1. PDP and the HEAR: new opportunities? Rob Ward The Centre for Recording Achievement rob@recordingachievement.org

2. The authorised account…

3. Steering Group Report (2007)… Honours Degree Classification No Longer Fit for Purpose Case for Change (Why Develop a HEAR?) Summative System at Odds with Lifelong Learning. Wider Recognition of Achievement. Recognising Achievement at all Levels. Employability Skills. Employers have clearly defined qualities they are looking for in graduates. Greater financial investment than ever before. Students require more than just a certificate. All stakeholders should have detailed information on what is behind a particular class of degree.

4. The HEAR Proposals (2007)… By …2010/11… a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) will be the central vehicle for recording all university-level undergraduate higher education student achievement in all UK higher education institutions. The HEAR will be a single document, based on, and developed from, the current academic transcript, and incorporating the European Diploma Supplement (so first and foremost an academic record...) The HEAR will contain information which the institution is prepared to verify. Further work should be done on how to measure and record skills and achievements gained through non-formal learning…

5. What is the HEAR? Core template framework reflecting a more detailed and rounded view of a students experience and achievements. Key building blocks (sections): 1.Information identifying the holder of the qualification 2.Information identifying the qualification 3.Information on the level of qualification 4.Information on the contents and results gained 5.Information on the function of the qualification 6.Additional information 7.Certification 8.Information on the national HE System

6. HEAR Components = Academic Transcript (module marks and grades). Diploma Supplement. Additional information esp. section 6.1 - a richer picture of student achievement, verified additional achievements recorded under one of three headings: –University, Professional and Departmental Prizes; –measured or assessed performance in non-academic contexts accredited by, or with external accreditation recognised by the University, e.g. awards concerned with employability; –additional recognised activities undertaken by students which demonstrate achievement but for which no recognition is provided in terms of academic credit, e.g. Course Representatives or Students Union Officers.

7. The emerging account…

8. The second story… A richer summative record produced by Registry, but with links to employability: –Where outcomes from extra-curricular processes are assessed, (e.g. within an extra-curricular award) these will, subject to institutional processes, be reported in appropriate parts of the HEAR. –HEARs provide a (re)source for students to draw upon in articulating and evidencing their achievements to employers and postgraduate tutors; Or/and a context for engagement with broader institutional issues, including student employability.

9. More than a Record… Links to learning and teaching…including more holistic appreciations of learning and achievement (revisiting graduate attributes) Links to demonstrating achievement away from the curriculum (and the active role of students unions/representatives in this, including discussions about the nature of life-wide learning and achievement).

10. renewed consideration of the relationship between institutionally-managed and learner managed information, the latter as held in e- portfolio systems for example. This has been a particular feature of trial work in areas where portfolios may contain assessed or presentational work, in areas of graphic design, for example; evolving HEARs may provide a context for recognising learning and informing choices… –As part of the HEAR pilot The University of Manchester is exploring formative HEARs to be produced annually for students in order to inform their academic and extra-curricular choices. The HEARing Student voices project will focus on the formative, development aspects of the HEAR initiative and will run alongside the development of graduate HEARs.

11. Timetable for implementation… The Implementation Steering Group has agreed that the default position is that there should be sector-wide rollout with incoming students at the beginning of the academic year 2011-2012. Voluntary take up could occur from 2010- 11 if all continues to go well with the current trial.