• Home
• News and Updates
• A return to pre-pandemic ‘upper’ degree awarding promised by universities in England

A return to pre-pandemic ‘upper’ degree awarding promised by universities in England

20^th July 2022

The OfS recently released analysis claiming that around 60% of the first-class degrees awarded in 2021 were the result of “unexplained grade inflation” and this has long been an area of interest for both the Government and the regulator.

The sector has recognised that measures to ensure students were not unfairly disadvantaged during the unique circumstances of the pandemic contributed to increases in the proportion of first and 2.1 undergraduate degree awards.   Universities in England have committed to reversing pandemic grade inflation in first and 2.1 degrees and in a first of its kind statement Universities UK (UUK) and GuildHE members have committed to return to pre-pandemic levels of ‘upper’ degree classification by 2023.

The statement recognises that grade inflation which cannot be explained by the developments in teaching and learning that combined with students’ hard work to improve results in the prior decade, risk undermining student, employer and public confidence in the system.   With this in mind, the commitment pledges a number of actions on behalf of universities, including revised degree outcomes statements presented to governing bodies by the end of 2022 that will set out how they intend to achieve this goal.

In its Public Interest Governance Principles, OfS expects that “the governing body receives and tests assurance that academic governance is adequate and effective through explicit protocols with the senate/academic board (or equivalent).”  Notwithstanding the role of senates or their equivalent, governing bodies are ultimately accountable to the regulator for effective management and governance arrangements.

The Committee of University Chairs (CUC) will be working with UUK and GuildHE to support Chairs, in particular, and more broadly, governing bodies to strengthen their understanding and scrutiny of degree classification trends and related activities.