11th October 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Under new plans announced today, Universities are going to provide employers with much more detailed accounts of student achievements, which will include extra-curricular activities. These reports will be known as Higher Education Achievement Reports (Hears), and are designed to “end the damaging obsession of employers with First and Upper-Second Class degrees”.
The report will include marks from individual papers and modules, and will also include a record of students’ participation in activities such as theatre, sports, music and other student societies and activities. Once a student has graduated, the report is held electronically for an indefinite period of time, meaning that it will be a permanent record of a student’s university career.
The report is intended to address the issues that employers face when deciding which graduates to hire. Employers tend to favour students with First or Upper Second class degrees, without considering other factors. Further, many students are now achieving these grades, making it difficult to tell job applicants apart. Administrators at Leicester University have backed the plans, commenting that in addition to academic achievements students often achieve great things in sports, clubs and societies, which should be recognised.