Are 1st Degrees getting easier to achieve?

[JellyPopz]

I graduated in 2009 with a 2:1 which I was very happy with. Only a handful of people across my wider course achieved firsts.

Let year, an older but non-academic family member achieved a 2:1 but for a large part of their course they were on track for a first (I was shown their marks, it wasn't a fib).

I've noticed now in the last year or two on social media lots of people my age (late thirties) that are graduating, are achieving firsts.

I can think of two reasons that may be the case - 1. Older people have emote focus and drive if they return to study and 2. People may have had more time to get stuck into their courses during lockdown.

I'm definitely not here to take anything away from people getting firsts, I know they are still not given out like sweets. I've definitely noticed more people graduating with them and wondering if its coincidence, one of the reasons above, another reason or if parameters have been shifted?

When I went to uni (a long time ago) only 4% of school leavers went then, compared with 40% now, so it is inevitable that the entry requirements have lowered a lot. It is good that so many more young people are getting this opportunity now, but the knock-on effect of this is that more employers and jobs are demanding a degree, often when it is unnecessary, and that degrees have become devalued currency - which is why so many young people need to go on to post-graduate studies and incur even more debt. It is horrifying the level of debt that students leave with - ALL my degree costs were paid by the state - fees, living expenses, housing - the lot. My parents were assessed to pay a very small amount and they forked out on the dot, so financially it was no problem for me to study. My post-graduate studies were funded by the Home Office - with an addition for my dependent student OH!!

First class degrees were a real rarity then - only one or two in each year.

I went back to uni at 47 in a creative, but practical/industry oriented degree. I had at the time, 6 years practical experience in the area and, having dropped out of uni at 18 because of family issues I was very driven to achieve a recognised standard of achievement in my field. I was older by far than the rest of my cohort, had decades or work and life experience and understood what was being asked of me in assignments and felt able to ask for guidance.

Our assignments were assessed by an array of assessors with industry experience and highly scrutinised for quality. I was not let off the hook for anything. Probably BECAUSE of my experience and age.

I got a first. Just. I can absolutely assure you that it was not 'easy'. And when I went on to study my masters (have had to defer for now) I also achieved a distinction in my first two modules, so maybe it's just down to hard work and application?

Teaching has undoubtably improved (all new staff must take the PGCert, for example), but the main difference that I see is that students get SO much more support these days.

We have to provide formative feedback on all assessments (how the work is going before it gets handed in), there are far fewer exams, we have to provide model answers, past examples of good and bad practice, endless feedback office hours so students can come in and discuss how they're getting on, attendance monitoring, the list goes on. This has absolutely had an impact on the quality of work and therefore grades.

When I hear talk of 'grade inflation' there's a sense that Unis just give higher marks for the same work these days. That's not my experience - students are more conscientious, and they get way more support than they used to.

The average of RG graduates that get a 1st or a 2:1 is about 88%, apparently

The vast majority of those will get a 2:1. A 2:1 needs 60-69%. The bar isn’t that high.

An average student will get a 2:1.

"Between 2010-11 and 2020-21, the proportion of UK-domiciled, full-time first degree graduates attaining a first class honours degree from an English higher education provider has more than doubled, from 15.7 per cent in 2010-11 to 37.9 per cent in 2020-21. [...] By 2020-21, all providers in this analysis had experienced significant increases in their unexplained awarding of firsts alone, and most had experienced significant increases in their unexplained awarding of first and upper second classes combined, when compared with their awarding in 2010-11."

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/cd778d76-5810-488b-b1e6-6e57797fe755/ofs-202222.pdf www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/cd778d76-5810-488b-b1e6-6e57797fe755/ofs-202222.pdf]]

So, firstly, the percentage of firsts has increased by a factor of 4 to 5 since the mid 90s (when around 7% of students got firsts). The number of firsts has increased even more, due to larger numbers of students.
Secondly, the awarding of far higher numbers of firsts is "unexplained", i.e. not justified by improved performance/attainment of the cohort.

It's as clear-cut a case of unjustified grade inflation as there as ever been.

