University of York Economics Department lowers exam grades by 10%

A petition has since been created


In an email sent to a student, a lecturer from the Department of Economics stated that all grades from January exams were rescaled by 10% in an attempt to control grade inflation as “the University requires exam marks to be aligned with those in previous years.” Averages this year were reportedly higher due to the open book format of exams. 

Outrage has since been sparked amongst students, and a Change.org petition to the Vice Chancellor has been shared. 

The York Tab spoke to creator of the petition and Economics student Elliott Johnstone, who said that the petition has since become “lost in translation” and was “never to incite rebellion and call the university evil” but to “combat, question and hopefully undo” this grade scalement and give students the grades that reflect the effort put in.

Johnstone says this issue is important as it “links to broader issues of students being promised so much more support and being given nothing.” 

He also advises students to contact their supervisors and heads of department to see if this policy is something that applies, as this is not true of all departments.

The petition, which currently has over 400 signatures, is linked below. It states that the policy “reflects the lack of care for students” and urges people to sign it in order to show support.

You can find the petition here.

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