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Non-degree related achievements

Information for staff about non-degree related achievements and how to set them up in Portico.

The HEAR also details approved student non-degree related achievements.

Work related activity, including internships, placements and paid work can be recognised where the work-related activity is pre-approved by the Faculty or UCL Careers and is directly applicable and relevant to the learning outcomes of the student’s programme of study or enables the student to gain valuable employability skills.

The following activities have been approved for inclusion on HEAR:

  • Activities verified as significant by the Careers Service
  • Deans List and Academic Medals
  • Departmental/Divisional Prizes
  • Global Citizenship
  • Language Centre courses not undertaken as part of a degree programme
  • Officers of Departmental/Divisional Clubs and Societies
  • Other Activities verified as significant by Outreach
  • Scholarships received for merit and for merit and need
  • StARs
  • Student Ambassadors/Mentors
  • Student Reviewer for Internal Quality Review
  • UCL Advances
  • UCLU Colours
  • UCLU Officers of Clubs and Societies
  • Voluntary activities verified as significant by Museums and Collections
  • Voluntary activities verified as significant by the Voluntary Services Unit

Guiding Principles

Following a benchmarking exercise when achievements types submitted by the stakeholders were reviewed, a set of guiding principles for achievement eligibility for inclusion in a HEAR were identified:

  1. If participation in an achievement is paid, it will not be included in HEAR, unless the role is ‘ambassadorial’ for UCL.
  2. In general the threshold of 20 hours commitment is required for an achievement to be included in a HEAR, although there will exceptions to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
  3. For societies/ clubs/groups etc., only three role holders will be included in a HEAR. These role holders must be specified by the stakeholder for each activity. A ‘member’/‘participant’ of a society etc. is not of sufficient merit for inclusion in a HEAR.  However Laws ‘Moot Winners’ will be included in a HEAR.
  4. Achievements which students take part in which are organised/managed by non-UCL bodies are out of scope of a HEAR as they can not be verified by UCL.
  5. Scholarships/bursaries will only be include in a HEAR if they are based on academic merit, not hardship. Where they are based on a combination of academic merit and hardship, they will be included in a HEAR.
  6. Where an achievement may be organised/managed by a stakeholder, the achievement will be owned by the verifying party which will link students to the activity on Portico for a HEAR.
  7. Where volunteering activity is currently managed by a Department/Division, the Department/Division will link students to the achievement on Portico for the HEAR. Departments/Divisions could, however, seek advice from the    VSU about coordinating voluntary activity.
  8. Non-managed internships are out of scope for a HEAR.
  9. Where an achievement takes the form of a competition, only the winner will be included in a HEAR.
  10. For Prizes, the amount a prize is worth will not be included in a HEAR.

Set-up new HEAR achievements

If your department runs achievements / activities which should be included on student HEARs, please refer to the ‘Guiding Principles’ above. If you think your achievement / activity meets any of the ‘Guiding Principles’, please email hear@ucl.ac.uk with the title of the achievement and a brief explanation (no more than 2/3 sentences) both of which will appear on student HEARs. Student Records will then set-up the achievement on Portico so you can link students to it.

Use Portico to link students to non-degree related achievements

Before linking achievements please keep in mind:

  • you should only link students to achievements when you have verified their participation (i.e. when they have completed and/or been awarded the achievement or activity or prize).
  • within the achievement type drop down box, you will only see non-degree related achievements for which your department verifies student participation.
  • you do not need to link students to activities organised by Global Citizenship or UCLU, they will do this.

To link a student to an achievement please follow these steps in Portico:

  1. Select the ‘Achievement Entry’ option
  2. Select the ‘achievement type’ from the drop down box
  3. Wait for the page to load
  4. The academic year will default to 2021/202 or if you select an historic year, wait for the page to load
  5. Enter the student code
  6. If a drop-down sub-class box is available, you should complete this
  7. You do not need to complete the start date / end date as these do not appear on the HEAR
  8. You should select ‘Approved’ from the final drop down box
  9. Select ‘Add Achievement record’
     

By following the above steps, the student will be linked to the achievement and it will appear on their HEAR.

Additional Portico functionality

  • If you do not know the student code when linking a student to an achievement, you can search for the code using the student’s name or date of birth.
  • You can link a student to an achievement and approve at a later date by selecting ‘Awaiting Approval’. When you are ready to approve the student’s achievement, you can do this through the ‘Approver’s Review’ container.
  • Through the ‘Approver’s Review’ container, you can reject, deselect students against achievements.
  • Bulk approval, rejection against achievements is also possible through the ‘Approver’s Review’ container.