University degrees system ‘descending into a farce’

9:50am Friday 18th July 2008

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THE UK’s university degree classification system is “descending into farce”, a North Yorkshire MP and former head teacher has said.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Phil Willis, who is head of an influential committee of MPs, made the comments as the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee heard there was currently no way of ensuring equal standards between universities because each institution its own criteria for academic attainment.

The committee was quizzing Peter Williams, the chief executive of the university’s watchdog, The Quality Assurance Agency, over ongoing issues with degree standards. Mr Williams told the MPs there were 118 awarding bodies approved to hand out their own degrees.

And he said there was “no evidence of consistency between subjects in institutions and between institutions”.

Liberal Democrat Mr Willis said: “This has descended into farce. It goes right to the heart of what we’re talking about. You’re saying a university can award as many firsts as it wants as long as it satisfies their own criteria of what a first means.”

Mr Willis said that confidence in the degree classification system was all important as it is relied on by most employers and students seeking jobs.

Mr Williams told him that the current system had been designed for the “smaller higher education world”.

He added: “It has reached the end of its display-by date and is pretty much at the end of its use-by date.”