Merely managing a 2:2

The York Management School has the highest proportion of students graduating with a 2:2 or less at the University of York, according to new data.

Out of 195 Management students who graduated in 2012, 80 (41% of the total) failed to achieve at least a 2:1 grade, seen as the necessary benchmark for today’s graduate employers.

The department also have the second lowest proportion of students graduating with a First at 10%, a decline from 12% the previous year.

One second year Management student told Vision: “I think a lot of the teaching is poor. One example of this that sticks in my mind was in the January exams for Advanced Quantitative Methods.

“Our lecturer once emailed us out some last minute notes around 4pm the day before the exam. It was material that we had never seen before. In the exam, it became clear that this was stuff that he had forgotten to teach us, but there were two whole questions on it in the exam.”

Student outrage followed on the Facebook group before the exam had taken place. One student commented: “How can he be giving us more content less than 24 hours before the exam that he hasn’t taught us!! sounds like he’s covering his back at the last minute”. Similar concerns were also raised over the teaching of the Marketing module.

Deputy Head of the Management School, Josephine Maltby, defended the figures, saying the department are “developing their teaching methods” to include a greater number of tutorial sessions and are planning to improve feedback methods.

“We want to achieve a higher proportion of First and 2:1 results by identifying the areas where we can give students more support in developing skills and working effectively – and we are very happy to hear from students about ways in which we can give them that help.”

Meanwhile, Psychology students are the most likely out of any department to achieve First class honours.

Out of 140 students, 36% gained a First and only 7% graduated with a 2:2. The other highest-achieving departments were Maths and Chemistry, where 34% and 33% of students respectively earned the top grade, almost identical figures compared to last year. However, the improvement for Psychology is significant because last year the department was not even in the top five in terms of First class graduations.

Third year Psychology student, Frances Jones, said: “The lectures are all really great, they always seem so well thought out and the department generously always provides print-outs of the hand-outs. “And the lecturers are mostly all very enthusiastic people who are up for a discussion, even in a lecture setting, so that really helps spark interest in all topics, making us keen to do well!”

Andy Young, Director of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, played down the achievement: “The proportions of first class degrees can vary from year to year. We need to wait to see whether there is any underlying trend.”
Meanwhile, a staggering 84% of Music students acquired a 2:1 last year, and not one of the 60 students graduated with a 2:2. This was also the case for the Department for Theatre, Film and Television.

History, English and Law students can also rest assured over their 2:1 prospects, with approximately three quarters of each department making the grade. However, a mere 6% of Law students graduated with a First.

Conor McGowan, a third year Law student, commented: “I knew that a very low percentage got a first but didn’t realise it was only 6%. If I was being honest I think it could be down to very strict marking, also sometimes you can’t help but feel the feedback you receive is very basic and generic.”

Comment: Sarah Cattle

It is drilled into our heads, as soon as we set our eyes on university, that a 2:1 degree is not just a welcome addition to a future job application: it’s a necessary qualification. So what to make of these statistics?

At first glance, it’s pretty shocking that at a Russell Group university like York the percentages of 2:2s in degree classifications are so high across the academic spectrum, let alone just in Management. It would appear that there is a need for improvement somewhere, but whether in the academic rigour of students or in teaching provisions is hard to call.

A YUSU survey last year revealed 47% of students who took part felt their degree was not worth the money paid, suggesting a lack of inspiration. This was certainly true when I spoke to a third year Management student about his studies. He said he had learnt much more at university outside of his degree, and that he found his course teaching uninspiring.

A recent Daily Mail article highlighted the low amount of contact hours at York for History and Physics. But whilst 6% of History students gained 2:2s, a huge 37% of Physics gained the same. To add to this, Oxford were also in the bottom five for teaching hours in Physics, and as arguably the best university in the country, I don’t think the reason is teaching hours.

It’s also important to factor in that high degree classifications are not always a reflection of teaching standards, but marking strictness. Besides, if everyone received high marks, the cream of the academic crop would never stand out. Few would work. It would simply be paying for a degree, with no academic push.

Pseudo-analysis aside, as Andy Young points out, degree classificatons do vary from year to year. The high percentages must be put down, to at least an extent, to the group of students themselves, rather than reflecting immediately upon the university’s teaching quality.

Therefore students should take little notice of these statistics. You can search for specific reasons until you’re blue in the face, but realistically, these statistics will always vary year to year. They should be used purely to spur departments on to improvement, rather than to dishearten current students. Don’t feel you’re fated to a degree classification: aim to buck the trend and improve the statistics for next year.