Universities in the UK award the highest number of first-class degrees

UK Universities awarded the highest number of first class degrees to graduates last year. This, despite the mounting pressure on UK Universities to tackle grading leniency.

Data from HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) reveal 28% of UK graduates leave their Universities with top scores. In 2009-10, only 14.4% of graduates were awarded first-class degrees. In 2017-18, 2 out of every 7 graduates get a first-class degree. As per HESA, the number of first-class graduates has increased by 2% every year since 2013-14.

The higher education regulator in the UK had warned Universities last month on increasing cases of grade inflation. Such high grades may diminish the value of the degree as well as the confidence of the public in the education system.

Due to Brexit, there has been a drop of 1.2% in the number of EU students studying in the UK. The number of part-time students in the UK has also gone down by 4%. There are less than 500,000 such students in the UK now, as per Independent News.

The number of undergraduates studying Bachelors in the UK also fell slightly in 2017-18.

Nicola Dandridge from the Office for Students said that there is an unexplained high number of grading leniency in UK Universities. It is imperative that Universities act on this so that confidence in the UK education system is maintained. In the event no action is taken, the OfS will have no other option but to intervene.

In November last year, UK Universities agreed that the rising number of first-class degrees could be detrimental. It could lessen the value of the degree making it useless for the students.

Chief Executive, Universities UK, Alistair Jarvis, said that Universities are taking necessary measures to tackle grading leniency. They are currently consulting with the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment. Jarvis says these measures are being taken to ensure people retain their confidence on the value of a UK degree.

Y-Axis offers a wide range of Visa and Immigration services as well as products to overseas immigrants including UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa, Business Visa for the UK, Study Visa for the UK, Visit Visa for the UK, and Work Visa for the UK.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to the UK, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like…

The number of Indian students in the UK is on the rise