Undergraduates could have their English continually assessed under a study launched by a universities taskforce.
Taskforce convenor Professor Gregory James said one idea being considered was a 'language passport' that would be 'stamped' to give a portfolio of a student's achievements in English over a period of time.
Descriptive grades rather than a pass or fail would be used to rate students, said Professor James, also director of the language centre at the University of Science and Technology.
'This is not a question of passing or failing but to report the achievements of a student, and it's up to employers to decide whether to accept it. A person should be judged by his achievement on a personal basis,' he said.
'Assignments would be given to students to rate them according to different scales.'
The taskforce has stopped short of confirming whether students would be unable to graduate unless they attained a satisfactory grade in English.
