The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) has been given funding to raise employer awareness about degree classification and social mobility.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has given AGR the funding for two projects to persuade employers to look at graduate qualifications afresh and so not to miss out on hidden talent.

The first project aims to encourage employers to make use of the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) in the recruitment and selection of graduates. The HEAR is intended to give a far richer and broader picture of students’ achievements at university. A student’s degree class will be clearly stated in the HEAR, while also giving employers information about their extra-curricular activities, achievements, experiences and skills.

More than 80 institutions are now operating or introducing the HEAR and the project is intended to raise awareness of its benefits among employers.

The second project looks to persuade employers to review their selection criteria and ensure that they are not compromising the access that applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds have to internships and jobs. The issue of social mobility has been of increasing concern for the AGR; the organisation has recently begun to monitor its members’ about their collection of socio-economic data.

Jane Clark, Barclays’ head of corporate and investment banking campus recruitment, Europe and Asia, has been seconded to the AGR on a part-time basis to lead the projects.

Clark says: “The point at which young people make the transition into work from university represents the culmination of several years’ hard work and realises a great deal of the value added by higher education. Investigating this crucial point, and ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to thrive, will be an interesting and rewarding task.”