Here’s your report

Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR) have recently been suggested as an alternative to just receiving a single grade.

Following GCSEs and A-levels, universities experience grade inflation with the last graduation being the most successful ever with first class degrees being awarded to a sixth of students which is more than twice the number seen a decade ago. As a result, degrees seem to be losing their value making it very hard for the employers to distinguish between good and bad job applicants.

In 2007, Universities UK and GuildHE put forward a solution in their report, which was to introduce a new Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR) that extrapolates further the idea of the European Diploma Supplement, and represents a school-type report which will come in addition to the degree transcript. The document will include all the extra-curriculum achievements including relevant work experience, volunteering, prizes and positions held at the clubs and societies throughout a student’s time at university. As for the academic matters, the report is said to aim to give a better insight into the taken degree and the progress accomplished throughout by providing the information about every module and exam taken. It is thought by some that the introduction of the scheme would encourage students to participate more fully in the university life taking full advantage of what higher education has to offer as well as, according to Sir Robert Burgess, vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester, who was the author of the report, will stop “damaging obsession” with first and upper second class degrees. Furthermore, HEAR will allow employers to get a better picture of who their applicants are as well as to be more certain about the claims made on applicants’ CVs. Since then, The Burgess Implementation Steering Group (BISG) created by Universities UK and GuildHE have tested the new scheme in 30 different institutions across the country and the final report was published in October this year where universities were recommended to include the new report for the students who enrolled this year.

There is some conflicting evidence of what the general position of the universities regarding the scheme is. So far 109 have signed up for it and this is more than a half of all the higher education institutions, however, this only includes 14 out of 24 members of the Russell Group. Furthermore, Oxbridge has already completely rejected the idea with Oxford being concerned with “a lack of interest from employers” and Cambridge giving no reason at all. Nevertheless, it’s too early to give up – Peter Williams, one of the members of BISG, is certain that Oxbridge will eventually adopt the scheme “but only if the HEAR catches up generally”, stating that “Oxbrige [is] not generally ‘leading’ universities when it comes to innovations of this sort.”

Having previously recognized that a degree on its own is no longer good enough to get a job, at the beginning of this year, Imperial introduced Imperial Horizons, which is a program offering the undergraduates to enhance their university experience with a short course in a wide variety of humanities’ subjects. According to the Head of Co-Curricular Studies, Eryl Price-Davies, their team are “committed to representing, on a student’s transcript, that they have taken and achieved in Imperial Horizons courses” which essentially follows the idea of HEAR. But the final decision is still to come, and is partially up to students: “We are consulting with students on the best form of wording. We wouldn’t want to do it without consulting students” says Price-Davies.

Doug Hunt, Deputy President (Education) was asked for comment on the matter and said: “My personal opinion is that the HEAR or a similar recording system would be good for Imperial undergraduates, since a large proportion of them are involved with clubs & societies and the academic representation system. This would make them stand out when they are going through the application process for an internship, job or possibly a PhD.

However Union Council will be discussing Imperial College Union’s official view on this next Tuesday, 18:30 in the Union Dining Hall. If you are interested, then please do come along and read the related paper that Paul Beaumont wrote via this page".

Along with the final decision on Imperial Horizons, the decision regarding the HEAR is also to be made as the position of Imperial on the matter is still not clear. However, Imperial College London produces a degree supplement, which is similar to this and includes much of the extra-curricular material that the report focuses on.