Information for students
After your degree has been conferred at Exeter, your HEAR will provide you with a record of your university achievements, including some of your extracurricular and co-curricular activities that the University is able to verify.
It is an enhanced academic transcript that will contain detailed information about your learning and achievements which, along with your degree certificate, will support applications for employment and further study. However, please note that the HEAR does not replace your CV or a job application form – these should always be written to meet the needs of a particular employer whereas the HEAR is an exit document that will be published in a finalised form when you are awarded your degree.
Your HEAR is a digitally signed document which you can share with employers, employment agencies or other universities by logging into Gradintel. The HEAR should only be issued by you on the request of a potential employer/placement provider/postgraduate admissions department and is not designed to be sent as part of a speculative application. The HEAR is only valid when accessed on the GradIntel website.
HEARs are issued following a degree being conferred and are usually issued during the week before graduation ceremonies – recipients should receive an email from GradIntel with details of how to access it. HEARs can be issued at other times of year when degrees are conferred.
Watch this video to find out more:
Please refer to the FAQs tab below for further information about the HEAR and how you will be able to access your HEAR.
What will be in my HEAR?
The HEAR is made up of 8 sections:
1) Information about you - including your name, date of birth and student number
2) Information about your qualification - the degree title, fields of study and University awarding the qualification
3) Information on the level of your qualification - including the length and level of study
4) Information on the content of your studies and the results - this section includes details about your programme, grading structure and the results you have obtained
5) Information on the function of your qualification - this is where any further study opportunity or professional status will be recorded
6) Additional information - this section is where verified additional activities can be recorded. See additional activities for further information
7) Certification of the HEAR - this section confirms that your HEAR has been certified by the University
8) Information on the national higher education system - including information designed to provide employers with a general understanding of higher education.
Additional Achievements and Activities
(Section 6)
For a complete list of currently approved achievements included in the University of Exeter HEAR, please see HEAR 6.1 Approved Achievements.
The following table provides a summary:
|
University led activities |
Exeter Award completion |
|
Students' Guild and Students' Union Activities |
Elected positions on committees and teams |
|
Athletic Union activities |
Club Captains |
|
College/discipline achievements |
Departmental and Univerity prizes, College commendations. For full approved list see here. |
|
OTC |
Army Reserve Commissioned Officer |
|
URNU |
Chartered Management Institute Level 5 Certificate in Management & Leadership |
Legacy items are not included in above list.
HEAR achievements are kept under review. Please note that the University is under no obligation to publish details of any particular extracurricular/co-curricular achievement/activity in a student's HEAR.
Amendments to your achievement data and excluding activities from your HEAR
For those completing studies you will have the opportunity to view the extracurricular/co-curricular achievements recorded for you and amend or remove any that you do not wish to have published on your HEAR. This usually takes place in May/June. Notification will be sent by email to students who are due to complete studies when this function is available and if you do not make any changes, your HEAR will be published in its entirety.
Further guidance
It is important to remember the following:
- Your HEAR is not a CV or a job application form, it is simply a record of achievements you have gained whilst studying at Exeter that the University is able to verify. You should not send your HEAR as part of a speculative application to potential employers – only issue it on request.
- When you are awarded your degree your HEAR is finalised and, with the exception of factual errors, cannot be changed.
- Graduate employers use a range of recruitment procedures (which may include for example, application forms, CVs and interviews) giving you the opportunity to highlight many areas of your skills and experience, including those that do not appear on your HEAR.
- The HEAR is likely to be useful during the first few years after you complete your studies, after that its relevance will subside as your employment history becomes far more important.
For these reasons it is important to give some thought to what you wish to include, and in particular what you will be happy for employers to see about your extracurricular activities, now and in the future.
Reviewing Your HEAR
Prior to graduation you will have the opportunity to view the extracurricular/co-curricular achievements recorded for you and request a correction, a removal or an addition. This is done via an online tool and notification is sent by email to graduating students when this function becomes available.
This opportunity usually takes place in late May to early June.
The data in the review tool will only show eligible achievements completed and confirmed before the data was submitted in late April. Eligible achievements completed after this date will not appear in the tool but will be included in the final HEAR as long as they are completed by the end of your studies. For those graduating in the Summer this will be the end of Summer term. Please note this is a one-off opportunity — you can only use this achievement review tool once.
Once you have submitted any requests for additions or corrections the relevant activity manager (e.g. Guild, SU, AU) will contact you where there may be a reason that the change cannot be made, for example you request an achievement that is not recognised. There are a number of activity managers with different processes and some may contact you to confirm the change will be made while others may not. If you do not hear anything then it usually means that your request has been accepted and will be included in your HEAR. HEARs are usually issued during the week before graduation.
When the student review window is open click here for further details about reviewing your HEAR. This is usually in late May/June each year.
FAQs
Does the HEAR replace the Exeter Award?
No, in fact the Exeter Award is one of the key achievements that will appear on the Exeter HEAR.
Furthermore, whilst paid work and work experience do not appear on the HEAR (with the exception of placements that count towards your degree), Universities are being encouraged to include activities that incorporate skills development and reflection on work experience, which is precisely what the Exeter Award offers.
Will I still receive a degree certificate?
Yes. You will receive your degree certificate once your award has been agreed by the University Senate.
When will my HEAR be available?
Once your award has been agreed, your HEAR will be published as a final document around the time of your graduation. We usually issue HEARs in July and December during the week before graduation ceremonies. You will receive an email from Gradintel with details of how to access it online when it is available. If your complete your studies at a different time of year, for example as a result of a deferral, your HEAR will usually be issued around two weeks after your Award has been conferred.
How do I exclude information from my HEAR?
Most of the HEAR contents follows a national specification and cannot be changed, however under section 6.1 the University of Exeter decides what activities/achievements have been approved for inclusion. See here for further details.
Students in their final year will be contacted prior to graduation with the opportunity to view the extracurricular/co-curricular achievements currently recorded for them and remove any that they do not wish to have published in their final HEAR.
How do I add an achievement to my HEAR?
The HEAR section 6.1 (extracurricular and co-curricular achievements) is put together by drawing data from databases across the University, including the Students' Guild, the Students' Union and the AU. Achievements that appear on the list approved by the HEAR Project Board (see here) will therefore be added automatically to your HEAR, you do not need to do anything. Activities not on the list cannot be added.
The information about my additional activities and achievements (section 6.1) is incorrect, who should I contact?
Prior to graduation you will have the opportunity to view the extracurricular/co-curricular achievements recorded for you and amend or remove any as appropriate. This will be done via an online tool (notification will be sent by email to graduating students when this function is available).
Please use this tool to report any amendments to your achievement details. If you feel there is an achievement missing, please first consult the approved list of HEAR achievements here to check that your achievement is included on the University's HEAR. If it is an approved achievement and is missing, the table of achievement activity organisers on that web page will help you forward your query to the correct department, using the online tool.