Increase In First-Class University Graduates Reported

Fri, 30 Jan 2009

More students are graduating from UK universities, new figures have revealed.

According to data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), there were almost 335,000 first degree graduates in the country last year, a rise of 5 per cent on the previous year.

Of these, just over one in eight (13 per cent) graduated from university with a first-class honours degree - roughly in line with the class of 2006-07 - while the number of students awarded a 2:1 (an upper second-class honours qualification) remained unchanged at 48 per cent.

Female graduates made up the majority of university leavers in 2008, accounting for 57 per cent of graduates .

The figures come just a day after university vice-chancellors acknowledged that the degree classification system is in need of an overhaul.

The HESA figure also revealed the number of British students studying at UK universities fell from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million in 2008, while the number of other students from other European Union nations has risen by 6 per cent, from 105,410 to 112,150.

In the same period the number of students from countries outside the EU has increased by 4 per cent to 229,640.
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