University Degrees in the News

Each summer we're used to another set of record A level (and GCSE) grades and the consequent media furore about whether or not the exams are getting easier. Just lately, however, the spotlight seems to have been on university degrees.

First, one 'whistle-blowing' academic admits that foreign students are awarded degrees - often at Masters level - without even a decent command of English. I'm guessing that may be easier in the natural sciences than for arts and social sciences, but in fact the allegation is that a blind eye is turned to plagiarism or even supervisor writing essays for their students!

I have to say I can think of one or two students I've known who seem to have struggled with the course - perhaps due only to their English being not up to scratch. My experience suggests the problem isn't as prevalent as made out, but then it's reasonable I suppose to assume that the students you see in seminars or down the pub are the ones with a reasonable grasp of English, and it's the people you never see that we should be worried about...

Now the QAA watchdog has apparently issued a warning that degree classifications are arbitrary. (Perhaps they should be assigned by lottery?). To a certain extent, this is an obvious and unavoidable problem. Not only does marking essays involve an amount of inherent subjectivity, calling for difficult adjudication as to whether students are wrong or merely arguing for something you personally disagree with, but the banding of all students into 1st, 2:i, 2:ii, 3rd, pass and fail is an attempt to divide a continuous spectrum into very few distinct groups. Of course the top 2:i will almost certainly be considerably closer to the bottom 1st than to the bottom 2:i.

Then, of course, there's variation between institutions, hinted at in the article. I'm sure that if any Oxbridge student went elsewhere and did a similar amount of work they could get a first, but can we give all students - or even the majority of them - firsts? The fact is a 2:i from Oxbridge isn't perceived to be equal to a 2:i from an ex-Poly red brick, and that's probably the reality in most cases too.

All this is complicated by rising fees that raise the question whether students are merely learners or customers. Faced with increased costs, they're increasingly required to see their degrees as investments and want to be sure of a return for their money - which means at least a decent degree and chance of profitable employability.