first class honours from British Universities become more and more.
I didn't know the reasons until this article.
This is especially true for overseas students because it is deemed
that plagiarism is part of their culture.
Lecturers 'pressed to boost degree results'
By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Degree standards in many British universities are in danger of
collapsing because lecturers are under pressure to "mark positively"
and turn a blind eye to plagiarism, the man who was in charge of
safeguarding standards at Britain's largest university will say today.
Professor Geoffrey Alderman, former chairman of the academic council
at the University of London, warns that "league table culture" has led
to an explosion in the number of firsts awarded.
Latest figures show they have gone up by more than 100 per cent over
the past decade from 16,708 to 36,645 – at a time when the
undergraduate population has risen by just over 40 per cent. In a
lecture at the University of Buckingham, Professor Alderman will also
argue that universities have been particularly lenient with overseas
students because they rely on them so heavily for fee income – so much
so that they turn a blind eye to plagiarism and cheating.
