A new university scheme will allow employers to attract talent to their organisation based on skills rather than a generic degree classification.

The Higher Education and Achievement Record (HEAR) launched this week means 18 UK universities will be able to list students' marks in individual coursework assignments as well as work experience and study abroad experience, and offer this as a transcript to employers.

According to the CIPD, this is a step in the right direction in graduate recruitment.

John McGurk, learning, training and development adviser at the CIPD, said: "We welcome any move towards assessing students in a more dynamic and comprehensive way. The days when degree class was the only way of determining student achievement are long gone."

He added: "To build a learning society and to life our poor skills performance to compete globally we need to move beyond snapshot exams as the only indicator of achievement. Nevertheless we should not lose the value of robust exam based assessment as part of that process."