Dons fear degrees are dumbed down

There are concerns more students means lower standards

Most academics feel under increasing pressure to award undergraduates higher than deserved grades, a poll suggests.

The survey of 500 dons by Times Higher Education magazine showed 77% had felt coerced to award higher marks.

In June, the university watchdog - the Quality Assurance Agency - told BBC News Online that degree classifications were "arbitrary and unreliable".

The government says the UK's higher education sector has an international reputation for excellence.

The poll found more than two-thirds (69%) of university academics did not think a rise in the number of first-class and upper-second degrees was evidence of improving standards.

More than eight in 10 (82%) said resourcing constraints were affecting academic standards.

Seven in 10 (71.5%) said students were not better prepared for higher education than they were in the past and more than three-quarters (77.6%) said plagiarism was a growing problem at their university.

Overall, 52% said reports that universities were dumbing down were not overstated.

'Real issues'

Ann Mroz, editor of the Times Higher Education magazine, said the poll showed there were "real issues on the ground".

"Our readers told us that the increase in top degree classifications awarded over the past decade is less an indication of improving standards and more of pressure for constant improvement from Whitehall that has led to distortion of the system.

"While the mass expansion of higher education has undoubtedly been a good thing, inevitably the sector needs extra resources to cope."

Higher Education Minister David Lammy said the QAA had consistently found quality and standards were being maintained.

The survey results were published three days after it was announced universities would be trying out a more detailed way of recording student achievement.

A total of 18 UK universities are to test the new Higher Education Achievement Report, which aims to supplement the current grading system by showing more information about students' performance in individual modules and assessments.