Too many students now gaining first class degrees

Though everyone has his or her opinion,this is what some persons would think is a global development,but I bet you my dear readers that it would be worrisome and a threat some day to the world in general when everybody is an expert. Daily mail.co.uk reported that the record numbers of top degrees are being handed out amid suspicions universities are lowering standards to boost their reputations and attract students.

Nearly 70,000 graduates were awarded a first last year – up 13 per cent on 2012.

It means close to one in five earned the top award, compared to one in six just 12 months earlier

There was also a 5 per cent rise in 2:1s to just over 187,000. Overall, 68 per cent of students now end up with a first or upper second-class degree, a rise of two per cent in a year.

The figures from the Higher Education Statistics Authority reignited concerns that universities are inflating grades to attract undergraduates, who pay up to £9,000 a year.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said universities were ‘literally racing towards as many good degrees as possible’.
He added: ‘It looks like there is an inflationary trend. The main reason, I think, is that universities are  competing for students, who are a very important income stream.’

Bahram Bekhradnia, president of the Higher Education Policy Institute, described the figures as a ‘very big jump from one year to the next’. He said: ‘There have to be suspicions it is being fuelled by grade inflation.’

Recent freedom of information requests have revealed apparent pressure on academics to award top degrees.

An internal document from the University of East Anglia said: ‘To put it bluntly, too few students are being awarded 2:1s and firsts.’