Top university gives firsts to half of students

Imperial College London accused of ‘devaluing’ degrees, but says academic talent is being rewarded

A RUSSELL Group university has given first-class honours to more than half of degrees for the first time, data showed yesterday, amid continuing concern about grade inflation.

Imperial College London awarded top honours to 53 per cent of undergraduates completing their qualifications in 2018-19, up from 46 per cent the previous year.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed virtually all UK universities and colleges have had an increase in firsts in the past five years.

Eleven universities that are part of the Russell Group – widely considered among the UK’S leading institutions – gave first-class honours to a third or more of degrees in 2018-19.

Of these, Imperial gave out the most firsts, with 1,265 awarded from a total of 2,370 degrees, not including unclas- sified qualifications – the highest proportion by a non-specialist university.

Critics warned the credibility of qualifications was being devalued.

However, a spokesman for Imperial said the figures represented academic talent. He added: “Our students are high achievers, their pre-university qualifications are among the highest of any university … Imperial maintains rigorous academic standards and has robust quality assurance processes.”

Universities are under intense pressure to be transparent about how they award degrees to address years of concern about the soaring number of firsts.

Imperial has seen a 13 percentage point rise in the proportion of firsts being awarded since 2014-15.

Chris Mcgovern, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “This is great for the universities – they make a lot of money out of this because it means young people now have to go and do MAS, Phds.

“But we have devalued the currency – we are in Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe or Venezuela territory. Employers are aware of that.” He added: “It is an out-of-control, moneymaking train in terms of the universities.”

Mr Mcgovern warned that though higher education was a major export for the UK, universities risked undermining “the credibility of our qualifications internationally”.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has previously warned that the increasing proportion of students being awarded top grades is “undermining our world-class reputation”.

Last month, he said universities “must not inflate grades for their own reputation or league table ranking”.