The summary — first, 2:1 and so on — is just that, a summary, it doesn’t give the richness of the experience. “In a situation where students are paying [higher] fees they’re going to expect a much more detailed evaluation of their performance and a detailed evaluation that can be given to employers and can be used in order to help them in their careers.” The vice-chancellor said that employers would be able to use the HEAR to match jobs with graduates on the basis of relevant skills. “If you’re choosing an employee on the basis they’ve got a 2:1 — how do you know what they’re really good at, were they really good in timed examinations? If that’s the only thing they’re good at, that’s not necessarily going to be a skill you really require.” Next year’s admissions round, when two-thirds of English universities are seeking to charge the maximum fee, will also see a more systematic use of background information in assessing candidates for places on degree courses. For the first time, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) will provide universities with data on the GCSE and A-level performance of a candidate’s school, as well as figures for the percentage of pupils on free school meals at the applicant’s school. While some institutions already gather their own contextual data, others do not use any additional data when assessing candidates. Burgess, who is chairman of UCAS, urged universities to be cautious in the use of such data when selecting candidates. He told the Guardian: “Using contextual data in respect of selection is somewhat problematic. It may be seen as unfair if it looks like it is giving some students a helping hand in selection. “It is not as straightforward as some might think. A student might live in a desirable area, but their parents may not have professional jobs. Or they may have gone to independent school, but their parents have been working horrendous overtime hours to be able to pay for that.” The Office for Fair Access (Offa) is currently vetting universities’ plans to charge higher fees. In its submission to Offa, Cambridge has said that its “minimum objective” is simply to maintain the status quo in terms of its state school intake, because of the uncertainty over whether a fee rise will deter some applicants. Higher education Students Graduation Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk

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