It's funny how they discriminate between 2:1 and 2:2. I can understand that perhaps those with higher marks should have that as an advantage than the guy with less marks. But it shouldn't be so great as that 2:2s aren't even bothered with an automatically sifted out.
And yet after you've got a 2:1, employers don't seem to care so much. A first is good, though the difference between a 2:1 and a 2:2 is much much greater. Despite a first being extremely hard to get.
I say either let employers rank people by their marks, putting firsts to the top of the list, or more favourably just treat the degree as a degree. If they've completed the degree, they've passed and have adequate knowledge of that degree/field. Getting a 2:1 doesn't necessarily say that that guy will be able to apply his skills in uni to a job situation. Which is what a job involves. The difference between the 2:1 guy and the 2:2 guy is often the 2:1 guy has memorised and learnt more of the information needed. Which isn't much of an advantage, the 2:2 guy can go ahead and learn that information too.
A 2:2 was fine a while ago, it's just employers are finding it difficult to provide enough jobs to the uni graduates. This is due to increased competition.
They're are too many degrees and unis out there. In my opinion cut down the number of unis (get rid of the unis that won't really be respected if you get a degree from there). This would also lead to the overall increase in strength of unis reputation and allowing more money to spent on each uni. In turn the existing unis should increase uni intake (which should give them more money). The number of courses should be cut down, they should be more specific like Chemistry, Maths etc. Not things such as Tv studies etc. Courses like Tv studies or something similar that's based more really on a general interest in the area rather than future prospects should be offered more as an extra module/course people can take up (or not go to uni for).
This would mean the standard of uni students and the skills they possess to be higher. Which means employers would be getting better students, as well as those students being more employable outside the uk.
Unfortunately what has happened is with so many unis out there, a lot of the lower ranked unis are offering different (and perhaps useless) degrees to be different and get enough students to attend their uni. Which shouldn't be the case. If unis are finding it difficult to obtain people to come to them, you have to close them down.