Degree outcomes and national calibration: Debating academic standards in UK Geography

Wyse, Stephanie; Page, Ben; Walkington, Helen; Hill, Jennifer

Abstract

The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2019 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). In this short intervention we report on work in progress by Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) in collaboration with professional bodies such as the RGS-IBG, which seeks to respond to public concerns about “grade inflation” in relation to degree outcomes. We present an updated analysis of degree outcomes in UK geography for 2010–2016 showing a strong correlation between average A-level points score on entry and the proportion of good degrees awarded by UK geography departments. We then go on to report on the results of pilot training activities within the discipline to increase the use of social calibration techniques as a means of providing transparent assurance about the high quality of assessment practices. We conclude that there is good reason to engage positively and actively with the public debate about academic standards and we make the case for regular social calibration exercises to share marking practices across multiple institutions as a potential means of ensuring consistency, reliability and clarity in academic standards.

Citation

Wyse, S., Page, B., Walkington, H., & Hill, J. (2020). Degree outcomes and national calibration: Debating academic standards in UK Geography. Area, 52(2), 376-385. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12571

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 29, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 24, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 25, 2021
• Journal: Area
• Print ISSN: 0004-0894
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-4762
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 376-385
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12571
• Keywords: calibration, degree outcomes, assessment, academic standards, grade inflation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1492256
• Publisher URL: https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14754762