If someone has a 2:1 English literature degree , would you say they are very intelligent/academic?

[Curiousss]

Just basically this question, curious to know what people think.

Ditto!

I got an Oxbridge double first in Eng lit in 92 then did an MA at the other place. I’m not particularly clever I’m just good at essays and exams.

I know someone with a 2:1 in economics who thought peanut butter was ground nuts mixed with normal butter. This is somone who's eaten peanut butter since childhood and went to a top Uni.

Comes out with numerous wtf moments and isn't streetwise at all.
A lot of "how did you do that?" to common sense stuff.

I'm always amazed as has also had a stellar career.

So although intelligent in some sense, not so much in other ways.

82% of Irish adults have 2nd level education, and 53% have a degree or higher.
Those that don't aren't necessarily below average intelligence, it's more likely there were financial reasons they didn't continue education, or it just wasn't for them and they went into a trade etc instead.
So a 2:1 is an average degree, but having a degree doesn't make you way above average intelligence.

I have a 2:1 in Lit and became a teacher - definitely not clever 😂

yes because both my dd have a 2.1

i am proud of them

There is a big difference between academic intelligence, common sense and general knowledge. But yes, of course a person is of above average intelligence id they have a good degree. It doesn't mean they can read a map or know what peanut butter is made of!

not at all

Well the average reading age is something like 9/10 years old so I would think with an English degree you would have a much higher than average level of reading ability! Other areas of intelligence, harder to measure with a degree.

Oxford or Cambridge, yes. Otherwise not particularly.

Oxford rule - all colleges - is that students can’t work in a paid job except during summer break.

Unfortunately, the days are long gone when a 2:1 was a reliable indicator of academic intelligence.

To answer your question, OP, I'd agree with posters saying that WHEN the degree was awarded is critical, as well as which uni it's from. Post-2000, I'd say it's no indicator at all.

(Speaking as someone who got a 2:1 in English Language & Literature at a London Russel Group uni in 2001, and has an IQ of 142 🤷🏻)

Academic is more about higher degrees, personal research and discovery, using the skills taught to you as an UG to investigate and discover yourself. A degree is more about academics teaching you the tools you need to become academic

Hilarious.

I got a 2:2. I'm not ashamed.
I grew up in one of the most deprived areas of the UK. My parents were 16 when they had me and neither of them had any formal qualifications.
I was the first (and to this day only) person in my family to go to university and the only person from my year at primary school.
I was clueless during my degree and completely out of my depth. I got that 2:2 with very little support while having to work two jobs to survive financially.

I'm now a university academic with multiple postgraduate qualifications including a PhD. I'm on track to becoming a professor in the next couple of years.

That 2:2 allowed me to undertake my postgraduate degree which led me to where I am today.
I'm not ashamed.

They’re clearly not stupid but I don’t think that’s exceptional. I have a first in English Literature from a Russell Group but I studied very hard and I’m just very good at exams which is only one type of intelligence. The people who got a 2:1 but spent more time doing internships and networking that led to more high powered jobs were smarter.

I got a 2:1 in 1980. I would say I'm intelligent not academic.

I wouldn’t necessarily think anyone with a 2:1 was particularly academic/intelligent. Definitely above average depending on which university, but if it was a 1st, or a distinction at masters level then yes I would think they were pretty intelligent. I would reserve the ‘academic’ label for a PhD though.

I have a 1st from a good uni and don't think I am that intelligent. I am good at writing essays and researching though

A 2:1 Irish NUI is something to be proud of, it shows you are book smart and focused and capable. I would assume a higher than average intelligence, I think sometimes people on MN forget how low average really is.

I have a 2:2 NUI but the course is a high LC point course and well known for this. This means the grades to qualify for the course are very high, although the course itself was not particularly difficult. But people don't know that, even now 25 years later when people hear I have X degree they are impressed, no one ever questioned the results.

@MidnightMeltdown "I think 2.1 shows average intelligence unless from Oxbridge"

This really is Peak Mumsnet!!

You only need 60% to get a 2.1.

I have 3 degrees…one is a 2:2 from early 2000’s the others are 1:1’s and even I don’t consider myself massively intelligent to be honest. One degree is in psychology, another in primary teaching and another is in microbiology so very different subjects. I had a late career change.

And?

The only people who I've heard use '1:1 degree' had not been to university.

Well the question was would I think the person was 'very intelligent/academic'. And I feel like 60% isn't that high. That's only knowing/understanding just over half of the course content.