Grade inflation definitely sucks for everyone. The smart kids feel hard-done-by and the not-so-smart ones get jobs that they struggle with and the employers, who get 1000+ CVs for every job, have to distinguish the wheat from the chaff somehow. But that’s where we are.

It is a mystery! Grade inflation sucks for everyone.

One possible explanation is that universities have become more like vendors where The Customer is Always Right. If the university does not give the student the grade that their parents want, the parents will send their child somewhere else.

Another explanation is the growth in international students. I have it on good authority, for example, that many students from China do not have the basic qualifications to attend university. Many can’t even speak English and they buy a fake certificate that says they can and also that they are very smart. Not all students, of course. But enough to persuade the universities that they must pass these foreign students or forgo the £18,000 that they bring with them. And, if they pass the Chinese students, they must pass the British students too.

In the UK a degree used to be worth something. When I got my 2.1 in 1994 I was in the top 10% in the year. But only the top 8% got a First. I still get dinged for that 2.1 in interviews.

There was a recent article saying that now 80%! of students in the UK now get a 2.1 or a First. Which means that they’re not worth anything. And I’ve noticed that the last couple of OU modules that more and more people are going on to do and Masters degree. None of my old university friends have Masters degrees. They were seen as a stepping stone to a PhD – not a requirement for working.

Another difference between the UK and the USA: most people doing a three year degree over here finish in three years because most of their classes are prescribed by the university.

In the USA, you choose your classes as you go along and if the class is full, no class for you 😟 Only 45% of American kids finish in four years. Only two thirds finish in six.

I actually bailed at 16 so I never got to do my four A levels. When were you at Chis and Sid, Bernard? Where did you end up going to university?