The debate about degree outcomes and comparability of academic standards in Higher Education has become increasingly prominent in academic, political and media discussions internationally. This chapter reports on work undertaken as part of the UK Degree Standards Project in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers). The intent of the work was for the geography community in the UK, supported by its learned society and professional body, to respond to public concerns about ‘grade inflation’ in relation to degree outcomes. The chapter first presents data on degree outcomes in the UK and with respect to the subject of geography more specifically. It goes on to report the results of training activities within the discipline across a range of geographical scales to increase the use of calibration as a means of providing transparent assurance about the quality of assessment practices. Despite the collaborative process engendering a sense of ownership and willingness to engage with standards issues, the chapter also highlights the challenges of sustaining such activities. The chapter concludes that adopting calibration, at a variety of scales, might help to secure a sustainable process that can help to ensure consistency, reliability and clarity in academic standards, reassuring the public that ‘good’ degree outcomes in geography represent improved teaching and student learning.
The fulltext files of this resource are currently embargoed.Embargo end: 2026-02-15
Hill, JenniferWalkington, Helen Page, BenWyse, Stephanie
School of Law and Social Sciences
Year of publication: 2024Date of RADAR deposit: 2024-07-19