Standards slip as universities turn a blind eye to plagiarism

The degree standards in many UK universities are in danger of slipping because lecturers are under increasing pressure to “mark positively” and turn a blind eye to plagiarism. Professor Geoffrey Alderman, former Chairman of the academic council at the University of London, has warned that “league table culture” has led to an explosion in the number of firsts awarded.
Recent figures have shown that the number of firsts awarded has gone up by more than 100 per cent over the past decade from 16,708 to 36, 645 at a time when the amount of undergraduates has risen by just over 40 per cent. In a lecture that Alderman is due to give at the University of Buckingham, he will argue that universities have been lenient with overseas students because they are relied upon so heavily for fee income. Universities are currently taking in fees of about £1.5 billion a year from students outside the European Union, who can be charged the full cost of their courses. The numbers of students enrolling has soared by nearly 40 per cent in the past five years, bringing in a total number of just over 137,000.
According to Professor Alderman, “standards of English literacy at UK universities are often poor. To compensate for this, lecturers are pressured to ‘mark positively.’ This is particularly true in relation to international students, whose full-cost fees are now a lucrative and essential source of much-needed revenue.
Another academic who shares Alderman’s thoughts is Jonathan Bate, Professor of English at Warwick University, who has said: “there are universities where instructions go round to staff reminding them [that] awarding more top class degrees will push their institution up both the national and international league tables.”