“It’s mid-summer, and so of course it’s the time of year for breathless comments about grade inflation in universities, and particularly about the number of students being awarded a top grade in their final examinations and assessments …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 21 August]
“The news this week that the number of first-class degrees awarded by Trinity has increased by 33% between 2013 and 2015 will likely evoke concern that this is the latest symptom of a general trend of grade inflation in Irish third-level sector. Indeed, with some courses seeing as many as 61% of graduates awarded a first, one could probably be forgiven for thinking …” (more)
[University Times, 12 February]
“The recent and impressive study on grade inflation in the IoT sector comes at an appropriate time. Exam boards are coming to an end and the various drivers of student grades are fresh in our minds. There is absolutely no doubt that grade inflation is occurring, ie third level students are getting higher grades and doing so even when their second level performance would suggest that their grades should be getting lower …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 16 June]
“Grade inflation is a fire that simply will not be quenched, at least in so far as the Institutes of Technology are concerned, according to the latest data collected and analyzed in Paper 11 published by the Network for Irish Educational Standards …” (more)
[Network for Irish Educational Standards, 13 June]
“Consider the data presented below. It’s a plot of the percentage of H1 and H2.1 degrees from a single third level programme over an 11 year period versus median CAO Points at entry. The lack of any correlation between the two variables is striking …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 21 November]
“There is ‘internal consistency’ in the awarding of first and upper second-class honours degrees across the past ten years, Trinity College Dublin has said. The comment has been offered as a response to a recent Irish Times report that Trinity students are more likely to graduate with a first or 2.1 degree than students in any of the state’s other universities …” (more)
[Patrick Lavelle, University Times, 28 October]
“Why is it that if students work harder and get better grades that the media latch on to the ‘grade inflation’ bandwagon? This week the Irish Times blasts that ‘DCU, UCC award more “firsts” in new indicator of grade inflation’ and that some students ‘have a much higher chance of graduating with a first class honours degree than other college-goers’ …” (more)
[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 17 October]
“Amid concerns and debate about the existence of grade inflation, more than half of small business owners surveyed here believe a third level qualification is becoming increasingly devalued, according to a poll published yesterday …” (more)
[Colm Kelpie, Independent, 16 October]
“Are students becoming smarter or are university honours qualifications becoming easier to obtain? Controversy over grade inflation rumbles on with pressure being exerted from inside and outside of the educational system …” (more)
[Irish Times, 15 October]
“Sir, – Joe Humphreys (‘Are university grades being inflated to suit jobs market?’), October 13th suggests that companies demanding a first or 2.1 for entry level jobs or internships is a factor in the proportion of such degrees awarded …” (more)
[James Quinn, Irish Times, 14 October]
“This is my last post for a while due to changing circumstances. It’ll be back in the New Year I hope. One of the core drivers of the grade inflation debate is the idea that the ‘quality’ of the student intake should correlate (strongly?) with the grade distribution on exit …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 13 October]
“Students attending Dublin City University (DCU) or University College Cork (UCC) have a much higher chance of graduating with a first class honours degree than other college-goers, new figures show in a fresh indicator of ‘grade inflation’ …” (more)
[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 13 October]
“Education may be priceless, but increasingly the marketplace is putting a monetary value on a 2.1. For a long time, people wishing to do postgraduate studies had to obtain this grade, or higher (a “first”), in what was meant to be a marker of academic aptitude …” (more)
[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 13 October]
“What’s the easiest course in which to get a first? Computer science and software engineering at Maynooth University has relatively strong credentials, with 38 per cent of students over the past five years receiving the top grade …” (more)
[Joe Humphreys, Irish Times, 13 October]
“‘We do not release statistics on grade-point averages so we can’t speak to the accuracy of the information you have.’ That was a flack for Yale, but other Ivy League colleges — with the partial exception of Princeton — were equally reluctant to discuss their grading practices with The Economist …” (more)
[The Economist, 4 September]
“Grade inflation is widely viewed as detrimental, compromising the quality of education and reducing the information content of student transcripts for employers. This column argues that there may be benefits to allowing grade inflation when universities’ investment decisions are taken into account …” (more)
[Raphael Boleslavsky and Christopher Cotton, vox, 16 August]
“There has been much discussion in recent weeks about ‘grade inflation’, the implication being that the improvement in grades at third level, especially first class honours grades, reflects a drop in standards …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 5 June]
“In the last post I mentioned how NUIM is something of an outlier if one wants to interpret the increase in H1 grades as evidence for grade inflation. In 1994, only 1.5% of NUIM students received a H1 grade while in 2008, 13.3% of students did …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 14 May]
“Brian Lucey’s recent post on grade inflation was interesting in that it presented some actual hard data, something that is often lacking in commentaries on education. Going back to the original document on which this data is based …” (more)
[educationandstuff, 12 May]
“The recent discussion around the comments of Paddy Cosgrave, the founder of The Summit, has reignited the question of grade inflation …” (more)
[Brian M Lucey, 11 May]
