How Many Students get a First Class Degree
January 8th, 2007 by get a first class degree
I was reading an article on the Guardian website which reported that:
“Of the 283,000 undergraduate degrees awarded in 2004 last year, nearly 30,000 were classed a first and 125,500 as a 2:1. In 2000 those figures were 21,800 and 113,700 respectively.
The total number of first degree graduates in 2003-04 was 282,100, an increase from the previous year’s figure of 273,400.”
This means that over 10.6% of students achieved a 1st class degree in 2004, whilst 44.3% were awarded a 2:1.
With over 50% of students achieving an upper second / 2:1 or a first class degree it is little wonder that employers seem to set a 2:1 as their minimum requirement.
This really illustrates the value of a first class degree, with four times as many people being awarded a 2:1, it really helps differentiate you from other job applicants.
One thing that bothered me upon graduation was that although I over achieved against the requirement (70% at my university) for a first class degree, my degree classification is the same as many other students.
This is easily overcome by making the point in any job application you make, I always give my mark, and stress the fact that I won an award from my university.
With 10% of students receiving a first class degree (in 2004 at least) it is good to be able to differentiate oneself from the competition, certainly I am convinced doing this helped me get job interviews.
The article from which I got this information was: Highest Number of Students Graduate in 2004
I will keep digging and see if I can find 2006 statistics (which was the year I graduated).
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I wish I had access to this site when I studied for my degree [graduated in 1999]. I only got a 2:1.
I didn’t even think of using a strategy to get a first which I now realise would be a good idea.
I would be interested in how a ‘first’ can affect job prospects.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the comment, all I can say is it hasn’t done me any harm!
I attended my graduation recently and ended up sat next to the six other students who also got first class degree’s.
We all had decent jobs, one was off for a few weeks training in Chicago which he was looking forward to.
A few moved to London and were working for financial institutions, they were started on around 28k which in my opinion is pretty good for a 22 year old ‘trainee’.
This site is awesome. I graduated in July 2006 with a first and its very interesting comparing your methodology in getting a first to mine. I would like to report that everything you suggest is similar to what I excercised so I can certainly verify your suggestions.
Hi Suat,
Thanks for that I appreciate the feedback!
Its nice to know people are reading and finding it useful!
I kind of knew I was not talking rubbish after reading the book I reviewed “Getting a first (or avoiding a third)”.
It was funny reading that as he had done exactly the same kind of things I did, and now here you are saying the same!
So that’s at least three people who worked the same kind of things out by themselves, and got first class degree’s through it….. so it really does work!!
Hi Steve,
Thanks for replying to my comment. This site would be very useful for current students at university. I honestly believe it could help students obtain a better degree classification. I think it would be great for you and your site if you could some how increase its exposure to uni students. Perhaps you should contacts uni’s directly and ask them to email your website address around. I mean, I only came across your website by chance one day while surfing the net. Its certainly a very valuable tool I believe.
Kind Regards,
Suat
Hi Suat,
The site is getting more visits month on month.
I have added a mail a friend link to the bottom of posts and have tried to exchange links with a couple of University sites, but to be honest the Uni’s are a bit precious about giving back-links.
I don’t think the fact that I run Advertising endears the site to them either!
I think Ill have to leave it to Google and word of mouth, the thing is I never Googled for this information when I was at University. It never really occurred to read up on how to study.
Having read a couple of books on the subject since, I wish I had, I could have saved a lot of time using a book or a site like this one.
[…] (Suat left his comment here) […]
Hi,
This is a great site, and I wish I had found it sooner. I just found out the result of my degree (a BSc in Psychology at Exeter - and it is a first class degree with honours!) I am SO SO happy, and I must say that I worked so hard for this - day in day out. My main tip for other would-be-first-achievers out there is exactly what was mentioned on this site; treat your degree like a job. Study 8 hours a day for the degree, leaving yourself evenings and weekends free. When it is revision time, treat the degree like a demanding job which requires overtime (some, not all, evenings and weekends too). I think the reason for this succeeding is two-fold. Firstly, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week is a lot of time to dedicate to a degree. Especially as others just don’t seem to put in that much hard work. I found that this time gave me time to even do my own reading around a topic, and not just the obligatory reading. Also, this strategy psychologically dissociates one from the degree. I don’t mean in an “i-don’t-care-about-this,-it’s-only-a-job” kind of way. I mean that it allows one to gain perspective about the degree, and to treat it like a very important job that must be done, but which does not have the power to make or break you. Even though the latter may be true, it is helpful not to ruminate on this.
Anyway, great site and I hope my musings may help someone…somewhere!
Amy G xxxx
Thanks Amy,
That was a really cool comment….
For me the key was choosing a course I was genuinely interested in, that made putting the hours in a lot more enjoyable and rewarding.
I still do not understand why other people would make the effort to get up in the morning and attend University, then sit around doing nothing in between lectures, when they could have been getting ahead, getting better grades and suffering less stress over deadlines….
Congratulations on getting a first BTW!!
Glad to see this site is still going strong. Amy well done!!! Fantastic feeling it is to achieve a first and I fully agree with you comment. Also as my degree was in Business I saw it as though I was running my own company. Thus I saw the success in achieving high grades comparable to achieving high profit for my company. This pushed me to achieve higher levels of profits i.e. higher grades.
Hi Suat,
How are you getting on? Seeing it as running your own company, that’s a bit different! So do you run your own company for real now??
Jez
Hi Jez
Right now I am working for JPMorgan Asset Management as a Analyst. Going quite well I must say. I have had a few unsuccessful business ventures but I will keep trying and hope oneday I will have my own multi-million pound business.
What are you doing Jez?
Cheers
Suat
Hi Suat,
Sorry to hear that! I think that is often the case, that people in business often learn from their mistakes before they make it!
I now work in I.T. working with Web Applications which are a particular interest of mine, so I’m pretty pleased with that.
I would like to do some stuff for myself too, but trying to make money on the internet is extremely competitive. I think that is because it is relatively low risk… which is a good thing in many ways… low entry barriers etc…
Hi all,
I have just got my result, a 1st class honours in computer science, I am over the moon! Especially considering i completed the degree part-time whilst in full time employment.
In my experience, I dont thing a 1st is a measure of intelligence, it is a measure of effort.
Motivation, hard work and dedication are the key!
Congratulations!!!
I agree, it is more about perserverence and commitment than anything else.
I out performed people who were smarter than me on my course by learning more than they did, planning ahead and refining my work through many iterations before handing it in.