Did you actively look for anything though or do you just mean you've not happened to read any press stories about this?
I haven't looked at any data because as far as I know, there isn't any in existence that would be particularly useful in properly answering this question with any kind of certainty, at least outside of us going to the trouble to review the actual courses themselves in order to evaluate their changes over time.
If we're claiming that they're easier today, then how are we measuring the level of difficulty? What subjects are we even talking about? Have the courses even changed at all? What about other changes in the university experience that could contribute to what we might consider an increase or decrease in difficulty? What about the technological changes that we would need to control for - Mobile phones? The Internet?
Claiming that degrees are easier today is a such a broad and generalising statement that I don't think we can even begin to attempt to analyse it without laying out some extremely tight definitions and agreeing on some very specific metrics.
I've just had a look myself and it does seem from just looking at the past 10 years the data suggests that standards have shifted a bit, more degrees awarded and the classifications are mostly 1st or 2:1.
I know you're only putting this data forward as something of interest, which it undoubtedly is; but as I'm sure you're aware, you cannot really draw that conclusion from changes in attainment rates alone.
The fact that a higher number of people obtained degrees, or that the proportion with higher classifications increased, does not necessarily mean that equivalent degrees were actually any easier at all.
For all we know these rises could purely be down to the introduction over the years of some genuinely meaningless, rather silly degrees; and that actually equivalent degrees are more difficult today.
Regardless, there are far too many variables to consider and it really is a good old case of correlation not necessarily equaling causation.
Other people have interpreted the meaning behind those numbers
very differently. For instance:
Liz Lightfoot - The Guardian's Education Correspondent said:
They still party and have a good time, but students are working harder and more consistently, their parents believe. Partly, it is the move away from “big bang” finals to continuous assessment, they say, but also the pressure to get that all-important 2:1 or above degree classification. One-third of students were awarded firsts or 2:1s in 1970. Last year it was over two-thirds: 70%.
Are equivalent degrees actually any easier? Or is the increased competition due to the numbers at university increasing over time, causing students to work harder; and putting them under more pressure to achieve higher classifications because they know that job requirements and qualification expectations have dramatically increased along with the number of people going to University?
I have absolutely nothing to back this up in any way and this is just a gut feeling, but the claim to me smells an awful lot of the whole
"Oh in my day, we had it much tougher" narrative that
every generation likes to tell themselves.
I genuinely have no idea what the reality is and in truth I suspect that the actual answer would be totally different depending upon what subject or university we would care to look at in detail.
From the same article as the above quote, which I've linked to at the bottom of this post, there's some anecdotes that although they don't constitute evidence, are interesting nonetheless:
Gill Grinyer - Solicitor from Bristol said:
It’s all much more serious today. I studied history in 1973-76 before qualifying as a solicitor, and chose the University of Exeter pretty much on a whim. It sounded like a nice place but I’d never actually been there before arriving with my trunk at the start of the first term. It’s been very different with our children: we’ve trawled up and down the country for countless open days. There seems to be much more choice and it puts increased pressure on them to make the right choices. There were no mixed halls and none of the ensuites and mod cons that are the norm nowadays. We had grants and didn’t worry about funding. Student life was a lot less stressful and competitive. I don’t remember worrying about what I would do when I graduated. Today’s students are more focused on careers.
Andrew Jones - Scientist from Chester said:
I was at the University of Bristol in 1982‑88, studying for a chemistry BSc and PhD. We had to work hard, but I enjoyed it and was involved in a lot of other activities: sport, music and Christian groups. Bristol was a great place to be a student. I got a lot from university: good qualifications, friends from different places and backgrounds, a wider view of the world — and a wife. My daughter is in her final year at Oxford studying English and my son is doing his A-levels and hopes to study chemistry. They are under much more pressure than we were – we worked hard but worried less. My daughter is having a wonderful time at Oxford, and the standard of living seems much higher than in our time. The financial situation is very different: we had grants and free tuition. Now students leave with significant debts and under pressure to get well-paid jobs.
Andrew Gray - Director of Conscious Solutions Ltd in Somerset said:
I studied engineering at Cambridge, but a lot of my time was spent rowing. The terms were short, just eight weeks, and, though I did the necessary labs, my priority was the rowing team. You could do that in the late 70s because there wasn’t continuous assessment. My eldest son has graduated with an engineering degree from Birmingham and my youngest is just about to study engineering at Durham. My daughter is studying science at Edinburgh. They are working more consistently because they are examined more regularly, and the grades count towards the final degree. Apart from the money side – they are graduating with much bigger debts than I did – the university experience seems to be much the same. They are meeting lots of people and forming friendships that will probably last a lifetime.
If the claim we were discussing was that
there are many more easy to achieve degrees today, then I would be in complete agreement.
But as for equivalent degrees actually becoming easier? By that I mean a Mathematics degree today being easier to achieve than a Mathematics degree 30-40 years ago; well I've not seen any reliable evidence of that at all.
Anyway, I know this is hugely off-topic and I didn't intend to drag the thread way; my apologies. But if there are any studies into this, then please send them my way.
Has university life changed beyond recognition for a new generation of undergraduates or is it the same as it ever was? Five parents compare their own experiences with their children’s
www.theguardian.com
