To think there is grade inflation in universities

[Thetelly8]

I’ve noticed a lot of students gain very high grades it seems people getting a 2.2 or a third is extremely unusual.

This generation doesn’t party like earlier ones did. They don’t have the money.
In addition, you need higher grades to get on the degree course in the first place.

A lot more firsts than when I was at university. A first was a really big deal in the early 90’s.

I've been in HE for 25 years. The regulations have definitely relaxed over that time. Also, one of the metrics for measuring the quality of a University is "number of Firsts awarded".

all universities are not equal. My niece is likely to get a 2:1 from her uni, a good former poly. She’s not particularly smart, she’s not particularly engaged or interested in her course and she’s not particularly hard working. It no way compares to my son’s 2:1 from a RG highly ranked university in a far more demanding course. I don’t think it was always like that.

Agree. A 2.2 used to still be a pretty respectable grade and you had to work to get it.

These days most people seem to get 1sts or 2:1s and a 2.2 isn’t regarded well at all, let alone a third.

It used to be the case that it was just the bright kids going to uni. Now just about everyone goes, and there are all sorts of Mickey Mouse degrees available. It just cheapens it

You could also get into Cambridge with Es at A Level, so I imagine the calibre of students in the 90s may be different to those attending nowadays.

Mmmmmm, I'm not sure a 2.2 was ever highly regarded. I remember people being mocked for getting a Desmond (Tutu/2.2) in the 1990s.

No question--I've worked in a University for decades.

Oh come on! In the late 80s/early 90s those grades wouldn't have got you into Cambridge.

Only if you had passed the entrance exam.

Otherwise, yes, a lot more firsts awarded now compared to when I was at university - you had to have produced something new and original to get a first.

A 2:2 in the 1980s would still get you onto a Masters degree.

I’m no longer an academic, thankfully, and my academic career was short-lived, but I saw a sharp decline in standards and grade inflation after Covid. Even (my best guess) 60% of PhD students were pretty poor by the time I left.

Yes but only because Oxford and Cambridge set their own entrance tests which were at a higher level than A Levels, plus they interviewed, plus you wouldn't even get offered an interview unless you had stellar predicted grades. If you got through all of that successfully, they were sure they wanted you and actual A Level grades weren't going to tell them much more. Oxford and Cambridge always had the pick of absolutely top applicants and far more than they had places. Nothing has changed in that respect. But you have to get the grades too!

That was only Prince Charles.

University degree classes have never had any consistency anyway, as the universities are independent bodies and can set their grades however they like. There's no equivalence between institutions.

As someone who graduated in 2020 I feel the opposite.

affected by Covid, I got a 69.49%. It was dragged down by my dissertation, when my dissertation supervisor completely ghosted me. He would not answer emails or calls. My one supervision with him, his phone signal dropped halfway through the call (he claimed his WiFi wasn’t strong enough to handle a zoom call and did everything via phone), he never called me back. That was all the guidance I got. I tried to appeal it but they claimed that although they had discretion to round up, they wouldn’t in this case.

You sound very bitter.

My undergrad dissertation was completely independent, no supervisor at all. You just produced the work and submitted it.

Same really with my postgrad submission - my supervisor had no knowledge of the subject so was of minimal help (although he got a co-authorship when it was published).

Congratulations.

Every university operates differently. We were promised supervisions and input (and my supervisor promised me that he would be of huge help to me as he specialised in the same area as my dissertation). He was completely useless. The university refused to consider that.

I’m sorry that you didn’t get the help you expected.

But I’d also suggest that when you’re at the point of producing final submissions for your degree you shouldn’t be relying on others to help you through, other than for general guidance or for ensuring access to research facilities.

You are correct - my DH is an academic and his department do their best to not fail anyone as it creates extra work and they're understaffed. They also bump up marks where grades are borderline. It's not a RG uni though.

When I went to a RG uni 12 years ago they refused to bump up my 69.5% grade average to a first so I got a 2:1 in the end. At DH's uni in the current cohort that grade would have been upgraded to a first.

My RG uni was also much harsher with awarding marks in general than the ex poly DH works at - the lecturers had a lot more discretion about how they wanted to grade the work whereas DH's uni has a marking matrix which is basically a checkbox exercise of things like did they mention x,y,z and did they include 10+ references etc whereas at my uni 70% was a grade reserved for a piece of work that was deemed almost publishable (so rarely given) and most people would be awarded something in the 60s or lower.

I wonder whether tying career prospects to uni rankings has motivated some level of mark inflation as well, since a grad with a 2:1 may seem more employable than one with a 2:2?

Tbh I think the turning point happened around the time fees increased to 9k a year - students became a lot more demanding and uni started being more service oriented towards the students, whereas I think previously the lecturers were more focused on their areas of research/publishing etc.

Does make the whole endeavour a bit pointless overall though if marks are being inflated, students aren't learning much, and academics are just bowing to student whims rather than upholding intellectual rigour

It’s not about reliance. It’s about being promised a service (that other people on my degree did get), and not receiving it.

No, it’s not about a receiving a service.

It’s about you, as a student, being able to produce a piece of independent research.

Which I did.

however, when you are told you will have at least three supervisions with your supervisor and you don’t receive that, it is wrong. It is absolutely normal for you to receive supervisions. They are done in recognition of the fact that devising and writing an entire research paper is very different to the essays you have already produced at university.

Good for you.

Again, depends on the university, but I had no supervisions at all - plus I had to devise a work plan and then define all fieldwork protocols, agree site access, beg equipment hire from another uni, and find accommodation. No help from my supervisor.

This was all done long distance and pre internet (lots of phone calls).