HEAR stands for Higher Education Achievement Report and is an approach specifically designed to record student achievement during higher education to potentially benefit students, employers and institutions. Yes, it’s like that strange folder containing all your certificates achieved at school, except more important. In a nutshell, it’s a good thing! Unfortunately, this isn’t a subject even we can dress up as exciting. So sit tight, stay awake, and enjoy the ride.

What is HEAR?

Although this type of report is in its early stages of development and currently being introduced in universities across the country, it is an excellent way to show recognition for commitments and achievements made by students while at university. As we’re always looking to bring the latest info to the Coursefindr site, here is our rundown of HEAR.

Since the model’s development by the European Commission, UNESCO and Council of Europe it has become a national requirement. The High Education Academy (HEA – or Higher Education Army, as we like to call them) is now providing support and focus to ensure it is implemented and maintained to ensure academic and non-degree related achievements are recorded.

University degrees are becoming more and more common and with the economic market being in its current state and fewer jobs available upon graduation, a degree will no longer set you apart from others competing for the same jobs. As such, standing out is vital; extracurricular activities do just that, and HEAR will inform employers of your extra achievements.

“If you’re about to start an undergrad degree, you can look forward to receiving your HEAR at the end of your degree. Whoopie!”

SEE ALSO: A History of Using Qualifications as a Differentiator in the Jobs Market

Who Gets HEAR?

A report is created for any undergraduate student enrolled on their course for the first time since the 2011-2012 academic year. That means if you’re about to start an undergrad degree, you can look forward to receiving your HEAR at the end of your degree. Whoopie! Unfortunately enrolment on some courses may not be eligible so it may be an idea to check with your institution or on the HEAR website. You receive your report upon completion of your programme from your institution once it is compiled to include your module results. You don’t even need to lift a finger!

Academic Achievements

The report will include your individual achievement as a student and will give employers a breakdown of your grades, giving them more insight into your programme and the modules you studied. By providing employers with a breakdown of your course and the marks you received across the board it will highlight your strengths and weaknesses during your studies.

Extra curricular

HEAR provides graduates with much more than just a final grade upon completion of their degree. The report provides an extended breakdown of a graduate’s university transcripts, including modular results, sporting activities and achievements, voluntary programmes and positions held while at university e.g. course representative and student union positions. The report shows all of the elements of your time studying which will impress a potential employer.

Joining societies that will impress future employers is therefore a good move to make. At the very least take part in multiple extracurricular activities so you have more than ‘dungeon master for dungeons and dragons society’ on your HEAR.

When you applied for university you will have wrote a personal statement about why you were the perfect candidate for your chosen course, when you write a CV you also write a personal statement about why you would be the perfect person to employ for that position. Those personal statements often include extracurricular activities, voluntary positions, experience and any extra qualifications you have achieved; HEAR allows any of these achievements you have to be recorded in one place, documented in detail by your institution for potential employers to be impressed by.

What types of activities count towards HEAR?

There are a huge number of ways to expand your HEAR and make yourself more employable in the eyes of an employer. You could become an officer of a club or society showing you can work in positions of power within that group. You can sign up for voluntary work which must be recognised by the Voluntary Services at your institution; universities often hold volunteer fairs which will give you a variety of charities or activities in which you can get involved which will count towards your report. You can also have other non-degree related achievements which are included in your HEAR, these can include scholarships received for merit while studying, prizes you have received, roles as student ambassadors or mentors, and much more depending on your institution.

Every university is different and may include different aspects in your report. If you want to improve your report and fill it with important and worthy activities and achievements then it may be in your interest to enquire as to what qualifies towards HEAR at your university. Drinking will not qualify. HEAR is an excellent reason to engage in what is happening on your campus and gives you the initiative needed to participate.

As a student, if you know about HEAR before you start your course, or at least earlier in your degree, you will certainly be able to use it to motivate yourself into joining clubs, taking part in extracurricular activities and finding a volunteer position. You should use HEAR as incentive to get involved and make a difference.

Receiving your HEAR

Your HEAR report will be issued to you upon completion of your degree. This official record will be provided to you in the form of a digital HEAR document and will be available to you to share with future employers as evidence of your achievements at university. Your university will supply you with this document when it has been compiled after course completion.

Use the HEAR to showcase yourself in the future; take the time to do plenty of extracurricular activities to fill your report and get involved with your students union. You want to show prospective employers that you are unique, self-motivated and a team player, and your report can help you do just that. The more you can do now to improve your employment prospects the better. Get out there and fill your report, you’ll thank us later!

