University of Manchester challenges ‘misleading’ report on grade inflation

The University of Manchester has responded to a claim made by the Sunday Times that it is awarding a disproportionately high percentage of first class degrees, criticising the publication’s portrayal of the data as “misleading.”

A Sunday Times article highlights that 38.3 per cent of UoM students were awarded first class degrees by the University of Manchester in 2024/25, a 109.3 per cent increase since 2010/11 – a statistic that the University of Manchester argues unfairly distorts the actual data.

In a statement to The Manchester Tab, the university expressed concerns that by displaying the data in this way, the article gave readers an inaccurate picture.

The university believes a consideration of specific contexts may have been missed from the report, claiming that for many institutions, the benchmark year of 2010/11 saw universities awarding “an unusually low number of firsts”, meaning the comparison may not be reflective of the true picture.

The Sunday Times piece is based on a report by the Office for Students which analysed changes to grade attainment from 2010/11 to 2023/24, considering to what extent factors like entrance qualifications and subject of study could explain the changes.

via Unsplash

The data shows a marked rise in the top grades awarded across the board at all English universities over this time period, and regulators suggest that a large proportion of these are “unexplained”.

“It’s important not to conflate a percentage increase with a proportion of ‘unexplained’ grades”, a representative of the University of Manchester argued.

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The university also claimed the way in which the data was portrayed was “misleading” and gave readers an inaccurate impression of the levels of inflation.

“Displaying a percentage point change would show a more accurate picture to readers”, the university said.

A spokesperson for the university directed the Manchester Tab to a statement made by the Russell Group, which defended its universities’ “rigorous measures” and said that “the regulator has means to raise concerns if it has them.”

“Publicly available data shows that the number of firsts given at all English Russell Group universities is very close to the Office for Students’ expectations”, the Russell Group said, “with only a small number of ‘unexplained’ firsts at our universities.”

“It’s correct that trends over time show increased achievement, which reflects how students are supported to learn and succeed across different institutions and courses. A degree from a Russell Group university remains very valuable to a graduate’s skills, knowledge, and ultimately their workplace contributions and lifetime earnings.”

The Sunday Times was contacted for comment.

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