NEWS - HE NEWS

Conference discusses trials of new student grading plan

Issued on 04 November 2009

A national conference has been held today to discuss trials of a new system to record student achievement.

Last year, eighteen higher education institutions began piloting a new approach to summarising the achievements of students at the end of their degrees. The conference is being held to update the higher education sector on the development of the proposed Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR), the outcomes of the trialling and future plans.

Following the publication in 2007 of Beyond the honours degree classification: The Burgess Group final report (the final report of the Measuring and Recording Student Achievement Steering Group), Professor Robert Burgess, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, was invited by Universities UK and GuildHE to develop in more detail and trial the proposals for a HEAR.

The HEAR is intended to provide a richer description of student achievement and potentially provide a replacement for the current degree classification system. The HEAR aims to provide more detailed information about a student’s course, the marks they have gained in individual modules, and also a record of extracurricular activities. Many trialling institutions have consulted students and employers and have received positive feedback about the development of the HEAR.

The Implementation Steering Group has now agreed that there should be sector-wide rollout of the HEAR at the beginning of the academic year 2011-2012 following consideration of the recommendations of the Group by Universities UK and GuildHE. There will, however, be an opportunity for institutions to start issuing the HEAR voluntarily in 2010-11 based on the success of the current trial. The trial of the HEAR has been extended to a wider range of subjects and tested across the entire provision of institutions with their current third year undergraduates.

Speaking during today's conference in London, Professor Burgess, Chair of the Group, said: “Today’s conference shows that we are a big step closer to improving the information that higher education provides on student achievement. The Higher Education Achievement Report will be of great benefit to students and employers and enables institutions to clearly demonstrate the breadth and depth of the student experience in higher education in the most effective and efficient way.”

ENDS

Below is a selection of national publications in which Professor Burgess has appeared to discuss the HEAR:

I hope student records make degree classes obsolete (The Independent)

Universities likely to swap degree grades for report cards (The Guardian)

For a good degree, be sure to spend plenty of time on the rugby field (The Daily Telegraph)

Are degree grades to be abolished? (Daily Mail)

Achievement reports for students may replace degree classifications (The Times)

Notes

1. Journalists interested in arranging an interview with Professor Burgess about the HEAR trials should contact the Universities UK press office on 020 7419 5407 or email pressunit@UniversitiesUK.ac.uk He will be available for interview when the conference comes to an end at 4pm today.
2. A total of eighteen higher education institutions were invited to take part in the trialling of the HEAR. Both the Steering Group and the trialling institutions reflect the UK-wide nature of this development and reflect the diversity of the sector. The aim of the trialling has been to ensure the HEAR was an effective and useful tool and that all practical issues relating to wider adoption are addressed before recommendation to the wider sector. For more information on the trials and for a list of institutions, visit: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/Newsroom/Media-Releases/Pages/HEARtrial.aspx
3. This work has been supported by the funding councils and a wide range of other agencies and organisations including the Higher Education Academy, the Quality Assurance Agency, the Centre for Recording Achievement and JISC.