FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Employer’s Assessment Form

Student: …………………………………………………………………………..……………..……..……………..………

Company: ………………………………………………………………………………………..……..……………..………

Location: ………………………………………………………………………………………….……..……………..………

Start date: …………………………………..………. Finish date: ……………………………..……..……………

Please read the grading guidelines below before completing this form.

Grade

/
Comment
Behaviour:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Attendance
  • Punctuality
  • Reliability
  • Reaction to authority?

Personal/Social Skills: How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Interaction with others
  • Team-working qualities
  • Confidence
  • Maturity
  • Contribution to the workplace?

Communication Skills:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Ability to impart information orally/ in writing
  • Informally (conversation/ email/ memos)
  • Formally (presentations/ meetings/ reports)
  • Listening to others?

Attitude to Work:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Appearance
  • Enthusiasm
  • Interest
  • Diligence
  • Dependability
  • Tenacity
  • Willingness to accept responsibility
  • Initiative
  • Self-motivation
  • Co-operation?

Organisational Skills: How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Ability to plan work schedules and set priorities
  • Ability to progress several tasks concurrently
  • Work rate
  • Achieving results within or even ahead of specified timescales?

Comprehension: How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Ability to understand and interpret instructions
  • Ability to identify problems?

Technical Achievement:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Technical knowledge
  • Decision making
  • Translation of scientific knowledge and practical skills into achieving results/ resolving problems?

Creativity:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Initiative
  • Ability to originate new ideas
  • Adapt old concepts to new applications?

Leadership:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Planning / preparation
  • Delegation
  • Briefing/debriefing
  • Standing back
  • Ability to motivate
  • Recognition
  • Implementation of ideas
  • Ability to review?

Commercial Awareness:How do you rate the student in areas such as:
  • Ability to appreciate commercial and financial considerations?

Signature of Industrial Supervisor:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………… Date: .………………..…

Name and Position:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

On completion please return this part of the form to:

The Professional Training Officer

Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences,

University of Surrey

Guildford

Surrey GU2 7XH

or email to:

Employer’s Assessment Form: Grading Guidelines

Guidance Notes

The University requires the students’ performance in the above areas to be given grades A, B, C, D, etc. which are ultimately translated into percentages within the Honours Classification system as used in most British universities. The following table gives the equivalence and the corresponding typical percentage bands.

Grade
/ Performance
A+ / Exceptional
A / Well above average
B / Above Average
C / Average
D
/ Satisfactory but weak
F / Unsatisfactory

The following is a list of sample comments in the various areas, which may help in allocating the most appropriate grade.

1. Behaviour /
Grade
Outstanding behaviour - volunteers for additional duties and/or overtime and is willing to cooperate beyond the call of duty / A+
Faultless timekeeping etc - will do whatever is required but without volunteering for additional duties / A
No significant problems in this area / B
Punctuality and reliability not always 100% - perhaps needs occasional reprimand for minor misbehaviour / C
Casual timekeeping, not always reliable - needs frequent reminders on correct behaviour / D
Bad timekeeping, unreliable, badly behaved / F
2. Personal/Social Skills /
Grade
Outstanding personality and team working skills- develops good relationships with people at all levels - has complete self-confidence but is without arrogance / A+
Mixes well and establishes good relationships with fellow team members - not afraid to put forward and defend his/her own ideas / A
No significant problems in this area / B
Maybe a little shy and lacking in confidence, but will cooperate with team members / C
Prefers own company, tends not to cooperate particularly well with team members / D
Objectionable personality, uncooperative / F
3. Communication Skills /
Grade
Outstanding ability to communicate either orally or in writing - exemplary reports, presentations etc / A+
Very competent in oral and written communications -- reports, presentations etc to a professional standard / A
No problems in communicating ideas or results/findings in oral or written communications / B
Has some minor difficulties in conveying information accurately and/or concisely but does succeed in making him/herself understood / C
Has a significant difficulty in conveying information or ideas adequately in oral or written communications / D
Fails to communicate adequately - incoherent / F
4. Attitude to Work /
Grade
Exceptional enthusiasm and interest in all aspects of work - shows outstanding willingness to accept responsibility and determination to overcome problems / A+
Very interested in all aspects of the work programme and shows willingness to accept responsibility and determination to overcome problems / A
Shows interest in the work programme and is willing to complete tasks as directed with due diligence / B
Shows interest in some parts of the work programme but is reluctant to undertake mundane or repetitive tasks / C
Shows little interest or enthusiasm and requires constant reminders to complete tasks / D
Displays indifference and is reluctant to adequately complete any task assigned to him/her / F
5. Organisational Skills /
Grade
Exceptional ability to prioritise and plan work schedules and to progress several tasks concurrently / A+
Above average ability to organise work schedules - set priorities and to progress more than one task at a time / A
Average ability to organise work schedules - may need some assistance in deciding priorities / B
Gets the work done, but in a somewhat haphazard fashion - finds it difficult to decide on priorities without assistance / C
Muddled approach, requires regular prompting on what needs to be done next / D
No inclination to organise and plan work schedules - has to be told what to do next / F
6. Comprehension /
Grade
Exceptionally quick to grasp new ideas and concepts and to understand and interpret instructions / A+
Quick to understand and interpret instructions and does not normally require additional information or explanation / A
No particular problems in understanding instructions but may sometimes require additional information or explanation / B
Frequently requires additional explanation or explanation before grasping new ideas/concepts and understanding instructions / C
Has significant difficulty in understanding any but the simplest instructions and ideas / D
Has extreme difficulty in understanding any but the most basic instructions and ideas / F
7. Technical Achievement /
Grade
Exceptional achievement in translating ideas, concepts and scientific knowledge into solutions to actual engineering problems, while requiring minimum supervision / A+
Professional competence in solving engineering problems, with little supervision / A
Achieves good results provided objectives are well defined and relevant information is readily available / B
Achieves reasonable results provided objectives are spelt out and assistance is given when required / C
Only able to complete straightforward tasks and requires regular supervision and/or assistance / D
Requires constant supervision and assistance to complete even the simplest tasks / F
8. Creativity /
Grade
Outstanding innovator and problem solver - lateral thinker / A+
Has many good ideas and can solve problems on his/her own / A
Has some good ideas and can solve problems where most of the technology and procedures are well established / B
Will function satisfactorily with familiar or well-established procedures and has the occasional useful idea / C
Will function adequately only when using familiar and well-established procedures / D
Is not prepared to think - resists change / F
9. Leadership /
Grade
Drives and shapes the agenda, shows exceptional flair for managing people and resources / A+
Contributes strategically, proactively seeks leadership opportunities, shows a fair degree of skill and understanding in leadership positions / A
Competently takes leadership for projects, manages budgets orpersonnel if given the opportunity / B
Occasionally accepts the challenge of leadership but only in “safe” initiatives with little risk or reward - some idea of the “bigger picture” / C
Shies away from situations where personal leadership is required - has a vague understanding of strategy / D
No potential for leadership whatsoever / F
10. Commercial Awareness /
Grade
Is keenly aware of and is very interested in the commercial andfinancial implications of all engineering activities / A+
Is normally aware of and interested in the commercial and financial aspects of engineering activities even when not directly involved with them / A
Only aware or interested in the business aspects of engineering when directly involved with them / B
Will recognise that there are business aspects to most engineering activities but prefers not to be involved with them / C
Only appreciates commercial ramifications of engineering activities when these are obvious and involvement is unavoidable / D
Has little awareness of commercial considerations and is only interested in engineering / F

Guidance Notes - Employers