Employers have been urged to look beyond educational qualifications in recruiting graduates, according to Sarah Shillingford, graduate recruitment partner at Deloitte.

Shillingford says that from an employer’s perspective, it is impossible to compare university qualifications between one university and another.

“While it is said that it’s harder say to get a 2:1 at one university than another, degrees aren’t readily comparable, which provides employers with a challenge.

“Using candidates’ school or even university education as a measure of talent is not necessarily an easy basis for comparison. At Deloitte, we design rigorous assessment processes and methods for our graduate programme, which go beyond our initial academic screening criteria, in order to create a level playing field as well as assess skills beyond academic ones.  As an employer, we would welcome a degree system that would assist the comparability of results achieved.”