Simple answer: the Research Assessment Exercise. The more complex answer is, well, more complex. Basically the RAE is a way of measuring the quality of research in various universities and other higher education departments across the UK. It’s so significant because it is so well respected across the four standards boards who deal with this kind of thing, all of which have long, acronymic names – the HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW and the DELNI. Sound important, don’t they? That’s because they are – the ratings they give universities, particularly the RAE, is a measure of how much funding the universities are entitled to and the respect they’re due from other universities and bodies. It is, simply, a pretty big deal.

The Rating System

The RAE is a complicated system, and the way each subject is rated is dependent on the different boards of independent adjudicators – they decide exactly how to rate each subject. However, the general system of research assessment is always more or less the same – they look at all of the papers that come out of a given university and assess how good the research is – how significant it is to the field and how important an impact it makes on that field.

There are five main categories for scaling a university’s research output: world leading, internationally excellent, internationally recognised, nationally recognised, and below the standard. These are represented by numbers from 4*-1*, and below-standard universities (the poor things) are known as “unclassified”. Ouch.

The assessors are a panel of independent, specialist experts in the field they’re examining, so in many ways the RAE is a government-backed peer review system; very similar to the one already in place to examine every paper that is published. The only difference is that whilst a “normal” peer review system examines a single paper, the RAE will examine an entire university. Scary stuff.

Why Is It So Important?

The RAE is a pretty strong standard to base the quality of a university on – the quality of research undertaken is one of the most important indicators on whether or not a university is “good”, and more importantly the RAE will have a direct affect on all of the other university ranking tables and will be the first thing that’s looked at when a certain department requests a government or international grant. So, it’s pretty important. We suggest you go onto the 2008 website and have a look around at the universities and courses you’re interested in – it makes excellent reading.

There is one problem with the RAE that you should be aware of, of course – the assessment only looks at the papers of full time staff on the university’s payroll. This means it ignores the work of many full-time researchers working in a university because they are not directly employed by the university. This, obviously, has lead to a lot of criticism as many papers are explicitly ignored by the examining bodies and so a lot of what could be great work goes unnoticed. However, there are plans to change this in the next assessment exercise.

Finally

The RAE is an immensely important way of looking at universities, and despite not being a perfect system is very highly respected by the people who matter. Make sure you have a look at it when you get a chance, particularly if you’re thinking of starting a course somewhere – it’s a good way of telling if you’re onto a winner.

It doesn’t stop here though, coming this year is the RAE’s replacement system, the Research Excellence Framework. The REF is due to be completed in 2014 so be sure to head back to Coursefindr for your REF primer.

A slight hint of uncertainty may be detected by the observant reader in the title – we’re not actually too sure if there is any real way to avoid fresher’s flu. Sorry, but Fresher’s flu is awful. It waits, all year round, for one little week right at the beginning of term and then drops upon students everywhere with frightening reliability and determination. There’s no way to avoid it but a few tried and tested methods may help slow its inexhaustible advance.

The tactics adopted by students everywhere to fight the terrifying flu are the same as those learned by Biologists as the “four F’s” necessary for survival – Fleeing, Fighting, Feeding and… erm… Mating. These four pillars of protection may help. A bit. But mostly they’re there to make sure the flu was worth the week. That’s the important thing.

Fleeing

One tried-and-tested way to avoid the dreaded disease is to stay away from it – barricade your doors and windows, speak to no one, and don’t go to lectures until the dust has settled some time mid-November. This is probably a little extreme, and we don’t suggest it. What we do suggest, though, is a few nights off the booze during Fresher’s week and some quiet movie-watching with a blanket and a hot drink – it’ll help a lot more than you think.

Along the same lines, try not to drink too much on the nights you do go out to the bars and clubs – know your limits! Everyone has a limit so don’t be “that guy” who ended up face down in the kebab shop or “that girl” that ended up face down in the kebab.

Fighting

Fight the flu! Stay positive, and don’t give in to it – psychology has a lot to do with sickness, and staying healthy in your head will help a lot with your body. Studies have shown that the Fresher’s flu has an awful lot to do with homesickness and the placebo effect – if you don’t think you have the flu, you probably won’t contract it. Mind over matter; it’s that simple. Hopefully.

