University standards are slipping at an alarming rate, according to a recent report by MPs.
A House of Commons select committee has stated that the current system for safeguarding consistent standards is “out-of-date, inadequate and in urgent need of replacement”.
One of the main accusations in the report is that grades are being inflated, without a corresponding increase in quality.
In 1996-97, 7.7% of degrees were awarded a first, compared to 13.3% in 07-08. The percentage of lower seconds and thirds fell from 47.9% to 38.6% over the same period. This inflation was even sharper amongst the elite Russell Group of universities, which includes Oxford.
Universities have been accused of inflating degrees in order to improve their positions in league tables.
Some students believe that standards are slipping. Aditya Balachander, an Oxford student argues, “Universities are content to become diploma mills, and therefore they don’t press their students to present the kind of detailed or expansive knowledge that a degree is supposed to reflect.”
Others disagree. Ilana Kosky puts the increase down to harder work from students. She claims that nowadays “employers are demanding higher results” and while “it used to be acceptable to go into most professions with a 2:2”, this is no longer the case, so students are working harder.
Bea Searle, a student at Oxford Brookes, agrees, arguing that the increase in top grades is due to differences in teaching. “It seems to me that students are being given more information about their topic and more guidance,” she said.
Another fault in the current system, according to the report, is that there is a vast amount of inequity between universities. Mr Willis stated, “We are extremely concerned that inconsistency in standards is rife and there is a reluctance to address this issue.”
The committee wants to create an independent body detailed with maintaining academic standards.
However, this idea has been met with dismay by heads of universities. Wendy Piatt, head of the Russell Group argues, “Universities are not schools. An essential feature of a university is its academic freedom and autonomy, with the responsibility to award degrees and uphold standards.”
There seems to be a consensus that degrees from different universities are not equivalent, yet not everyone considers this to be a problem. Oxford student Carla Thomas said, “Universities all teach different curricula and test on different criteria…It just doesn’t make sense to compare them.”
This report comes soon before a parliamentary committee investigates how much the cap on tuition fees need to be raised, at a time when value for money for students is more important than ever.
