More students achieving first class degrees

Rising numbers of university students are graduating with a first class degree, official figures show.

Some 46,825 students graduated with the top honour in 2010, up from 43,125 the year before - an extra 3,700 people.

It means one in seven people (14%) are now graduating with a first class degree.

The statistics, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), also show that nearly half of first degree graduates (48%) scored a 2:1, some 156,950 students.

This is again up on 2009, when 148,360 students graduated with an upper second.

The statistics are likely to prompt fresh concerns about grade inflation and the worth of different degrees.

In 1996/97, just 7.7% of degrees were awarded first class status, according to a 2009 select committee report.

The official data for the academic year 2009/10 shows:

:: Some 325,200 students were awarded a degree last year, 16,885 more than the year before.

:: Three in 10 (30%) of students were awarded a lower second (2:2) degree, while 7.5% got a third.

:: 11% of first degree graduates gained their award through part-time study.

:: 57% of those awarded their first degree were women.

:: Two-fifths (41%) of students received a degree in a science-based subject.

:: More than one in five (22%) of students achieving any university qualification were from outside the UK.

The figures also show a 4% rise in the number of students enrolling for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in 2009/10.

Undergraduate enrolments alone rose by 3%.

And the statistics reveal a continuing increase in the numbers of overseas students studying at UK universities.

EU student numbers rose by 6% last year, from 117,660 to 125,045, while the numbers of students from other countries rose 12%, from 251,310 to 280,760.

There was a 3% increase in UK students, from 2.03 million to 2.09 million.