Feeding

An important one, this. Passing out in your kebab means you won’t eat your kebab. Which may well end up being a good thing. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and don’t end up living off toast and ham sandwiches or ready meals because it’s so much easier than cooking. You need vitamins and all of that other magical good stuff that sits unappreciated inside a raw pepper. Eat properly and try to avoid the late-night takeaway. Your body (and your wallet) will thank you later.

On another note, make sure to stay hydrated! Water is the best thing for you and is really the only thing us humans are supposed to drink. We don’t want to get overly hippy here (man) but water really is the very best thing you can put into your body. A beer for breakfast is very rock-and-roll, but Johnny Cash didn’t start off his career doing anthropology in Norwich, and you aren’t finishing yours as a musical legend (sorry). Wake up, get your water, and appreciate it. Again, your body will thank you later.

Mating

And by this, of course, I mean exercise. Go for a jog or a cycle if you’re feeling up for it, or at least go breathe some air that hasn’t been sharing the same space as the improvised ashtrays and booze-spillages (let alone your unwashed self) of last night. We know, we know, outside is so far away, and so painfully bright – just try to get there and you’ll find it’s nowhere near as difficult to walk as you thought it was. Then go and explore the town or campus – you’re going to be spending a lot of time here, after all.

Then what?

So, there it is, the four pillars that may well save your life (at least for a week or two) if you follow that advice. As we’ve already mentioned, this probably will not work. Sorry, but Fresher’s flu really is awful. Awful! Roughly 90% of all Fresher’s students find themselves sick in one way or another, and that’s just the ones that report it. The other 10% are presumably super-fit, super-lucky, or lying.

So, basically, you’re going to get it. Sorry, there’s not much we can do about that. However, although students haven’t yet worked out how to stop themselves from getting ill, they have worked out what to do with themselves once the dreaded disease takes hold. Sadly, we don’t have anything quite as nifty as the four F’s to describe them, so we’ll just tell it like it is.

Medicine

Don’t underestimate the power of a cup of Lemsip. Other brands are available. This stuff is hot liquid gold for the under the weather student, and there’s nothing better for the body, except, perhaps, the home-made Lemsip that in our humble opinion works even better. This is a Coursefindr recipe, and has been kept a secret for generations – if anyone asks, you didn’t get it from here.

Mix the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of turmeric, a spoonful of honey and hot water in a mug. Stir with a stick of raw ginger. Drink the whole thing. Rinse and repeat until you run out of ingredients. It may have laxative effects, but it’ll certainly clear your head. Again, if anyone asks (particularly a doctor), you didn’t get that information from here.

If Lemsip or the home-made brew isn’t your thing, just take plenty of vitamin tablets and go easy on the painkillers – in the words of J.K Rowling, “Numbing the pain for a while makes it worse when you finally feel it”. Or, in the words of Ted from Scrubs, “Cherish the pain, Ted! It means you’re still alive!” Amen.

Bed

Sleeping is one of the best and weirdest things that us humans do – nobody knows exactly why we sleep; the only fundamental proof that we need to sleep is that we do. Whatever – we need sleep, and it helps people when they’re ill. A lot. Get enough sleep, and preferably at the right time and you’ll feel better for it.

University’s a lot of fun, but remember you’re here to work and working is what you should do – this means getting up early and therefore going to bed at a half-decent time should be a prerogative. Or don’t, if you don’t want to – we can’t stop you, this is just an article. But it really is highly suggested.

Layers

This is standard old-lady advice but it bears repeating – if you’re going into lectures whilst under the weather (and you hopefully are – see Don’ts, below) then bring a few layers with you. A 10am start with a 4pm finish gives the weather a lot of time to re-evaluate its options and decide to start making a mess. Bring a jacket in with you even if it’s a sunny day, and just keep it in your bag or locker. You’ll be grateful for it when you need it, and one day you really will need it.

Alternatively, if you’re feeling trusting, just check the weather and see what the day has got in store for you. But nobody ever does that. Besides, the day you dress according to the weather reports is the day all weather science gets disproved. It’s one of those things.

Don’ts

When you get ill, try not to miss out on lectures if you can. The student who misses his entire first term because he is ill is also very unlikely to pass and continue with his course. Don’t do that. Go in to lectures and stick it out if you possibly can and you’ll be thankful you did come exam season.

