Tuesday December 4 2012 | Week 12
S i n c e 1887 T h e U K ' s O ld e st S T ud en t N ews pa p er
24 per cent drop in university applications since 2010/11 cycle
Rhisiart Hincks
Thurston Smalley
EXAMS: A university feature of the past?
UK universities award students exam-free degrees Charlotte Brady
UK Universities are awarding degrees without students having had to sit any exams throughout their three years at university. Figures and other information, published by UK universities for the first time, have shown how far traditional exams have been replaced with coursework. Many courses are allowing coursework to make up 90 to 100 per cent of overall marks, in subjects from English and Philosophy to Business Management. In some cases involving universities where exams are still relevant, they are worth just 20 or 30 per cent, and often allow students to fail question papers but still receive a degree. This trend seems to be most common at new universities and polytechnic institutions. Conversely, at research-intensive universities, most of the overall marks
are decided by traditional examinations. In some Russell Group universities, however, including Birmingham and York, exams have been abolished on some courses. Many claim there is a correlation between ‘degree inflation’ – the proportion of first class degrees awarded doubling over the past 12 years – and emphasis on coursework. Official figures revealed that 53,215 graduates gained firsts in 2010-11 compared with 23,700 in 2000-01. The concern that degrees are being ‘dumbed down’ has also been voiced, and many are questioning the legitimacy of a national degree classification as each individual institution is in control of how exams and coursework are marked. Anastasia de Waal, deputy director and head of education at the think tank Civitas, told The Telegraph, “The increase in coursework at university raises important questions. “The central one is the role of so-
called ‘spoon-feeding’ in the simultaneous rise between degree grades and coursework content – and, crucially, whether standards have taken a hit as a result.” A survey of 85 Universities which offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in History revealed that at more than half, 60 per cent of the overall mark is coursework. At one in five, 80 per cent or more is accredited to coursework. At Worcester University, the History degree assessment is 100 per cent coursework, and last year, 20 per cent of students gained a first-class degree. Similarly, Philosophy degrees were largely coursework, with Anglia Ruskin University’s degree 96 per cent coursework. However, Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford has none. Students appear to prefer coursework, believing it to be ‘fairer’ than traditional examinations, as coursework marks are thought to be more representative of the learning process than exams.
Meanwhile, research shows that on the whole students tend to achieve higher marks in written assessments than in exams. A study conducted recently by the Higher Education Academy suggested that one reason for the rise in students achieving first degrees could be that the “proportion of assessment marks derived from coursework has increased and coursework usually produces higher marks.” Professor Antonia Payne, head of Worcester University’s institute of humanities, said it abolished traditional exams more than ten years ago, “in response to evidence that such examinations did not provide the most accurate, meaningful, all-round measurement of student achievement”. She continued, “There is no correlation between the cessation of three-hour unseen examinations and the proportion of good history degrees awarded at Worcester over the past decade.”
UK university applications are down 8.4 per cent on the number of applicants at this point in the admissions cycle last year, according to figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The fall in applications has been highest among Scottish students, with a 10.5 per cent drop from this time last year. Applications from English, Northern Irish, and Welsh students fell by 9.9 per cent, 9.3 per cent, and 8.7 per cent, respectively. Applications to UK universities now stand at 120,194 according to UCAS figures. At this time in 2010, the last admissions cycle before the introduction of £9,000 fees, 157,116 applications had been made. This represents an almost 24 per cent drop in applications at this point in the admissions cycle since 2010. The number of students reapplying this year is also down by 10.4 per cent, following the failure of universities to fill empty places in clearing. Russell Group universities alone failed to fill 11,500 places. By contrast, applications to UK universities by EU students, who pay no fees, fell by less than one per cent from last year’s figure. The Russell Group and UCAS were dismissive of the numbers. UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook said, “Although the number of applicants to UK higher education is down by eight per cent on this time last year, experience tells us that changes at this point in the cycle are a poor guide to final demand. For example, in the 2012 cycle the decrease in applicants in November was much greater than the final picture in January.” But Pam Tatlow, chief executive of think tank million+, said that the numbers should serve as a wake up call to the government. She said, “There is now a real risk that the trend towards widening opportunities that has been a feature of university admissions in recent years will be thrown into reverse. It would be a travesty if students and their families stopped seeing university for what it is an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not just to improve career and employment prospects, but for inspiring lifelong interests and experiences.” The National Union of Students (NUS) concurred, with president Liam Burns saying, “The government should now finally admit that its higher education policies are having a significant impact on application behaviour. “Regardless of the repayment terms and the small print, students were always going to be deterred by £9,000 tuition fees.”