\u201cIt used to signal exceptional work. Now that meaning has been diluted.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new research note, building on August\u2019s report, now reveals how the entire grading scale in New Zealand universities is shifting.<\/p>\n
It found A grades have increased from 22% to 36% of all grades since 2006, a 64% rise, while B grades have fallen from 47% to 38% and C grades have dropped from 20% to 17%.<\/p>\n
The percentage of A grades as a total of all grades has risen slowly since 2006. Photo \/ The New Zealand Initiative<\/p>\n
A grades temporarily overtook Bs in 2020, and are on track to do so permanently within the next few years, the report outlined.<\/p>\n
Kierstead said while the August report showed A grades were rising, researchers couldn\u2019t see the complete shift in the grading scale. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow we know it is only A grades that are expanding. Bs and Cs are declining. That is classic grade compression.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kierstead told the Herald that grade compression means there is a narrower distribution of grades. <\/p>\n
Former Victoria University lecturer Dr James Kierstead is now a research fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a whole array of grades from A to E. You might imagine an equal number of students get each of those grades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrade compression is when each student is getting either A or B.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harder for employers and post-graduate programmes to figure out who the really good students are because As are now so common.\u201d<\/p>\n
This has been disputed by Universities NZ chief executive Chris Whelan, who reacted to the August report by saying: \u201cWe are unaware of any concerns raised by employers as to a mismatch of graduate skills and knowledge with their grades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kierstead wouldn\u2019t be surprised if As have already passed Bs in terms of the most common grade awarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not this year, it\u2019s going to be in the next five years if the current trends continue,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n
Kierstead fears grade inflation will place New Zealand universities in the same basket as their American counterparts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere rampant grade inflation has long undermined public trust in higher education. Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call for New Zealand universities,\u201d he said in the report.<\/p>\n
A statement from the University of Auckland about August\u2019s report said a wide range of factors contribute to improving grades. Those include better quality of teaching, student pastoral support, and more flexibility to best support how students learn.<\/p>\n
The statement explained the Covid spike as the university prioritising helping students in what was \u201can extraordinarily challenging year\u201d.<\/p>\n
Universities NZ highlighted similar factors leading to improved student performance.<\/p>\n
Whelan added that external markers are used to sample test grades in relevant courses, such as law.<\/p>\n
A student also has 30-odd teachers over a three or four-year university period.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis prevents any one academic from skewing results upwards.\u201d<\/p>\n