I got a first in 1996. I was one of two on my course.
I know a few of my friends' DC have them this year.

It’s because teaching methods have changed, less chalk and talk and more engaging approaches - like making posters.

Im being tongue in cheek as there’s another thread running which is slating current teaching approaches in HE but a small part of me wonders if anyone’s explored whether there’s a connection.

It's been particularly easy to get firsts with online exams for the covid cohort. But, mature students are very often high achievers- common sense, capacity to respond to feedback, reading skills and fewer hangovers!

I'm definitely not here to take anything away from people getting firsts

Are you sure?
😂

There are for firsts and yes the courses are different (I won't say easier per se but structured in a way that means that certain coursework elements can be repeated if a low grade is achieved first). The "target" for firsts in exh's dept is 25% do they are meant to set questions at a level to achieve this goal, obviously it will fluctuate year to year but overall that's what the university aims at, it was around 12% when he started many moons ago. The repeating of coursework and labs means most head into exams with a decent cushion

Universities are businesses and need to attract candidates. There has been massive degree grade inflation as a result.

It’s because teaching methods have changed, less chalk and talk and more engaging approaches - like making posters.

Posters were a thing when I started teaching in HE nearly 35 years ago.

brilliant!

Half of students now work part-time alongside their studies. Yes some students partied a lot (though none on my course or any of my wider circle) but far fewer worked. It is incredibly patronising to students of 20 or 30 years ago to say ‘but we all work harder now’. Nonsense. We worked hard then.

And it didn’t used to be optional to turn up to lectures either.

Maybe not but I've been in HE for 30 years and no one has ever taken attendance at lectures. Seminars, yes, and they are still compulsory in most places.

@JellyPopz Some universities are piloting the concept of "Grade Point Average (GPA)" in parallel with degree classifications, to provide additional context: https://studentsunionucl.org/sites/default/files/u80587/documents/gpa_workshop_presentation_-_29_march_2014.pdf

I think first degrees are given out a lot more now. At my university, a 2:2 was an average degree, a 2:1 a good/above average result and first was for the exceptional (late eighties).

I was told recently by someone that a 2:2 wasn’t worth having!

For my first degree we all spoke of who would get THE first this was late 90s. Our course was notorious for only offering one first - a RG uni. I retrained later in life same RG uni and about 1/3 of people were getting a first. I dont think it’s any easier but I think students have been taught how to study better. Study methods formed a large part of the second degree

The original thought/ research point was how I got a first in the late 90s. A tutor pulled me aside and said stop relying on great research, tell me what you think too. As soon as I started doing that I got over 70 for every piece of work (and a distinction for my fully funded MA which was rare as hens teeth in those days) . I just didn’t understand the formula before that point (went to a crap comp, no guidance for exams / uni level work)

I think now with everything online it's so much easier to read more e books and do grammar checks and reference. When I did my undergrad just before you we still had to go to the library to photo copy papers we wanted to read and print essays out to hand in in person and you'd lose marks if they were late (so much could go wrong with printers and internet etc) so lots of 'silly' marks list on coursework.
Studying is so much more efficient now.

I also wonder as it's so expensive people are either more motivated to study for a first (I wasn't - I was aiming for a 2.1 my social life and society activities were very important to me) or to work out how to get it. Also as 1sts become more popular the benchmark changes - it becomes more of an issue not to have one. I'm sure in the 70s a 2:2 was fine for most jobs

In my experience yes. I can also think of a few friends who tell me the graduates that started at their job are absolutely terrible. Yet they had a first.
I feel this is down to the commercialisation of education. Students are customers and need to be kept happy.

Nothing about working harder. It’s all about the money. If a university is known to be stingy with its marking then it won’t get students.

I'm sure in the 70s a 2:2 was fine for most jobs

Graduating with a 2:2 was the norm in the 70s up to the late 80s, whereas now it’s a 2:1.

I was told recently by someone that a 2:2 wasn’t worth having!

I have had students of both sexes in my office inconsolable and in tears after receiving a 2:2, convinced that their lives were ruined. All went on to good jobs.