Degrees vary from university and from course. Rubbish universities mark easier as they need more people to get top marks so they can advertise it to get more entrants and stay afloat. Top unis pride themselves on marking hard. Doing a maths or law degree is harder than a philosophy or essay based degree eg gender studies.
Whether thats true or not, I don't know. I know some lecturers mark harder than others. Whatever the case external examiners hold all unis to the same standards, that is their job.
It is true that the standard of teaching and quality of a degree varies by institution. Why do you think such a high proportion of students with poor A-level grades end up with a 2.1 or higher...
Is it true? prove it then. There are world renowned and respected lecturers/professors at lower ranked universities. Have to judge on a case by case basis, or more to the point, a course by course basis usually. Its not as simple as, oh this university is ranked higher, so its the best option.
No, some “lesser” unis will have their niche but the sorts of businesses that employ people in those niche areas will know that.
Well yeah, so the standard of teaching at a lower ranked uni for a specific subject, may well be as good, or better, than a higher ranked uni.
In niche areas but not on the whole. Quite often more traditional unis won’t even offer those niche subjects.
In reality there is only so much that can be done. There is also no way that the moderator can be familiar enough with the subject matter when you are dealing with such specific topics to really judge. What usually happens is that the moderator will check that the examiner's comments match up to the grade based on a mark scheme. Only a portion of work is moderated. I've attended three universities that vary greatly in "rank" and the marking standard has been similar in each. It's certainly true that individual lecturers can vary. One old professor I know is a fairly harsh marker for essays but quite easily impressed by a good Powerpoint presentation (he's technologically challenged). But I know of no lecturer that is "trying" to give higher or lower marks because of the rank of their uni. Standard of teaching is also more down to the individual than the uni. Lecturers/professors get hired based on their research record and ability to bring in grant money, not the quality of their teaching. Source: I teach at a university.
Mate, you talk like what you're saying is fact with nothing to back it up, or to put it another way, you're chatting sh*t. Its boring.
Move on then... Grade inflation for students with poor A-level results does happen, there is evidence of this...which uni’s are they going to attend generally? Not unis with higher entry requirements... As an example, 70% of students with DDD or worse at A-level are now being awarded a first or 2.1...
Thank christ there are some unis with more relaxed entry requirements, or all the bright mature students wishing to get into university later in life wouldn't have that option.
