The Student Room Group

Well done Students !!

It was wonderful to read that 24% of students are getting Firsts now, compared to a paltry 8% in the 1990s.
Those 1990s wastemen/wastewomen should be hiding their heads in shame.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/record-levels-of-top-honours-students-recorded-as-24-gain-first-in-2016-35362762.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/12100610/Record-number-of-first-class-degrees-awarded-to-students.html

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Wait, so 76% of students don't get Firsts?

Reply 2
Original post by ByronicHero
Wait, so 76% of students don't get Firsts?



tbh i always thought Firsts were a bit pushy... "ooh look at me and my enormous brain. "
Reply 3
Is this really a good thing though..?
Does it show a drop in standards (grade inflation)?
Potentially caused by new-modern Mickey Mouse courses (won't name names)?
Damn... I think I'll have to put my 100 m swimming certificate on my CV to help me stand out from the crowd.
Original post by AshEntropy
Is this really a good thing though..?
Does it show a drop in standards (grade inflation)?
Potentially caused by new-modern Mickey Mouse courses (won't name names)?


Anything ending in "Studies"
Let's be honest, this is down to one factor and one factor only. The internet. Google & wikipedia have by themselves have made university a million times easier. Don't even get started on moodle. Without the internet, I would have failed undergrad for sure. I can't even imagine what it would have been like having to actually be in a library to do an assignment and look through a dozen books for a citation.
Original post by AshEntropy
Is this really a good thing though..?
Does it show a drop in standards (grade inflation)?
Potentially caused by new-modern Mickey Mouse courses (won't name names)?


Does it equate to the rise in fees?

Now that students are paying at least £9k a year, are they more inclined to 'make it worth it' and get the best grade that they can possibly get?
Reply 8
Original post by Zargabaath
Anything ending in "Studies"


Generally I'd agree with that, the only exception I can think of is "Business studies" - yet that course is a watered down version of "Business & Management".
Reply 9
Original post by Roving Fish
Does it equate to the rise in fees?

Now that students are paying at least £9k a year, are they more inclined to 'make it worth it' and get the best grade that they can possibly get?


That's a very very good point I forgot!
Reply 10
Original post by Trinculo
Let's be honest, this is down to one factor and one factor only. The internet. Google & wikipedia have by themselves have made university a million times easier. Don't even get started on moodle. Without the internet, I would have failed undergrad for sure. I can't even imagine what it would have been like having to actually be in a library to do an assignment and look through a dozen books for a citation.


Wouldn't this only mainly apply to BA courses?
Original post by AshEntropy
Wouldn't this only mainly apply to BA courses?


Yes you're right. You don't need libraries or citations in science degrees. How could I have forgotten?
Reply 12
Original post by Trinculo
Yes you're right. You don't need libraries or citations in science degrees. How could I have forgotten?


"Wouldn't this only mainly apply to BA courses"

Of course the sciences need libraries and citations, but citations are a lot less important than in a BA course...
Original post by AshEntropy
"Wouldn't this only mainly apply to BA courses"

Of course the sciences need libraries and citations, but citations are a lot less important than in a BA course...


Yes, avoiding plagiarism is much less of a problem on science courses.
Reply 14
Original post by Trinculo
Yes, avoiding plagiarism is much less of a problem on science courses.


Well, yes it is... BSc courses are usually tested through MCQ / Closed-Book Essays / Practicals. Even when tested with a lab report, referencing is only needed when the science you write to explain something matches the difficulty of your course year/level. (So no need to reference A Level and below science). It's not as if you have to reference every single sentence as you would if you were doing, say, history.
Reply 15
Original post by TSR_is_crap
How did you get into University with an E in Chemistry?


Because I was set to get a B, but my grandad (who was a father to me as I've been estranged from my father since childhood) died a day before my first A2 Chemistry exam which then caused me to have an Ulcerative Colitis flare up.
They saw my past grades and A Level Biology (A) and accepted that my performance was affected by those things.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by AshEntropy
Because I was set to get a B, but my grandad (who was a father to me as I've been estranged from my father since childhood) died a day before my first A2 Chemistry exam which then caused me to have an Ulcerative Colitis flare up.
They saw my past grades and A Level Biology (A) and accepted that my performance was affected by those things.


But Chemistry is a hard A Level and you had a C at AS Level.....Hmmmmmm.

I would have dropped the Chemistry from AS Level, I guess you still want to do Medicine? Right?
Reply 17
Original post by TSR_is_crap
But Chemistry is a hard A Level and you had a C at AS Level.....Hmmmmmm.

I would have dropped the Chemistry from AS Level, I guess you still want to do Medicine? Right?


Yeah? I was 2 UMS of a B at AS Level and got a B in the A2 Mocks. Unfortunately not everyone that does A Levels lives in a perfect world of being able to have a tutor, go to a grammar school, have state of the art teachers and be exempt from the upset of death and illness.

It baffles me as to why people think that I want to do Medicine. I have never wanted, do not want, and never will want to study Medicine. I'm far far more interested in the science behind disease - I want to be a Biomedical Scientist and work well away from the sort of people that doctors encounter every day. I'm not a very sociable person and my empathy isn't the greatest in the world (Autism) so it's best I stay behind the scenes.
Original post by AshEntropy
Yeah? I was 2 UMS of a B at AS Level and got a B in the A2 Mocks. Unfortunately not everyone that does A Levels lives in a perfect world of being able to have a tutor, go to a grammar school, have state of the art teachers and be exempt from the upset of death and illness.

It baffles me as to why people think that I want to do Medicine. I have never wanted, do not want, and never will want to study Medicine. I'm far far more interested in the science behind disease - I want to be a Biomedical Scientist and work well away from the sort of people that doctors encounter every day. I'm not a very sociable person and my empathy isn't the greatest in the world (Autism) so it's best I stay behind the scenes.


Tutors don't help if you don't put the work in/ or are thick. Grammar schools are not the be all and end all, I went to one and the teaching was terrible most of the time. Illness and death is a part of life, I gave my 11+ exam with a fever and got in. Putting all that aside, where do you study OP, Biomed is usually taken by people who want another shot at Medicine. Though a lot who don't get into Medicine at the second attempt go into lab work/ big pharma.
Original post by TSR_is_crap
Tutors don't help if you don't put the work in/ or are thick. Grammar schools are not the be all and end all, I went to one and the teaching was terrible most of the time. Illness and death is a part of life, I gave my 11+ exam with a fever and got in. Putting all that aside, where do you study OP, Biomed is usually taken by people who want another shot at Medicine. Though a lot who don't get into Medicine at the second attempt go into lab work/ big pharma.


You did all that and here you are, posting on TSR at 11AM on a week day. Just like the rest of us :smile:

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