Another very, very big don’t is so big, we’re going to put it in bold: Don’t keep acting like nothing is wrong. Nope, not enough. We’re going to go with caps, too: DON’T KEEP ACTING LIKE NOTHING IS WRONG. That should do it, hopefully. Do not continue drinking, socialising and eating rubbish if you know you’re ill. You will – yes, will – get more ill. This is what the flu wants – it’s hoping you’ll drink more, wreck your immune system, and make everything easier for it. Don’t give it the satisfaction.

Know Thy Enemy

There’s more than one strain of Fresher’s flu – generally people get so ill over Fresher’s because they’re being exposed to a load of new people each with their own special individual germs (cute, right?). Google your symptoms and see what special strain you’ve managed to get a hold of. And after that, try not to overreact – if WebMD and similar sites were right every time they suggested an illness, Tim Berners-Lee (the bloke who invented t’interweb) would have more blood on his hands than your average gang-lord.

And Finally

Good luck! And remember, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Valentine’s Day (for those people who are lucky enough to be making plans) can be a little terrifying – there’s few things more scary than the expectations of your other half and the pressure’s on to have a good day and for everything to go smoothly. Issue is, these kind of events tend to always cost a pretty penny, and your average student won’t be able to afford a traditional Valentines.

Whilst conceding that McDonald’s or – worse – Gregg’s, isn’t an appropriate option for most, here’s our five tips for making the best of Valentine’s Day on a budget.

Hello Heston!

Consider cooking at home. Test your culinary skills and have some fun making something with your other half in the kitchen. Cooking together can be very romantic, if done right, and this is a real opportunity to show off your skills in the kitchen. Try to make sure the housemates are elsewhere so you can have the place to yourself and sit down with a decent bottle of wine and a guaranteed nice dinner for a fraction of what it would cost you at a restaurant.

Get Out

There’s more free trips out than you think. Places like art galleries, aquariums, and parks can be very cheap (or even free), and even though some idiot decided to put the day of romance on the arse-end of winter, if it’s a decent enough day outside there’s nothing wrong with a long walk or something similar. We don’t suggest a long walk being your only Valentine’s plan, but it’s certainly a start and a great space-filler.

Culture Yourself

The cinema/theatre. Admittedly these aren’t the two cheapest options, but they’re certainly not horrifically expensive, particularly with options like a student discount and such. Remember you can always go another day – it just might be an idea to actually have the tickets ready to show that you’ve been thoughtful and booked something in advance.

Discounts will be available to students but make sure if you are going on the day to book early – Valentine’s is the busiest day of the year. Oh, and try to get seats towards the front if you’re going to the cinema; unless you want a backdrop of 16 year olds sucking face during the movie.

‘Your Thing’

It may seem to an outsider to be horrifically saccharine and painfully unoriginal, but there’s a lot to be said for just doing whatever it is that brought you together in the first place. Whatever else it might be, the thing that makes you special as a couple is what you should be celebrating on Valentine’s Day. And if that happens to be that you both enjoy socialising with friends in the day and socialising with yourselves of an evening, so much the better!

Do What You Do (DWYD)

Just enjoy whatever it is you’re doing. It may be that you couldn’t think of or afford anything particularly special, but that doesn’t mean you should be automatically in disgrace. Valentine’s is, afterall, just another day, and as long as you enjoy it as a couple then it shouldn’t matter what you do at all. Just have fun, relax, and wait for it to blow over. That’s what all the single people will be trying to do, anyway.

Before you start your first year, you’ll already have plenty of funny stories ready to share with your new university friends. The problem is, none of those stories look good. Seriously, they don’t. Tell your new housemates a few too many stories the first night you meet them and risk earning yourself an unenviable nickname for the rest of university.

The point is; one needs to find the right balance between “interesting” and “nutbag” when meeting new people. Sadly, many fresher’s tend towards the wrong end of the spectrum when they meet their housemates. Other people go too far the other way and end up as a white patch on a white wall. Both behaviours should be avoided as best as possible. Fortunately, the modern world has offered a great starting point to get across a few “best bits” before you meet anyone. The Internet is the world’s greatest cheat-sheet. Use it. … Continue reading

February is, of course, Library Lovers Month. Great, you may be thinking. Well, we do. Whatever your feelings for the annual celebration, it is a great opportunity to make the most of your University library, explore all of its resources and have some great fun.

Some of you might be just casual visitors to your university library, utilising it only two days before deadline days, while others are regular guests. No matter of your previous experience and knowledge of the wonders of your University library, this month is a great chance to improve your experience, learn something new and have some fun in the process.

Yes, it’s possible to have fun in the library without taking your clothes off! … Continue reading