From the BBC “Degrees ‘should give more detail Tuesday, 16 October 2007, 12:13 GMT 13:13 UK

“…an inquiry conducted by university leaders says it has not found any better degree classification system.

So grades such as first class, 2:1 and 2:2 will continue alongside a pilot scheme giving more detailed exam marks.

This will give employers more “fine grain” information about graduates’ abilities, says their report.

…it proposes piloting a parallel system – to be called a Higher Education Achievement Report (Hear) – which would provide a detailed breakdown of marks in exam papers and course modules.

Such a transcript would give employers more precise information about strengths and weaknesses than a single classification, says Prof Burgess.”

Capturing and making available for presentation in a meaningful way information about the abilities a student has developed whilst studying at university is a good thing. However, also identifying “weaknesses” as Prof Burgess indicates is a deficit model and is a bad thing. Are student ‘weaknesses’ a deficiency on their part or are they, arguably, the fault of the institution in term of the education they have just experienced.