Earlier this evening I was at an alumni event in the centre of Sheffield. During the course of it one of those present, whose own son is hoping soon to go to university, put to me the view that in the new post-2012 fees regime the current first year for most students will become an expensive waste of time.  Our alumnus argued in favour of accelerated 2 year degrees.

In my view it is true that the frist year at university is not as productive for many students as it should be. To some extent there is a levelling process - those who have arrived with good study skills mark time to some extent while others who have benefited less from their earlier education catch up.  A number of students do 'coast'.  But a lot of others struggle to find their feet and need support in doing so.  I have written before about the need to inject excitement and inspiration into our first year teaching, but it is also the case that some students need to more functional skills of literacy, the construction of an argument, basic numeracy, self-discipline, and self-motivation developed in them.  And that is so even in a university, such as ours, with high entry standards.

Interestingly, a week or two ago, at a meeting of the Careers Advisory Board, some of the employer representatives there said that they often found Sheffield students disappointing - the word 'complacent' was used.  There was mention of the belief that because they have succeeded in getting into a good university, our students expect that a good job will then fall off a tree into their laps. If this is so it may be because the focus up to the age of 18 has been so strongly on achieving a place at a high-ranked institution, with little recognition of what will be needed to succeed there - or beyond.

So, if many students go through their first year coasting intellectually, not being stretched, and not putting in a great deal of effort - existing in a social world rather than an acacdemic one, and believing that ultimately all will be well - how might we change that attitude?

Here are two suggestions - the first instrumental, the second developmental.

Firstly, we could incorporate performance in first year assessments in the final degree classification.  We already show first year results in transcripts, but we could go much further, so that a student who does well in their first year assessments sees that benefit directly in their final summative record of performance.

Secondly, and I think this would have to be alternatively, we could introduce a mini Graduate Award based on first year achievements - possibly with some reward in the form of a reduced fee for the following session.  Such a mini award might validate student involvement in volunteering, learning a language, society activities, community projects, or activities within their own departments.  With strong encouragement (and / or a name and shame routine for those who do not get involved) this might help to show students that they need to start taking control of their own ultimate development right from the start of their first year.

I would be interested in reactions to these two ideas.