Examiners now less "mean"

The rate of first class honours degrees awarded by NUIG has increased by 115% since 1994.

This is according to an unpublished study by Trinity College Dublin using figures from the Higher Education Authority.

Responding to the news, NUIG President Jim Browne said that examiners were "too mean" 15 years ago. He said that there had been a reluctance in the past to give full grades, but now the university has changed their approach.

Browne said that students had become "more engaged and more ambitious". "Look at how full the library is, and the demand to have it open at the weekend," he pointed out.

Examiners are now encouraged to award full marks when they are rightly deserved, and the university has compiled grade descriptors for examiners, he went on.

Responding to a question from Sin that there were fears among students that their degrees were being dumbed down, he said: "All professional programmes are accredited by professional institutes, for example medicine and engineering. Degree quality is monitored by IQUB. Our graduates are always welcomed in universities overseas as postgrads."

By Richard Manton