New figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that the number of first-class degrees awarded by King’s College London (KCL) in 2023/24 has fallen to its lowest level since 2015/16.
Of 6,805 undergraduate students awarded their first degree, 1,895 were awarded first-class honours, which accounts for 27.85%. The majority of students, 3,195, were awarded an upper second-class honours (2:1), while 900 were given a lower second-class honours (2:2) and 120 a third-class honours. 695 students were marked as unclassified.
In a year-on-year comparison, KCL awarded 575 more students their first undergraduate degree. However, 35 fewer students received a first-class honours. KCL students were a third less likely to receive a first in the last academic year than in 2021/22.
The average first-class degrees awarded across the United Kingdom was 26.97%, meaning KCL’s rate was less than 1% above the UK average. However, compared to other Russel Group universities in London, KCL had the lowest rate of first-class honours awarded: the London School of Economics (LSE) awarding 34.9%, University College London (UCL) 38% and 45.8% of students at Imperial College London graduated with a first in their first degree.
As Roar reported, in 2021/22 KCL sat behind LSE, UCL and Imperial on their awarding of first-class degrees, despite high levels of grade inflation across London universities compared to the national average.
Last year, a Roar report revealed that grade inflation saw King’s students 60% more likely to receive a first-class honours in 2021/22 than in 2014/15. The awarding of first-class honours peaked between 2020 and 2022, when 41% of first-degree undergraduate students achieved the top grade.
This period of inflation was heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, with first-class degrees awarded rising by 405 students between 2018/19 and 2019/20, and 230 students between 2019/20 and 2020/21.
As HESA data revealed, the academic year of 2023/24 saw a return to similar levels of degree classification in 2015/26, with 27.85% and 27.7% of students awarded first-class degrees, respectively. The trend indicates that the period of grade inflation, occurring before and during the pandemic, is now over. Upper second-class degrees also returned to similar levels, with 46.95% of students awarded a 2:1 compared to 46% in 2015/16.
A King’s College London spokesperson said:
“During the Covid-19 pandemic the mitigations put in place saw an increase in the proportion First or Upper Second Class degrees awarded, these mitigations are no longer in place and the University is in line with historical proportions of classification it has awarded and with sector peers, demonstrating consistency in academic standards.”
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