Watchdog to investigate grade inflation after 50% rise in first-class degrees since 2015

The State’s education watchdog is to investigate the factors behind grade inflation in higher education institutions as latest figures show record numbers of students are securing first-class honours degrees.

In 2022, more than a quarter of all students in higher education graduated with a first-class honours degree, up from 21 per cent the previous year and 16 per cent for the class of 2015, according to official data.

This is equivalent to an increase of more than 50 per cent in the proportion of first-class honours in a seven-year period.

The upward trend has led academics and recruiters to warn that the high volume of top third-level degrees is making it difficult to differentiate between high-achieving students.

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Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), the State agency responsible for the quality assurance of higher education in Ireland, is establishing a forum to bring together higher education institutions to “better understand the trends, consider the causes and effects of grade inflation, and address any emerging issues”.

In addition, QQI is conducting a project on “rethinking assessment”, which is examining the role assessment approaches and practice can play in grade inflation. A conference involving higher education institutions to discuss these themes is planned for January 2023.

A breakdown of latest figures shows the Institute of Art, Design and Technology awarded the highest proportion of first-class honours this year (32 per cent).

It was followed by Trinity College Dublin (31 per cent), TU Dublin, Atlantic Technological University and Munster Technological University, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Galway and St Angela’s in Sligo (all 30 per cent).

The lowest proportion of first-class honours was awarded by Maynooth University (23 per cent), followed by UCD and Mary Immaculate College (26 per cent) and DCU (27 per cent).

The UK’s education watchdog launched an investigation earlier this year into grade inflation after a “sharp increase” in the awarding of first and upper second-class degrees at several universities.

The UK’s Office for Students said the rates of students with top degrees at three universities and colleges, which have not been named, raised “potential concerns that require further scrutiny”.