Student's View

In light of the dramatic transformations higher education in Britain has witnessed in just the last 10 years, never mind the last 200, it is difficult to see how our traditional system of classifying degrees can possibly still be relevant in 21st century society.

In light of the dramatic transformations higher education in Britain has witnessed in just the last 10 years, never mind the last 200, it is difficult to see how our traditional system of classifying degrees can possibly still be relevant in 21st century society. While New Labour’s ‘education, education, education’ target of having 50% of school leaver’s enter higher education hasn’t quite materialised, the massive increase in university students we have witnessed has made the current system unfit for purpose.

With two-thirds of the 320,000 students graduating each year receiving a 1st or a 2:1, employers face a daunting task when selecting candidates for employment. As with universities selecting the most able students, employers must be able to choose the best candidates available to them, a process obstructed by our current method of assessment. With the graduate job market more competitive than it has ever been, students too must be given greater opportunity to sell themselves to employers.

While The Higher Education Achievement Report is still in its infancy, the concept is far more suitable in today’s competitive graduate climate. Indeed, an influential report - published last year - claimed existing honours degrees (awarded to more than 300,000 graduates every year) were ‘far too blunt a tool’ to mark student ability. It seems that this statement bears huge weight for graduates and employers alike today. The system is screaming out to be modified.

With near-universal support for the report card idea from employers, students and universities alike, and with 18 UK universities already set to trail the new system, such modification seems an inevitability, and a welcome one.