Grade inflation bubble bursts as number of first-class degrees falls

THE number of first-class degrees awarded has fallen for the first time after a crackdown on grade inflation during the pandemic.

Despite it being the first year-on-year drop in firsts recorded by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) since it was founded in 1993, the number of those receiving the highest grade is still higher than it was before the pandemic.

Universities in England pledged in July to reverse degree inflation following the introduction of policies to mitigate the impact of disruption from Covid, including open-book exams.

The advocacy organisation Universities UK and the representative body Guildhe promised that by this year they would bring the proportion of upper second and first-class degrees back in line with pre-pandemic levels.

In 2021-22, 32 per cent of undergraduate degrees were awarded a first-class honours classification, equating to 133,995 students – a fall of four percentage points from the year before.

In 2018-19, before the pandemic, the proportion of firsts was 28 per cent, amounting to 115,565 degrees.

Forty-six per cent of students were awarded upper second-class degrees in 2021-22, the same as in 2020-21.

The total number of higher education students increased by 4 per cent to 2,862,620, while there was a 2 per cent increase in first-year enrolments.

The Office for Students (OFS) had previously warned that grade inflation may negatively impact students – a warning echoed by Michelle Donelan, who was education minister at the time. Susan

Lapworth, chief executive of the OFS, said: “Today’s figures show a welcome decrease back towards pre-pandemic levels in the proportion of first-class degrees awarded to students graduating in the 2021-22 academic year.

“We will continue to monitor trends in classifications to understand factors that may contribute to the sector’s performance. Left unchecked, grade inflation can erode public trust and it is important that the OFS can and does intervene where it has concerns about the credibility of degrees. Universities and colleges understand that they must ensure that the degrees they award are credible and properly represent students’ achievement.

“This is the way to maintain the confidence of students, employers and the wider public in higher education qualifications.”